Associate member Ralph Morera at 2018 President’s Club Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Ralph hadn’t seen them in 12 years. At age 14, he had left his native Cuba and come to America without them.

His parents had wanted him to have a good life, and something called “Operation Peter Pan” offered him a chance.

Ralph was one of 14,202 Cuban children “Operation Peter Pan” helped to escape Fidel Castro’s ruthless communist regime and find shelter in American foster homes. All of these children have their own stories to tell.

Ralph wound up in New York City, working during the day and going to high school at night.

That impressed his foster family. They saw this young man pursuing the American dream, and they wanted to help. They paid for him to finish high school and college.

But they had one more gift in store for Ralph.

While he was in college, Ralph’s parents had managed to leave Cuba. They lived in Spain for two years, trying to get a visa to enter the United States. Ralph’s foster family arranged for the Moreras to come to America, paying all their expenses so they could arrive two weeks before Ralph’s graduation.

The Morera family reunion was as tearful as it was joyous. “I almost lost my face,” Ralph recalls, “with my mother pinching my cheeks and exclaiming ‘I can’t believe it’s you!’”

Since that unforgettable dinner, Ralph’s parents have passed, and Ralph has gone on to great things.

In addition to his career as an accountant, Ralph has served as chairman of the American Red Cross of Greater Miami. He has been a board member of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, the economic development organization for Miami-Dade County. He has also served on the Board of Goodwill Industries of South Florida and as president of the Cuban-American CPA Association.

As much as all Heritage Foundation members appreciate America’s freedoms, few can savor them more than Ralph Morera and his fellow Peter-Panners. His profound love for America has been passed on to his two children and four grandchildren who, thankfully, have no need for the services of “Operation Peter Pan.”  

Heritage’s Will Skillman Fellow in Education Lindsey Burke, Ph.D., remembers her fellowship’s namesake.

Will Skillman was a kind-hearted man. I cherish the great conversations we had over the years on topics ranging from current affairs and education policy to political jokes and his beloved cat, Mordecai.

He was also a generous man. Will’s support of The Heritage Foundation during his lifetime helped launch our Center for Education Policy in 2017, and his support of the Heritage Legacy Society ensures that our work to improve America’s education system will continue in the future.

One cause in which he believed deeply was school choice. He generously supported our work to advance education choice in the states, so that parents can have a say in where, how, and what their children learn. Today, 29 states and the District of Columbia have some form of school choice. Six states have adopted Education Savings Accounts, or ESAs, and many more are considering them.

With Will’s help, our team has made the case for limiting federal intervention in education at all levels, pushing decisions closer to those people who work directly with the students they affect: local leaders and families.

Will cared about improving education, in part, because he believed that education should prepare Americans to inherit the blessings and liberties of a free society. We share that belief, just as we share his belief that freedom, not centralization, is the path to educational excellence.

We will never forget Will Skillman’s generosity and commitment to the conservative cause. His support as a Heritage Legacy Society member will have a lasting impact on education choice for decades to come.