Tom Tuohy is the Founder and President of Dreams for Kids, a global youth service organization - uniting a diverse generation to each other and to service and transformation at home and around the world. Dreams for Kids hosts the world’s largest holiday event for homeless children, Holiday for Hope, held in over 50 countries each December and created the first sports and activities program of its kind for kids with disabilities, Extreme Recess.

 
 

Recently, Tom developed the global Dream Leaders youth service and leadership program, an innovative approach to poverty and disability which has attracted such partners as the United Nations, World Bank, and KIN  Global. Tom is the author of the critically acclaimed book Kiss of a Dolphin, an accomplished children’s advocate, attorney, and speaker.

On December 24th 1989, Tom founded Dreams for Kids, http://dreamsforkids.org . Beginning on Christmas Eve with a single visit to a small homeless shelter on the Southside of Chicago, the outreach grew each year. Today, hosted in over 50 United State cities and 50 countries around the world, Holiday for Hope, is the largest and most powerful event of its kind.

Responding to the total absence of organized sports for kids with disabilities in Illinois, Dreams for Kids created the national Extreme Recess program to recognize the ability in every child and give them the opportunity to enhance their life, health and relationships though sport and social activities.

Tom graduated with honors from DePaul University. After studying at Cambridge University, Tom received his Juris Doctorate from DePaul Law School, and founded Tuohy Law Offices, http://www.tuohylawoffices.com  and began a career which concentrated in providing legal education seminars to municipal employees, members of labor unions and the general public, representing over 14,000 individuals in the community.

In 2008, after determining he could make the greatest difference in the world with Dreams for Kids, Tom left the practice of law to direct the global expansion of the organization he founded.

Imagining how the world might look if a generation grew up together, united by service, with the opportunity to have the vision to see past wheelchairs ,skin color and religious belief, Tom designed the global Dream Leaders program. At the heart of the program are the 60 % of all living children who live in poverty or with disabilities. As Dream Leaders, they are recognized as the solution, rather than the problem. They are given the opportunity to make a difference. They voices are finally heard.  It transforms their lives and is transforming communities all over the world. Dream Leaders Conferences unite them with their diverse peers, where they continue to work together to create social change projects off and on line, supported by innovative social networking and micro financing platforms.

Tom is the author of Kiss of a Dolphin, http://www.kissofadolphin.com  the story of Dreams for Kids, and a testament to how ordinary people can create an extraordinary legacy.
Tom is resident of Park Ridge Illinois and a citizen of the world.

 
 
 
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