Our New Growth Plan
STRIVE has seen significant growth since our founding almost 40 years ago in East Harlem. Looking back, we’re proud of how far our impact has expanded. What was once a local commitment to the East Harlem area has now evolved into a high-quality, evidence-based pathway model that is scaled nationally.
Today we celebrate STRIVE as a national leader in helping systemically excluded populations obtain life-changing careers and skills necessary to be successful in all aspects of their lives. In just one generation we help carve out new futures for our graduates and their families. The importance of our impact and mission is why we continue to challenge ourselves to reach more communities across the U.S. As one of the only organizations that provide evidence-based programming designed for populations that face many intersecting barriers to employment, we hold it as our responsibility to reach as many individuals as possible.
In 2023 STRIVE launched an ambitious ten-year growth and impact plan to scale our nationwide programs and services over the next decade and expand from serving 2,000 annually to 10,000 annually by 2033. Thanks to a generous $5 million gift from The Justice and Mobility Fund—STRIVE's largest gift to date—STRIVE has built an extensive action plan with The Bridgespan Group to measure milestones for success that will inform our approach and practice as we move rigorously toward our 2033 goal. Over the next decade, all current and new STRIVE-operated sites will expand programs and services with a focus on increased support for the justice involved. By 2033 we aim to have 50% of those we serve come from justice-impacted backgrounds.
The Justice and Mobility Fund is a collaboration launched by The Ford Foundation, Blue Meridian Partners, and Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies. The Justice and Mobility Fund seeks to scale the impact, reach, and influence of solutions to problems caused by interaction with the criminal justice system, both nationwide and in targeted regions. Reducing convictions and incarceration and mitigating their negative downstream effects is critical to giving people – especially Black people and other people of color, who are disproportionately impacted — greater access to jobs, educational opportunities, and housing that will help break the cycle of poverty and injustice. With an 80% graduation rate, 75% placement rate and 70% retention rate STRIVE is a strong and reliable investment for The Justice and Mobility Fund.
STRIVE’s growth is further fueled by a community of funders invested in national growth, including the Ballmer Group, Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Truist Foundation, and Wilson Sheehan Foundation. We are grateful for these, and all, partnerships that help to launch our plan to serve more communities.
STRIVE’s ambitious new growth plan aims to increase people served annually from 2,000 in 2023 to 10,000 in 2033. Even with this historic $5 million gift, STRIVE will need to secure significant additional support to fully fund this growth. STRIVE’s budget is projected to increase from $14M in 2023 to $20M in 2025.