By Jay Sorgi
Special to The Texas Catholic
Santiago Bryce has long been moved by the economic inequality he saw while living in Latin America. He knew God was calling him to create change, and the Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas graduate has already created a life of doing just that.
The 2026 Jesuit graduate has become one of just 15 nationwide Cameron Impact Scholars, chosen by the Bryan Cameron Education Foundation for commitment to academics, community service, extracurriculars, and leadership.
He has also received one of six of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation’s National Youth Awards for this year, chosen among 35,000 applicants.
The seeds for a fundraising effort that has impacted thousands of families across the Western Hemisphere were not just planted from his international life experiences. His family planted them. The members of Good Shepherd Catholic Community in Colleyville have long modeled their faith through service.
“My parents and grandparents gave me a strong faith foundation and taught me to use my gifts to serve others. They modeled compassion, humility, generosity, and service,” he said. “Impacted by the extreme income inequality I saw living abroad, I finally found my ‘why.’”
In the last eight years, Bryce has faithfully activating his “why.” He has connected his love of soccer, its footwear, and the creativity of entrepreneurship to create three different initiatives stemming from a deeper desire to be used for the good of others.
“He connects with people just on a deeper level,” his mother, Yvonne Bryce, said. “He met a woman named Lily, and she told him the story of her son. She said she lived in a rural village in Peru. He had to walk barefoot to get to school. His school was an hour away. He was in a very poor remote village. That kind of story stuck with him.”
Bryce began a 10,000-pair shoe drive with Soles4Souls to help people in developing countries start their own small business selling donated shoes, a campaign that has topped 20,000 shoes and more than $180,000 in economic impact for people in need. He started a financial literacy clinic to help teens learn money management. He also launched a soccer clinic and league for young people from under-resourced schools.
“Realizing that something I took for granted — shoes — could actually change another person’s life was an incredibly rewarding experience,” he said.
Jesuit College Preparatory School matched his ethos and that of his family, to encounter and live the Ignatian ethos of “Finding God in All Things” and becoming a “Man for Others,” mixing four years of faith-formative theology with the kind of service encounters that mold hearts.
“My fondest memories have come from the lives I’ve touched through my service work, the perspective I’ve gained walking in someone else’s shoes, the opportunities created by choosing to act rather than sitting on the sidelines,” Bryce said.
“Jesuit’s whole philosophy of educating the whole person, not just academically but spiritually, was something that really resonated with him,” his mother added. “Those four years of just growing in his faith and through his service work, he’s just been really profoundly impacted by the difference that every person can make.”
Bryce is on his way to the University of Notre Dame to study entrepreneurship, but he intends to focus on a version of the field that helps the “least of these,” whom he sees as bearing God’s image, to prosper.
“Success isn’t only measured by what you achieve, but by how you lift people along the way,” he said. “You are never too young to make a difference.”
Cutline for featured image: Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas graduate Santiago Bryce, right, accepts one of six of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation’s National Youth Awards for this year, chosen among 35,000 applicants. (Courtesy Photo)
