David LaMotte ('90)

To singer/songwriter David LaMotte, music is not just a career. It is his chance to make a difference. Aside from releasing 10 albums and performing over 2,000 shows, David, alongside wife Deanna, is founder of the group PEG: Proyecto para las Escuelitas Guatemaltecas, or The Guatemalan School Project. The group functions as an all-volunteer effort to improve learning environments for Guatemalan children. Most donations for the organization's projects are collected at David's concerts, as he enlightens the crowd with stories from the Guatemalan schools he and his wife have visited and helped to fund. David travels nearly 200 days a year, and along with his concerts, he mentors diverse groups of professionals and students through various workshops that focus on empowerment, nurturing one's own creativity and the importance of art in all its forms.

"I truly believe that songs can change the world and frequently do. Writing them can help to heal your heart and may even help in the healing of others' hearts. That's a sacred thing and worth doing."