Whiz Kid of the Week: Elijah Goldberg

For nearly four months, we’ve highlighted a Whiz Kid each week, asking teachers, coaches and parents what has made the honoree stand out. Needless to say, those adults have been effusive without much provocation.

For this week’s honoree, however, a brief pause followed a few of our requests. The pause wasn’t reticence – it simply seemed that there were too many good things to say.

“I don’t even know where to start,” said Robert J. Del Secco, the Scout Master for Mill Valley’s Troop 1, when asked about senior and newly named Eagle Scout Elijah Goldberg.

“He knocked it out of the park,” said , who helped Goldberg garner his merit badge for citizenship in the community by navigating him through the .

Goldberg, 18, is headed to Yale University in the fall, expecting to dive into the Ivy League institution’s public health or global health programs. He’s obviously achieved excellent grades and has been active in Tam’s Conservatory Theatre Ensemble over the years, serving in a diverse range of roles, from Harley in Lunch in Venice and Sebastian in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night to stage manager for Anton Chekhov and director Harold Pinter’s Night.

But it’s not until you get Goldberg talking about the nonprofit organization he helped create, and you fully grasp its scope, that you realize why people are so taken with this 18 year old.

In May 2010, Goldberg began working with a group of doctors at UCSF Medical Center to found the World Alliance for Lung and Intensive Care Medicine in Uganda, or Walimu. The organization works to improve the health of patients with lung disease and severe illness in Uganda through innovative medical care and training initiatives. 

Goldberg serves as the group’s director of operations. The organization is working to improve the equipment and systems in hospitals. Its big push this year is a program to increase access to rapid tuberculosis diagnostics for all of Mulago, the largest hospital in Uganda.

“I believe that as a generation we face two major defining challenges – global warming and global health and general economic instability,” Goldberg says. “With global health, the main risk factor for a lot of these diseases has nothing to do with race or age – it really has to do with poverty. The poorer you are, the more susceptible you are to many of these diseases.”

Goldberg started with the Cub Scouts in first grade and has remained dedicated to it. He says his proud of his Eagle Scout accomplishment.

“It’s one of the few things that at this age that shows that you accomplished something that is meaningful and substantial for your entire life,” Goldberg says. “I had a blast.”

Del Secco calls Goldberg an asset from which Troop 1, one of the oldest troops in the U.S., has benefited greatly, citing his organizational and communication skills and a “keen sense of leadership.”

“Elijah has a quite way about him and a rare ability for a young man,” Del Secco says. “He listens! He hears a person or a group and then he assesses what is going on. Then he speaks or acts to make positive input or change. I have been working around youth groups and young men for a long time and I have seen a lot of different leadership styles and methods. Elijah is quite and thoughtful but makes breathtaking strides when running a group or directing an operation.”

Del Secco said Goldberg was one of the best mentors the troop ever had, helping others to grasp the concepts and methods he used to guide the troop along.

“That he has been an asset to our community, and will be to our country almost goes without saying” Del Secco says. “I believe his future is bright and the people and the community around him will always enjoy the benefits of his skills and attributes.”