Proudly Lab: New Alumni Highlight Series Begins with Jacob Brody-Ogborn ’17

10/15/2025

When reflecting on his enrollment at Lab as a 4th grader, Jacob Brody-Ogborn (’17) says, “there has not been one decision since that has been more impactful on my life trajectory. At Lab I did not just learn how to read, rather it gave me opportunities to gain confidence to become a leader. I went from a child that felt terribly insecure about my severe dyslexia to a confident adult prepared to take on life's challenges.”

From his earliest days in the Lower School program through his Upper School graduation, Jacob was a community-builder. He represented Lab as Student Council President, as an Admissions Ambassador, as Captain of the Basketball team and as an Honor Thespian. A dedicated environmental activist, Jacob participated in Lab travel opportunities focused on conservation and culture, interned at Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and worked with the Student Conservation Association. Jacob notes, “The best part of Lab was the detailed attention I got from both faculty and staff. I was able to build confidence in every subject since I was not in a class where I was just another number. The teachers knew me by more than just my name but where I needed to improve and made every effort to help me do so. And, all of these experiences gave me opportunities to learn and discover the world in a much more dynamic way than I would have gotten in any other school.”

 

Following graduation, Jacob traveled to Ecuador and participated in an environmental sustainability program where he worked with a local non-profit to survey fish species, teach ecosystem classes to school children and participate in beach clean-ups. He also traveled to Costa Rica, volunteering in a youth hostel. He continued his formal studies at New College in Florida, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies, with a major in Political Science, in 2022. Jacob then worked at New College as Coordinator of Campus Recreation. In the fall of 2023, he transitioned to part-time, allowing him to travel to Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Spain. In addition to taking Spanish classes while traveling, Jacob dedicated time to: volunteering at a hostel in Colombia, a non-profit school that serves low-income youth in Peru, and a foundation that sells books in Argentina; running a half marathon in Argentina; hiking Machu Picchu and both the Chilean and Argentinian side of Patagonia; and experiencing hundreds of other great adventures.

For the past year, Jacob has called London home. He works at The Felix Project, a charity organization that saves surplus food from going to waste and redistributes it to people in need. He started as a Team Leader in the Operations Department and, in February, was promoted to Volunteer Manager, coordinating the hundreds of volunteers who make the mission possible. Jacob loves his work and being in London, where he's also run a marathon, started salsa dancing, and biked to every park, farmers' market, and landmark in the area (while also picking up a little bit of an accent)! He's been able to use London as a launch point for travels to other parts of the UK, Spain, Italy, Greece, and more.

Still a community-builder, Jacob continues to act as an Alumni Representative for Lab’s Class of 2017 and jumped at the chance to meet Lab’s Upper School staffulty and students for dinner during the Spring Break trip to England and France. Maintaining a connection with Lab is just one of the many ways Jacob is honoring “the leadership and mentorship I gained from Shaun Miskell, Beth Riordan, James Bullock, and many more teachers, which will stick with me forever.”