Ricardo Auguste is the founder of GIFTS Foundation, an organization built from personal experience, resilience, and a deep commitment to helping the next generation succeed.

At the age of 21, Ricardo was shot in a nightclub, an incident that left him paralyzed with a T12–L1 spinal cord injury. The experience changed his life overnight. What followed was a long period of physical, emotional, and financial challenges. Instead of allowing that moment to define his future, Ricardo chose to rebuild his life with discipline, faith, and determination.

He returned to school, pursued a degree in fashion, and began building his own design business. Over time, his work evolved from women’s outerwear into a specialized brand creating luxury products for dogs. Through that journey, he learned firsthand what it takes to start over, adapt, and keep moving forward despite setbacks.

For more than five years, Ricardo has been actively involved in youth development. He is a member of the 100 Black Men of Stamford and serves as a coach with Future 5, where he mentors and supports students as they prepare for college and careers. Through this work, he recognized something deeply personal: many of the students he was mentoring were just like him when he was younger.

Ricardo grew up in public housing and understands what it feels like to need support, guidance, and opportunity. He knows the difference that the right help, at the right time, can make in a young person’s life.

GIFTS Foundation was created from that understanding. It is not just a program. It is a mission rooted in lived experience. The students the foundation serves represent the path Ricardo once walked, and the opportunities he wished he had along the way.

Today, his focus is on building a structured pipeline that gives students the tools, confidence, and exposure they need to succeed in school and beyond. Through GIFTS Foundation, Ricardo is turning his life story into a platform for impact, one student at a time.