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LAYTON — This week's High 5 goes to a man who brought his community together here in Utah to help people in Kenya.
Aaron Skonnard is the CEO of Pluralsight, a software developer training company based in Layton, Utah. As CEO, he does a lot more than just sit behind a desk.
"We built a school that will allow 200 kids in Kenya to not sit on dirt floors," he said. "They don't have anything. Where we built this school, they live in mud huts and they have to gather water every day. They don't have running water. They don't have electricity."
After a trip to Kenya, Skonnard was inspired to do something more. He teamed up with Koins for Kenya to raise $18,000 to build a school in the village of Bofu. He said it's made a huge difference.
"We also built desks. My son, for his Eagle Scout project, raised about $1,000 to make about 75 desks. Each desk seats about three kids and gets them off the ground," he explained. "They actually have chalk boards, cement walls. It is a pretty big change."
Skonnard challenged his employees at Pluralsight and those in his neighborhood to help make this school a reality.
"We raised money here at the office and all these guys pitched in. Then Pluralsight matched those contributions," Skonnard said.
Pluralsight employee Dustin Fullmer said, "We've seen how Aaron gives back to the employees and how he allows us to give back to help us be successful and make this company successful."
Another employee, Mitch Moore, said, "It's been awesome working for Aaron. Being such a small company, I haven't worked somewhere that the CEO is so involved. So, it's been awesome."
Our High 5 partner, Les Schwab, presented Skonnard with a gift basket and $100 toward new tires.
If you'd like to nominate someone for a High 5, do so here.
