America's Promise Alliance

Tech is an integral building block of our society and future. With less than 2% of Black women in science and engineering roles, an entire demographic is missing from the rooms where our future is decided. Black Girls Code is on a mission to ensure that Black girls and gender-expansive youth of color believe they belong in tech and launch them with the skills, opportunities, and resources to lead. Please join us in welcoming CEO, Cristina Mancini, and team to the Alliance! Learn more about their work at https://hubs.la/Q030n1vd0

New resource alert! City Year has launched the 'Student Success Coaches Playbook' for program developers. The playbook offers practical guidance for educators, schools, and youth programs seeking to enhance student support systems by focusing on student success coaching that blends academic, social, and emotional support. “Every student deserves a space where they feel like they belong, and this playbook helps ensure that student success coaches can provide that,” says Jonathan Raymond, City Year Senior Vice President of Education Policy and Systems Change. Download the playbook here! https://hubs.la/Q02_Q9Dx0

Congrats to OneGoal on being named a partner organization for The New York Times Communities Fund for the second year in a row! This annual giving campaign supports local, national, and global nonprofits that help people improve their circumstances and lead more enriching lives. This recognition highlights OneGoal's mission to transform postsecondary advising and support, ensuring every student has an equitable opportunity to achieve their greatest college and career aspirations. One Goal CEO, Melissa Connelly, shares, "On average, high school students receive just 38 minutes of college and career counseling, leaving those from low-income communities with little guidance on some of the most critical decisions of their lives. OneGoal programming is changing this by embedding robust advising and support into the high school experience. The generosity of New York Times readers will help more students define their futures and achieve their highest aspirations." Congratulations Melissa and team! Learn more here: https://hubs.ly/Q02_F6v80

"When I think about the impact the Alliance has had, there's the general impact it's had on the organization – But I think there's more importantly the impact it's had on individuals in our organization." - Gregg Betheil, CEO, PENCIL, Inc.

Bridge to Enter Advanced Mathematics (BEAM) is on a mission to create pathways for students from low-income and historically marginalized communities to become our next scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and computer scientists. They do this by creating supportive communities around their students, providing them with academic counseling, mentorship, support, and by preparing students for collegiate studies in STEM through rigorous summer programs and year-round activities. Please join us in giving a warm welcome to BEAM Founder and AOPSI CEO, Daniel Zaharopol, and his team! Learn more about their work at https://hubs.la/Q02-JL5W0

Doc Wayne Youth Services, Inc. is an award-winning non-profit leading the field of sport-based therapy and catalyzing a mental health movement.  As of this year, their programs have reached over 1 million youth globally. These include 'Champion’s Network®' trauma-informed training, innovative 'Chalk Talk®' Group Therapy, Therapeutic Recess, and individual therapy.  To date, Doc Wayne has trained people and organizations in 32 countries (including conflict zones), garnering support from ESPN Inc., Boston Children’s Hospital, CVS Health, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Unilever/Degree Deodorant, Brigham and Women's Hospital, NBCUniversal, WCVB Channel 5, and the New England Patriots. Please join us in welcoming Doc Wayne CEO, David Cohen, and his team to the Alliance! To learn more about how Doc Wayne has impacted students and how sports-based therapy has made a difference in their lives, check out their episode feature on the One Big Boat podcast here: https://hubs.la/Q02-B5qf0. For more information on their programs, visit https://hubs.la/Q02-B6qC0

Summer Search is a national youth development organization dedicated to closing the educational opportunity gap that disproportionately affects students from low-income backgrounds, particularly students of color. As they embark on their 35th year of operation, Summer Search is celebrating remarkable impact including 99% of participants having graduated from high school and 86% being first in their families to attend college. Please join us in welcoming Summer Search CEO, Ursulina Ramirez, and her team! Learn more about their impact at https://bit.ly/3Bk6o0E

Looking for great youth-serving orgs to support this Giving Tuesday? Consider supporting one of our 100+ Alliance Member organizations. Our participating organizations serve a variety of youth-focused issue areas including holistic student support in K-12 education, post-secondary to workforce pathways, social equity, and engaging young people in democracy and in their communities. Browse our full community at https://bit.ly/3ZksSGV

Meet Melissa Ponce, who recently joined the America's Promise Alliance team as our new Director of Alliance Programming. With a mission-driven career dedicated to transforming education and creating brighter futures for young people, Melissa brings over a decade of experience in coalition building, program design, and strategic network management. She has led national networks of education leaders, crafting impactful professional learning experiences and empowering leaders to foster equitable, deeper learning for youth. Melissa has also supported community-based initiatives across Texas to reimagine education, ensuring that students experience equitable and meaningful learning opportunities. Melissa shares: "My passion for creating opportunities that empower young people and their families has been the driving force behind my career in the nonprofit world. Throughout my work, I’ve supported leaders and organizations in transforming traditional models of education to ones that better serve young people. At Battelle for Kids, I spent over a decade growing and leading EdLeader21, a national network of education leaders dedicated to equitable, deeper learning for all students. More recently, at Transcend Education, I supported schools across Texas on community-based design journeys to foster extraordinary, equitable learning experiences and outcomes for young people. These experiences have shown me the power of collaboration in driving meaningful change, which is why I’m so inspired by APA’s mission. By nurturing a community of youth-supporting organizations, APA creates the opportunity to amplify collective impact on a national scale. I’m excited to contribute to this transformative work, helping to empower hundreds of organizations, thousands of leaders, and ultimately, millions of young people across the country." https://bit.ly/4iviuVN

Read Heather W.’s, CEO of iMentor, recent op-ed in The Hechinger Report on the urgency of encouraging Black and Latinx students to apply to selective colleges, despite rulings against race-conscious admissions: "Together, we can turn these recent challenges into a transformative opportunity for lasting impact. The future needs as many Black and Latinx college-educated students as possible." Read the full opinion piece here: https://hubs.la/Q02ZB1tt0