What We Do

---

Pathways Program

Rise Together increases limited-income college-bound high school students’ post-secondary school enrollment and college graduation rate by bolstering academic engagement, financial literacy, personal leadership skills and emotional wellness practices. We assemble teams of college mentors who work individually and in small groups alongside 11-12th grade students to build relationships that bridge economic and cultural divides. Rise Together's Pathways program cultivates empowered leaders and stewards for equity in education. The Pathways Program is remote and therefore accessible to students and college mentors around the country.

Vertical Divider

---

Community Engagement

Rise Together's Community Engagement Programs foster connection, growth and shared responsibility. Rise Together partners with high schools, colleges and universities to implement a community engagement program. Teams of college mentors meet with 20-30 high school students every week for 1-2 hours at a time. Rise Together programming facilitates students in brainstorming, planning and implementing a community project. Students and mentors are position at the forefront of programming to develop leadership and collaboration skills. Many high school and college students write/ talk about their community projects in college applications and interviews. 

---

Consulting

Rise Together collaborates with educators, individuals/families, businesses, institutions, and fellow-non profits to provide targeted consulting in the form of sessions, workshops, curriculum development/ alignment, and webinars/ presentations. Topics include: 1) Supporting students with learning differences through college admissions, 2) Aspiring student athlete NCAA requirements, 3) College Admissions knowledge and support, 4) Identification of financial Aid/ Scholarships, 5) Near-peer mentoring, 6) Adaptive social and emotional learning. Additionally, Rise Together works with universities, districts, and organizations striving to better implement their existing programming efforts.

Four Main Pillars

Rise Together program directors and mentors provide intensive guidance that walks students through the competitive and overwhelming admissions process. In our Pathways and Community Engagement programs, near-peer mentors assist high school students in creating a comprehensive college list, editing essays/ resumes, interview preparation, and QuestBridge and Posse applications. Since finances often influence a low-income student's college choice, we focus on financial literacy, how to apply for financial aid, scholarship searches and financial aid package evaluations. ​College attainment is a student's immediate goal but a student's college graduation is the goal of our guidance program. 

Mentoring Sessions
​

Teams of trained diverse college mentors implement three semesters (Fall/Spring/Summer) of 12-15 weekly mentoring sessions for high school students looking for college guidance. Mentoring sessions offer each high school student with 25 hours of direct academic support, near-peer and culturally responsive social-emotional learning, community engagement, and college/career readiness. Additionally, our remote and in-person programs dedicate time for high school students and mentors to connect with one another in a large group so they can learn from one another and feel connected to their peers. ​

Vertical Divider

Mentor Training
​

Rise Together harnesses one of the most powerful, renewable resources college communities have to offer… passionate undergraduate students. Throughout the year, Rise Together assembles teams of college student mentors who work together to create, design and implement our outcome driven 12-week curriculums. Ongoing training and program coordination provides a platform for mentoring teams to foster genuine learning experiences for 11th-12th grade students. Passionate teams bolster academic readiness, support culturally relevant curriculum, and allow high school students to see themselves thriving at the college level. 
​

Vertical Divider

Guest Speakers
​

In order to expose high school students and college mentors to professionals who can open networking, internship experiences, access to detailed information regarding the admissions and financial aid processes, and career exploration. Rise Together programming includes access guest speakers every semester (Fall/Spring/Summer) in addition to weekly mentoring sessions.

Guest speakers traditionally include: college admissions counselors, financial aid experts, STEM internship opportunities, college faculty, pre-professionals (Law/Medical/Dental), leading professionals in Biomedical Engineering-Data Science-Education-Emotional Wellness-Communications-Marketing.

Vertical Divider

​Student-Led Service Projects

Rise Together mentors-inspires-leads all participants toward lasting change. Civic engagement is a core value for Rise Together because our efforts exponentially grow when students realize their power to influence their community. Rise Together offers an additional service learning project that empowers high school students to work together to create, design, and implement a full service day/ community project. Through collaboration and careful project management, students learn first-hand about civic accountability and the power of the Pay-it-Forward mentality. Students often choose to implement a program for feeder elementary/middle schools because they want to instill the values learned from mentors on the younger versions of themselves.