During Reunion 2026, GFA presented the Distinguished Alumni Award to Alex Perry '06. As General Manager of Patagonia for Latin America, Perry leads the company's business and environmental mission across the region, advancing conservation efforts and mission-driven initiatives throughout South America."Ordinary people, working together, can accomplish things that seem impossible."
In accepting the award, Perry spoke about the teachers and coaches who encouraged him to think beyond himself and the classmates who challenged him to grow. He reflected on protecting Chile's Cochamó Valley, where local families, conservationists, businesses, and community organizations came together to protect one of the world's last truly wild places. For Perry, the experience reinforced a lesson he first learned at GFA: that ordinary people, when united by a common purpose, can accomplish extraordinary things..
Looking back on his time at GFA, Perry said the lessons that have stayed with him longest had little to do with a particular class and everything to do with the values the school instilled. Leadership, he said, is rooted in service and integrity, while success is measured not only by personal achievement but by the communities we strengthen and the impact we leave behind.
Perry closed by thanking the teachers, mentors, classmates, friends, and family who believed in him long before his career began, reflecting that any success he has achieved is rooted in the support of others—a lesson, he said, that started right here on Beachside Avenue.
"The values I learned here at GFA have stayed with me throughout my life, and they continue to shape the decisions I make today."