WE'RE PROVING WHAT'S POSSIBLE
WHEN YOU EMPOWER
the
next generation
of leaders
of leaders
WITH THE SKILLS, NETWORKS, EXPERIENCES AND
CONFIDENCE NECESSARY TO LAUNCH A STRONG CAREER
CONFIDENCE NECESSARY TO LAUNCH A STRONG CAREER
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Introduction
Across our nation, there are so many talented young people with endless potential. As individuals who came from humble beginnings and later experienced economic mobility first-hand, we know this group of students can excel if given the same support and opportunities as their peers from more affluent starting points. It’s why we built Braven.
It’s been an absolute honor to watch our initial class of 47 students at National Louis University grow to a community of 526 Fellows through our university partnership and BravenX. One of the greatest privileges has been working in deep partnership with our incredible university, nonprofit, employer, and donor partners. And, we’re thrilled to continue to expand our community and impact.
As our country moves into a hopeful recovery, my colleagues and I will focus on helping more talented young people get on the path to achieve economic mobility and the freedoms it brings. We know that the recovery will not play out equitably without tremendous intentionality. We must maximize the talents of these students to improve the economic opportunities for our Fellows and their communities, to uphold the power and promise of our higher education systems, to strengthen the long term moral and economic health of our business communities and our nation as a whole.
Over the years, we’ve gotten to know many Fellows, some of whom are included in this report, and are always incredibly inspired by their talent and dedication. They prove what’s possible! We invite you to take a look through this report, which answers five questions that assess our impact in terms of Fellow outcomes, scale and program quality, skills and networks, and shared-value partnerships.
Together, because of your championship, we’re working towards a Braven future where our next generation of leaders are maximizing their full potential and living out their dreams.
Warmly,
Aimée Eubanks Davis
Founder & CEO, Braven
Jonathan Chaparro
Executive Director, Innovation Implementation & Head of Chicago
Only 30% of about 1.3 million low-income or first-generation college students who enroll each year are destined to graduate and secure a strong first job or enter graduate school.1 That’s more than 900,000 students every single year who aren't on the path to the American Dream.
1 Composite statistics based on national sources, including NCES, NACE, The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, among others
Braven empowers promising college students with the skills, confidence, experiences, and networks necessary to transition from college to strong economic opportunities, which lead to meaningful careers and lives of impact.
The next generation of leaders will emerge from everywhere.
Braven empowers promising underrepresented young people on their paths to quality economic opportunities through three offerings: our university model, BravenX, and Braven Online.
Students learn through a semester-long cohort-based course and then have access to a lighter-touch post-course experience that lasts through college graduation. In our core higher education model, students take the course for credit. In BravenX and Braven Online, students come through college success organizations and receive a financial stipend.
Nationally, major inequities play out across lines of gender and race when it comes to economic mobility after college.
The gender pay gap is actually bigger among workers with a college degree than among those without. Among workers with a bachelor’s degree, women earn 74 cents for every dollar men make, which is less than the 78 cents earned by all workers without a college degree.1
National Statistics
Among workers with a college degree, Black Americans make 78 cents and Latinx Americans make 85 cents for every dollar their white peers make.2
While Asian Americans are less likely than Americans overall to live in poverty (10% vs. 13% as of 2019), there are large differences in poverty rates among Asian American subgroups. The Pew Research Center found that 12 of 19 Asian origin groups had poverty rates that were as high as or higher than the U.S. average.3
National Statistics
2 Gould, E. (2017). “The State of American Wages 2019: A story of slow, uneven, and unequal wage growth over the last 40 years.” Economic Policy Institute
3 Budiman, A. and Ruiz, N. (2021). “Key facts about Asian Americans, a diverse and growing population.” Pew Research Center.
A quality first opportunity, whether a strong job or enrollment in a graduate degree program, helps individuals build long-term wealth and health. In Braven’s book, a strong first job requires a bachelor’s degree and is full-time, as well as includes some combination of promotion pathways, employee benefits, and a market-competitive starting salary.
