Founder Jeffrey Zients | ||
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The Urban Alliance Foundation (UA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating in Washington, DC. The group works to train youth from under-resourced areas for work and self-sufficiency, through paid internships, training, case management, and mentoring. Urban Alliance was founded in Washington DC in 1996 and has worked with more than 15,000 low-income D.C., Chicago and Baltimore youth.
History
UA opened in 1996, after a student attending Anacostia Senior High School expressed a need for positive job experiences to UA founder Andrew Plepler. Plepler, with the support of Mary and Jeff Zients, placed that student and five of his friends at internships throughout the city during 1996. The program was developed according to the practices implemented by the National Youth Employment Coalition. Specifically, the program aims to establish long-term mentoring relationships with adults, to increases youths’ personal, academic, and financial independence, and support them to meet their increased responsibilities through workshops on time management, financial literacy, and conflict resolution. The group documents students’ ongoing progress by tracking each internship on a weekly basis and collecting tri-annual ratings from the mentors.
The program continued to work with students at Anacostia Senior High School for the next eight years, providing them with youth development and employment opportunities. In 2004, UA began to manage the World Bank's summer internship program. The following year, UA expanded to recruit students at ten other District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) targeting DCPS seniors who were eligible for a half- day class schedule. Monday through Thursday, these students attend school in the morning, work at their job sites in the afternoon and on Fridays attend UA's professional development workshops.
In 2008, Urban Alliance expanded to work in the Baltimore City Public Schools. The organization currently works with nine Baltimore City high schools. In 2012, Urban Alliance expanded to the City of Chicago. The organization recruited students from schools such as Curie High School, Dunbar Vocational High School, and Crane Technical Preparatory High School. During the 2012-2013 school year, 71 students from six Chicago public high schools participated. In 2013-2014, the program planned to include 150 students across 13 schools.