History
In 1991, six Wall Street professionals established Minds Matter in New York City to mentor high-achieving, low-income high school students who had the potential and ambition to pursue a college education, but who lacked the resources to achieve that dream. Since then, Minds Matter has grown into a national organization with nine chapters across the United States in Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio; Denver, Colorado; Los Angeles, California; New York City, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Portland, Oregon; and San Francisco, California.
The organization's services have developed into a comprehensive three year curriculum for high school sophomores, juniors and seniors. Each year students are guided through valuable lessons in Academic Preparedness, Writing & Critical Thinking and Test Preparation.
Unlike many other mentoring programs for financially disadvantaged students, Minds Matter targets students who are among the top academic performers in their class. Despite their early academic success, these students face many challenges with regard to college admissions and by extension, future success. Many of them attend under-resourced high schools where they do not have access to challenging, comprehensive high school curricula or to guidance counselors who can devote the time to work with them individually to guide them through the college admissions process. By working with our mentors and attending top-tier summer programs, Minds Matter students gain academic and social enrichment, while strengthening their college applications. The organization also thoroughly addresses their need for guidance through the college admissions and financial aid processes. As first-generation college-bound students, many of them would otherwise have little support through this complicated process.
It is through its programs and service offerings that Minds Matter strives to fulfill its mission to bring high-achieving and motivated high school students from low-income families together with dedicated mentors to achieve academic excellence and expand educational horizons.
