When did Project Come Up begin?

Project Come Up (PCU) was created in May 2020 following the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests that brought systemic racism and socioeconomic disparities into sharp and painful focus after being ignored or unrecognized for many years. These events shed much needed light on the inequalities facing underprivileged minorities and PCU arose out of the need to address these systemic issues head on. The program now stands as a direct response and solution to these issues of racial and economic inequality present within this country and aims to lift youth and their communities out of poverty through education, capacity building, and empowerment.

What is Project Come Up?

PCU is a nonprofit organization with an overarching goal to improve the financial literacy of our Black and Brown youth (i.e. 18-24yrs old) participants (mentees).

What is Project Come Up’s mission?

PCU’s mission is to enable critical experiences needed to overcome systemic barriers and create success for our mentees through education, mentoring, empowerment, and supporting communities.

What is Project Come Up’s strategy?

PCU’s strategy is to provide minority youth and their communities with greater financial literacy, investment opportunities, and tools and skills for financial and professional success. The program accomplishes this through a two-prong strategy. First, we provide a tailored and robust financial literacy curriculum powered by the PCU App. When mentees complete the curriculum, we reward them with an initial seed investment of real cash to invest and put the financial lessons they learned into action. Second, we facilitate a mentee/mentor partnership that pairs youth with established professionals in their field of study and/or professional career track. Ultimately, PCU aims to improve the financial literacy, self-efficacy, and professional proficiency of every mentee.

What is Project Come Up’s nonprofit status?

PCU is an official 501c3 nonprofit organization as of October 4th, 2021. Additionally, PCU has registered with the NYS Charities Bureau.

Why is Project Come Up fundraising and how much does the organization need to raise? 

PCU is fundraising to secure costs for running the organization and accompanying programs. The funds will be used toward the following:

• Operation costs with partner app, MyBliss, that is powering the PCU educational platform and financial literacy curriculum. 

• Targeted advertising to attract new mentors, mentees and donors.

• Marketing materials/program pamphlets/merchandise and associated shipping costs.

• Program coordinator and administrator for first year.

• Events

The initial fundraising goal is $250,000.

What are the goals of the Organization?

Our current goals are to finish accumulating data from our pilot project about the two main hypotheses guiding our program and financial curriculum design. We believe that, in order to succeed, mentees need both the skills and confidence to implement those skills in real life scenarios and situations. Our program aims to raise both the financial literacy (skills) and the self-efficacy (confidence) of our mentees through their participation with our educational curriculum and dedicated mentorship program. We believe that with both elements of success, mentees will make sound financial and professional decisions long after they leave the PCU program.

How are we collecting data?

Beyond process evaluations (e.g. attendance lists, completion rates), we are collecting data through a series of surveys and quizzes to test our hypotheses and identify whether we are hitting our predetermined goals for the pilot program. We asked mentees to test their financial literacy and also report their beliefs regarding their self-efficacy. We also asked all participants to evaluate the PCU program, describe their experience, and provide us with constructive feedback to bring into our full launch.

What type of data/sets have you already collected (if any) and plan to collect?

The evaluations of PCU have been overwhelmingly positive. All participants (both mentors and mentees) expressed that they have enjoyed and even grown from the pilot program in less than 4 months. When feedback was negative, it illuminated concrete improvements we will immediately implement within the program's design and delivery. We have gathered pre- and mid-program survey data so far, but we will have end-of-program and post-program data to add, which will continue to enhance our understanding and capabilities moving forward to our full launch.