RISE Leadership Academy is a non-profit organization founded in 2013 by Akilah Ffriend and is now run by herself and an executive board of five other members.
The Problem
RISE was founded on the premise that many youth who might otherwise benefit from an extracurricular youth program do not have access to a quality youth center or organization. This creates three problems:
The Problem
RISE was founded on the premise that many youth who might otherwise benefit from an extracurricular youth program do not have access to a quality youth center or organization. This creates three problems:
- A distinct lack of opportunity for youth to foster relationships with other youth and members of their community.
- An inability for youth to participate in personal development
- An increased risk of unhealthy alternatives for idle time.
Mission
Based on this problem, RISE has the following mission:
To create positive social impact in under-served areas by partnering with existing youth programs to help them become more effective and efficient in their efforts to empower youth and to promote youth leadership, life-enhancing programs, and community empowerment.
Values
RISE enacts its mission on the following set of values, with the desire to ultimately demonstrate to participants the benefits of continuous and varied learning beyond formal education:
Intellect: By exhibiting an ability to learn, understand, and deal with new and trying situations, we encourage organization to think creatively and profoundly to enact change
Success: We seek to inspire organizations to craft their own meaning of success so that they can create new possibilities for their participants.
Excellence: We strive to help organizations bring together dedicated members of the community and eager youth to create the highest quality of learning and valuable experiences.