2022-2025 Strategic Plan

strategic plan 2022-2025

FROM OUR CEO Dear Prep for Prep Community Members and Partners: I am excited to share the outcome of a year’s work by the Prep for Prep community: a strategic plan that charts the course for the organization for the next three years. By engaging in a comprehensive process to develop this plan, we have been able to learn from the past and look to the future.

This strategic plan, which enhances the core work of our organization, enables us to focus our time, energy, and resources on the areas most impactful to the community, as are able to maximize opportunities and determine funding for Prep for Prep students by employing strategies that support work that is required to make actionable, transparent, and measurable progress toward achieving our three strategic impact goals: 1. Amplify Prep for Prep’s value proposition alongside community stakeholders 2. Nurture a whole-person approach with Prep for Prep students 3.

We look forward to keeping you all updated as we begin to embed the strategic plan into our daily work. The Prep for Prep team is excited to have cohesion and a variety of measures that will ensure progress with the many action items that support our impact goals. As a team, we appreciate that the message of the strategic plan is loud and clear: don’t change the Prep for Prep model; it works! However, there is an opportunity for increased awareness and building organizational capacity in support of the plan.

Thank you for your support of Prep for Prep and its dynamic future!

With gratitude,

Ruth Jurgensen CEO Prep for Prep

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VISION society.

MISSION Prep for Prep’s mission is to develop future leaders by creating access for young and professional advancement opportunities.

IMPACT For more than 40 years, Prep for Prep has been committed to developing promising students of color into accomplished students and leaders.

100%

of Prep’s high school seniors are accepted to college

3,900+

Prep for Prep alumni have and their communities

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Prep for Prep

7,180+

paid internships generated to broaden students’ professional skills and exposure to a range of industries

1,600+

advanced degrees in the arts and sciences, medicine, law, business, education, social work,

THE PREP FOR PREP JOURNEY STUDENTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

TR ANSITION TO INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

STUDENTS IN INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

STUDENTS IN COLLEGE

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PREPAR ATORY COMPONENT

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ADMISSIONS Each year, nearly 4,000 students of color from 800+ New York City-area public schools inquire about admissions to Prep for Prep. 125 students are accepted into Prep (for day school placement) and 75 into PREP 9 (boarding school placement).

To prepare for independent school, rising sixth-graders in Prep and eighthgraders in PREP 9 undergo a 14-month course of study spanning two summer sessions as well as Wednesday and Saturday classes during the intervening school year. Older Prep students serve as advisors to current students and guide them through academic and social challenges.

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P LACEMENT

COLLEGE GR ADUATES

A LUMNI AFFAIRS The opportunities, networking, and events open to alumni strengthen and nurture their achievements and contributions to society, while keeping them active in the Prep Community.

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COUNSELING

Prep supports the academic, mental health, and personal wellness of students in grades 7–12 through year-round meetings with counselors. The Counseling team also facilitates retreats, social activities for students, and parent support groups throughout their independent school journeys.

The Undergraduate A airs team provides counseling services to college students.

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OPPORTUNITIES Aspects of Leadership retreats, College Guidance and Professional Advancement programs, and an array of arts, entrepreneurship, public policy, and community service opportunities broaden our students’ aspirations and expand pathways to success.

All students who successfully complete the Preparatory Component (typically 75% of admitted students) are placed in day schools as seventh-graders or boarding schools as ninth-graders.

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Strategic Impact Goal One:

Amplify Our Value Proposition Alongside Our Community Stakeholders

With greater clarity about what makes Prep for Prep a standout in educational access, all employees will be able to leverage a common understanding of the prospective families, donors, corporate partners, and alumni.

Under the guidance of an expanded communications department and in partnership with advertising agency TBWA\Chiat\Day, we will ensure the messaging used to with prospective students and their families, and showcases our position as a leader in inclusive education.

Objective 3: Embrace Prep for Prep’s authority to hold school partners accountable To ensure the best independent school experience possible for our students, we will environment and coach schools on best practices in educating students of color. We will keep a keen eye on how schools engage with our students and families.

By nurturing our relationships with independent partner school colleagues, including Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion representatives, we will be able to assist schools in creating intentionally inclusive environments that support Prep students’ personal and academic success. Enhanced connections with Prep alumni will bolster their relationships with current Prep students and with each other, while stronger alliances with corporate partners will result in increased internship opportunities for our students.

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Strategic Impact Goal Two: Nurture Our Students Through a Whole-Person Approach

mentorship opportunities, Prep for Prep students will have access to even more college and career opportunities. While we will continue to support our students’ interests in opportunities for students to thrive in technology, the arts, and entrepreneurship.

Objective 2: Integrate social-emotional learning support for students Prep for Prep students will have proactive and reactive mental wellness support woven throughout their program experience, from Preparatory to undergrad. This includes access to a newly created team at Prep that includes a Director of Mental Wellness and clinical social workers, an expanded near-peer mentorship program for college students, and new proactive wellness programming that gives students tools to thrive in any setting.

Objective 3: Nurture a whole-person approach with Prep for Prep students In addition to honing their academic abilities, Prep for Prep students will be able to relationships across their contingent, with peers at their independent schools, and with alumni who are a part of their advocacy team. As a result of this support, students will experience greater feelings of belonging at their independent school.

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’13; MD, Einstein ’18

Amanda Boston (XXII/Poly Prep ‘06, Duke ‘10) MA, Duke ‘12; PhD, Brown ‘18

Pediatric Nephology Fellow, Stanford Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital

Assistant Professor of Africana Studies, University of Pittsburgh

Joseph Myrie (XXIV/Collegiate ’08, Penn ’12) Post-

Milton Syed (P9 XXIII/Exeter ’14, Harvard ’18) Investment Analyst, Elliott Management

Anthony Wright (V/Riverdale ’89, Amherst ’93) Executive Director, Health Access California

Kristen Clarke (P9 II/Choate ’93, Harvard ’97) JD, Columbia ’00 Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Justice

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Strategic Impact Goal Three: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Education Objective 1: Increase Prep for Prep’s national thought leadership through sharing its expertise Informed by more than 40 years of experience engaging with students of color and independent schools, and the data gleaned from this work, Prep for Prep will use its position as a thought leader to elevate the national conversation about educational equity and access.

Objective 2: Convene peers and work collectively towards heightened inclusion across sectors Through our work with peer organizations and partner schools, we will develop an schools need to become more inclusive.

Objective 3: Engage other educational organizations by disseminating best practices, data, and training models Prep for Prep will become the go-to resource for educational access programs and independent schools seeking best practices, data, and training models for increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our re-energized Smart Connections initiative will provide consulting and technical assistance, networking opportunities, and professional conferences for academic enrichment programs and charter schools, resulting in improved life prospects for students in the United States and around the world.

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328 West 71st Street New York, NY 10023 212.579.1470 prepforprep.org