OUR WORK
Elevate Youth empowers students to rise—academically, socially, and personally through one-on-one relationships with racially diverse Teacher-Mentors who reflect students’ lived experiences. Youth are guided, supported, and truly seen. Our Teacher-Mentors show up—on good days and hard days—to listen, lead, and uplift.
Through daily in-class programs and out-of-school activities, youth set and achieve meaningful goals, including igniting vision, building confidence, exploring character, improving attendance, raising grades, graduating from high school, and building future opportunities.
Our Mission
Elevate Youth ignites potential through transformative mentorship, empowering our students to excel.
“With the help of my Teacher/Mentors I’ve found my purpose and understand the value of my life. Every person at Elevate has been there for me, whenever I needed help, inside and outside of school.”
— Elevate Youth Senior
Our Vision
Elevate Youth envisions a community where every young person has the support, skills, and opportunities to succeed. We serve as a catalyst for change, fueling aspiration with a powerful combination of career-focused curriculum and long-term, impactful relationships.
Our Students receive consistent, culturally relevant support, both in and out of the classroom, to ignite authentic vision and help them build futures they can achieve. By helping kids thrive beyond home and systemic barriers, we strengthen school attendance, boost graduation rates, and promote lifelong well-being.
At Home, many of our students face hunger, instability, and poverty. In schools where most staff identify as White, the lived experiences and cultural perspectives of Elevate’s team are especially valued—100% of our staff are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (B.I.P.O.C.).
Cultural Connections & Languages Spoken - Elevate Families
- English
- Spanish
- Somali
- Chuukese
- Oromo
- Arabic
- Vietnamese
- Amharic
- Swahili
- Romanian
- Tigrinya
- Burmese
- Haitian
- Creole
- Lao
- Tagalog
- 92% of high school students feel Elevate has exposed them to future careers they hadn’t considered before.
We primarily serve Black, Latino, and multiracial students and their families from over 20 countries across six continents. They speak over a dozen different languages.
Mentors shared:
“With all of my experience, with all of the meetings, and all of the trainings and all the certificates, and all the tools that I’ve ever learned, the biggest, most important tool is Relationships.”
- Teacher/Mentor
Students shared:
Elevate helped me grow as a person and a student. They helped me push myself academically and taught me to be the bigger person in tough situations. Elevate has been there for me, whenever I needed help, inside and outside of school.
- Elevate Senior
- Elevate Youth is deeply rooted in the communities we serve:
100% of program staff, and 81% of all staff, represent the cultural diversity of our students and families.
Our History
We believed students and their families would thrive from step-by-step support pillars to elevate them: consistent mentors, culturally-responsive programs, and community-rooted connections. With school a core pillar of a child’s world—it’s where identity’s shaped, confidence is built, and choices made—partnering with schools made sense.
We began in Parkrose, a resilient Portland district, with full partnership support from the Superintendents, both Karen Fischer Gray and Michael Lopes. Elevate Teacher/Mentors were placed directly into middle and high school classrooms as part of daily elective schedules. Attendance increased, grades improved, and students prospered.
See below for a brief timeline of our history!
2010
The Elevate program of culturally-responsive mentorship is launched.
2011
2015
Donell Morgan, Program Director, becomes next Executive Director for Elevate. Morgan steps in for former Executive Director, Marcy Bradley.
2018
2018
2020
At the request of the Parkrose School District, Elevate expands programming to all 4 elementary schools, creating a district-wide culture of success.
2021
2023
Elevate begins serving the Reynolds School District and makes the significant leap across state boundaries to serve Vancouver Public Schools in Washington.
2024
Our Theory of Change
We’ve developed a Theory of Change that guides our programs and services. We understand that many youth and families face environmental conditions such as poverty, instability, lack of support, structural racism, hunger, and health concerns; all of which impact kids’ abilities to thrive. We also hold bold assumptions that underlie our work: youth can succeed; parents want to be successful; a multi-faceted approach works; relationships matter; and, partnerships are critical.
Through applying key strategies of educational support, social and emotional support, and addressing basic needs, we offer critical interventions that make a difference. The evidence is inspirational: attendance and grades improve, behavioral incidents decrease, and students graduate. We take pride in the resulting outcome: Youth of Color are able to ignite their visions and build their futures.
Our Programs
Elementary School
Student success begins through deeply-integrated partnerships with schools. In elementary school, Elevate partners with SUN (Schools Uniting Neighborhoods) Community Schools to deliver comprehensive services including educational enrichment, recreational, social and health services.
High School
We currently partner with school districts in Oregon and Washington, including Parkrose, David Douglas, Reynolds, and Vancouver. These districts are rich in talent, culture, and community strength.
Our program interventions begin in 3rd grade and continue through high school graduation. Kids develop trust over time and from long-term support. We partner with schools that serve diverse youth who have deep capacity to thrive beyond economic and systemic barriers—and with districts that seek Elevate’s collaborative approach to student success.
Once Elevate Youth is available at a school, kids join by referral—from a teacher, counselor, friend, or even by referring themselves.
School leaders and classroom teachers value Elevate Youth as a culturally-responsive, relationship-driven program led by B.I.P.O.C. Teacher/Mentors who reflect the identities and lived experiences of the kids they serve.
- Teacher, David Douglas School District
We empower kids to set and achieve their own goals. Central to our approach are the 13 Character Qualities we teach across all programs, supported by an age-appropriate curriculum aligned with school district goals. Youth build real-life skills through experiential learning, group activities, and meaningful discussions that bring these qualities to life.
- Kesha Roper, Elevate Youth Chief of Staff
13 Character Qualities and Life Skills
- Vision
- Courage
- Respect
- Caring
- Responsibility
- Positive Work Ethic
- Integrity
- Career-mindedness
- Communication
- Leadership
- Problem-Solving
- Decision-making
- Goal-setting
My Teacher/Mentor helps me see me, and the value of me, and value of the future me.
Elevate Youth Middle School Student
- In 2025, 100% of Elevate Youth’s students graduated High School
A Closer Look At Our Programs
Ninth Grade Counts
This transitional summer-support program is for incoming 9th graders. It helps students elevate grades with confidence during a vulnerable precipice. They get ready for high school with STEAM programming, fun outings, career development, and skill-building activities.
Dream Reachers/Boys2Men programs
Dream Reachers focuses on empowering girls, while Boys2Men supports boys. Both programs help youth strengthen self-worth and develop leadership skills. Teacher/Mentors coordinate volunteers to provide tutoring in math, science, history, and English. Students also gain career exposure through workshops, volunteering, field trips, guest speakers, and college tours—transforming classroom learning into real-world experience.
Little Lift
5th to 6th Transition
We extend support beyond students to include families because when families thrive, kids do too. We involve immediate and extended family members through events that create connection, celebration, and care. From Black family socials, to free back-to-school supplies and clothing, families feel supported and informed. We also help families stay up to date on their child’s progress and offer emotional support when needed.
Community Events
Elevate Youth actively engages with broader communities of the schools we serve. These include social events where our kids, their families, and the community at large are welcomed to make connections.
