I never loved school, even though I was always pretty good at it. My classes just never really fulfilled my curiosity. Luckily, my parents were always putting me in exciting (and some not so exciting) after school activities. I had Frank’s Science Den where I’d learn all about cool science stuff like Van de Graaff generators and model rockets. I participated in Odyssey of the Mind where I put my early engineering skills to the test in a competition to see which team (or team’s parents to be more accurate) could build a balsa wood structure that held the most weight. There was Little League, which I loved, and soccer, which I didn’t love. I started playing the drums in 5th grade, and went to all kinds of camps over the summers (but never sleep away). Some of these activities were quite affordable, but others came with a pretty decent price tag. Fortunately, my parents had the resources to let me try all kinds of enrichment activities. Many children across our country aren’t so lucky. The only access they have to enrichment programs are those which are free, and the free ones often get overcrowded in a flash. Urban Enrichment is a new, New York City based non-profit that is making “it possible for elementary school students from low-income families to attend the high-quality artistic and athletic enrichment programs that already exist in New York City.”

Enrich Your Life

Although none of my after school activities directly led me to what I’m doing now (the closest was probably Internet camp back when AOL was still new), I’m sure that they helped my overall education. Moreover, I think that entrepreneurship is to enrichment programs as school is to corporate jobs, so I guess those enrichment programs really did have an effect on me. The way Urban Enrichment works is that they raise money and sponsor students to do all kinds of enrichment programs even if they’re in other neighborhoods. Urban Enrichment’s funding model is the basis of how the organization works, since one of the main goals of the organization is to fund after school activities for students. So far they’ve made some pretty strong progress with 45 students from East Harlem enrolled in enrichment activities, 80% of them participating in multiple semesters, and $80,000 in scholarships, grants, and private donations secured for students. Since Urban Enrichment is such a new non-profit, they don’t have any job opportunities posted right now, but I think that will change. They already have a posting for an unpaid internship on Idealist, and I expect a lot of growth in the near future. If you want to get in with an exciting startup non-profit, you’re going to have to reach out to them before they start posting jobs. Here’s your chance.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• UENYC.org
• Jobs at Urban Enrichment (Idealist)
• About Urban Enrichment
• Urban Enrichment’s Team
• Contact Urban Enrichment

What was your favorite after school activity?

We've identified Urban Enrichment as having career opportunities in the following categories:

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• non-profit
• program development
• sports

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One response to “Urban Enrichment”

1. Marc Alter says:

   July 11, 2010 at 5:23 pm

   Thanks for writing about Urban Enrichment! We’re very excited to be making so much progress in NYC and we welcome any talented individuals looking to gain experience as an intern at a growing non-profit startup. If you’re interested in a position during the rest of the summer or for the Fall, please send an email to info [at] uenyc.org and we’ll respond promptly.

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