Outstanding Alumni of the Year

Celebrating the impact of esteemed PCDS alumni

Each year since 1990, the PCDS Alumni Association has named an Outstanding Alum or
Alumni of the Year (see sidebar for a full list of past Alumni of the Year). These
individuals have distinguished themselves in service to their communities, professional
achievement, and commitment to PCDS. We are proud to announce that the 2022
Outstanding Alumni of the Year are Bryan Silverthorn `01 and Lesley Silverthorn
Marincola `04.

Angaza, the company that our honorees co-founded, creates technology that enables
businesses to streamline the sale of life-changing products to anyone, anywhere. The
Angaza platform redefines how products like solar home systems and clean cookstoves
are purchased. By enabling distributors to offer incremental payment plans to
consumers without access to traditional banking, Angaza makes it possible for over 2
billion people around the world to affordably acquire transformative products and
devices.

Both Mr. Silverthorn class of 2001 and Ms. Marincola class of 2004 were Lifers at PCDS. Mr. Silverthorn received his Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Science from Cornell and his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin. Heserves as Angaza’s Chief Technology Officer. 

Ms. Marincola received her Bachelor of Science degree in Product Design from Stanford. 
She also earned her Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford. She serves at Angaza’s CEO. Before co-founding Angaza, she worked as a Product Design Engineer at AmazonLab 126 which designs and engineers devices like Fire tablets, Kindle e-readers, and Amazon Fire TV. Among her many accolades, in 2013 she was named a Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneur, was recognized by Businessweek as one of "America’s Best Young Entrepreneurs," and on behalf of Angaza won the Skoll Award for Social Innovation in 2018. The Skoll award is presented each year to a select group of social innovators whose work targets the root causes of societal problems that are ripe for transformational social change.

In addition to their remarkable accomplishments both personally and professionally,
Bryan and Lesley have been supportive and active members of the Phoenix Country Day
School alumni community since they each graduated. We were delighted to honor them
with this award at a special luncheon on April 29, 2022.