Our Story
In 1984, STRIVE was founded in East Harlem to tackle the chronic unemployment and poverty that plagued disenfranchised communities across New York City.
Our groundbreaking approach of intensive mindset training and long-term wraparound support services proved to be a successful model for helping people who face the greatest societal barriers to upward mobility access good jobs with pathways to promising careers and financial empowerment.
Over the following decades STRIVE has honed a unique workforce model and matured as an organization, scaling up through our flagship site in East Harlem and through partner organizations and cities across the nation. Since 1984, STRIVE has prepared more than 85,000 people for success at work and in life, gaining national recognition for our programs and an exceptional job placement rate of 70%.
Today, the need for STRIVE in underserved communities across the nation continues. Even with a strong economy, 5 million adults were unemployed in 2019. That number has now risen to 11 million. The pandemic made a hard situation even worse for those who face multiple societal barriers to economic stability and damaged many families’ financial security. This is especially true for many immigrants, Black and Indigenous people, young adults, returning citizens, and those trying to move from public assistance to financial independence.
In this problem, STRIVE sees an opportunity… and has a solution. Employers need a pipeline of talent for jobs that are going unfulfilled. STRIVE can access that pipeline of untapped talent—workers who are determined to succeed. We are ready with a comprehensive model that trains students in the skills and approaches that employers seek and that create a path to careers offering upward mobility. STRIVE prepares students with the most current in-demand skills for good careers in thriving industries with opportunity for growth. With 38 years of experience in successfully refining and replicating STRIVE programs in new cities and with new partners, we continue to elevate our leading, nationally-recognized organization to new levels of excellence and impact in communities of need.