The possibilities are endless for our young people if we provide them with the resources they need to succeed.

Our Igniting Minds program bridges the preexisting education gap exacerbated by the pandemic for students in Chicago’s underrepresented communities. We provide access to free meals, robust academic support, role models, and mentors for elementary and high school students. We provide access to free meals, robust academic support, role models, and mentors for elementary and high school students. Our programs are intended to spark the interest of students as early as possible. We aim to ensure that every student has the tools to reduce extreme poverty. We believe our work has never been more critical than it is today.

Students can’t reach their full potential and engage in classroom activities if they are focused on where their next meal will come from. Our out-of-school meal program goes beyond providing students with food. We pair them with local chefs to learn how to make healthy meals that nourish their minds, bodies, and souls and bring their knowledge home to enrich their families for years while simultaneously introducing them to exciting new career options.

Our Igniting Minds program is designed to provide academic advising, monitoring, and enrichment activities to supplement school-based learning and opportunities to explore personal interests. We believe that by providing interventions aimed at increasing academic performance utilizing free tutoring, test prep, and peer mentoring, Igniting Minds provides a unique contribution to the pre-college program landscape in Chicago.

Igniting Minds provides students with limited resources the opportunity to explore post-secondary options that have been historically out of reach. Our curated affinity group college tours and career experiential learning program deliver foundational components that allow our young people to connect their experiences to their future goals.