National Louis University’s first graduating class of Braven Fellows are from the Class of 2019 with 4 graduates. Our 2020 class grew to 20 graduates. Many of these recent graduates secured quality opportunities in industries as varied as data science, education, and logistics. Many also landed in promising first jobs that do not quite meet our definition of a strong first job but are stepping stones to strong careers. Examples include Chicago Police Department cadet and administrative assistant.
graduates for the class of 2020
Though our pilot programs of BravenX and Braven Online are several years from their first graduating classes, we see promising signs of these Fellows’ post-college prospects.
BravenX and Braven Online Fellows in spring 2021 secured a career-accelerating opportunity for summer 2021
Before the pandemic, Fellows who identified as female outpaced Fellows who identified as male in terms of quality economic opportunity attainment.1 What’s more, female Fellows outpaced their male peers at public universities and all men nationally.2
1 Post-graduation employment data of Braven Fellows over 2016-2019
2 Sample sizes for Fellows who identify as female versus male (female n=300, male n=185)
3 National comparison figures are composite statistics calculated with figures from the NACE First-Destination Survey, Economic Policy Institute, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Strada and Burning Glass Technologies’ 2018 report The Permanent Detour, and Urban Institute.
Across all races, Braven Fellows outpaced their peers nationally in terms of strong economic opportunities. Additionally, all Braven Fellows outpaced white grads at public four-year universities.1
1 Post-graduation employment data of Braven Fellows over 2016-2019.
2 National comparison figures are composite statistics calculated with figures from the NACE First-Destination Survey, Economic Policy Institute, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Strada and Burning Glass Technologies’ 2018 report The Permanent Detour, and Urban Institute.
At Braven, we strive for a future where all Fellows reach their full potential in career and life. While we are proud of these outcomes, we recognize there is more work to be done, as there are still disparities across racial groups. Looking ahead, we plan to gather data that will allow us to do deeper analysis in two areas:
Collect further disaggregated data by subgroup as the number of Braven Fellows continues to grow. Within all of our subgroups, whether it be African American/Black, Asian, Hispanic / Latinx / Spanish, or white, there is tremendous diversity in terms of income level, ethnic background, etc.
Connect our outcomes with the factors that are most predictive of quality career outcomes (e.g. GPA, major, and internship attainment)
1 Post-graduation employment data of Braven Fellows over 2016-2019.
2 National comparison figures are composite statistics calculated with figures from the NACE First-Destination Survey, Economic Policy Institute, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Strada and Burning Glass Technologies’ 2018 report The Permanent Detour, and Urban Institute.
Amid the pandemic, Braven Fellows outpaced their peers nationally across lines of race and gender identity. However, we saw disparate impacts on some subgroups of Fellows in line with national trends. Our Fellows who identify as Black or as female were more negatively impacted.
With Braven’s help, Nya built the foundation to get on the path to the American promise.
Fellows completed the Braven course in the 2020-2021 school year in our National Louis University pilot
NPS is a widely recognized customer satisfaction benchmark. A score of 50+ is considered excellent.
In partnership with college success organizations and nonprofits, BravenX and Braven Online make career preparation more accessible to promising undergraduates from humble beginnings nationwide.
BRAVENX
BravenX is offered to Chicago-area students affiliated with college success organizations. BravenX cohorts meet in person when safe.
BRAVEN ONLINE
Braven Online is offered to students nationwide affiliated with college success organizations. Braven Online cohorts meet virtually.
Nationally, only about 6 in 10 of Braven Fellows’ peers graduate college on time.1 Fellows, who typically join us during their sophomore or junior year, are persisting and graduating at encouraging rates.
We now have a sample size large enough to share
6-year graduation data for Braven Fellows.2
1 Implied 6-year graduation rate for Black and Latinx students who persisted from freshman to sophomore year at four-year public institutions. Sources: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics, Tables 326.10, 326.30, and 306.50
2 Six-year graduation data of Braven Fellows starting at San José State University and Rutgers University-Newark up to 2014, not including those who took Braven during their senior year of college (n=209). No students took Braven as freshmen in this cohort.
Each semester, Braven measures growth in non-cognitive factors between the start and end of the Braven Accelerator. Non-cognitive factors, which are not usually measured through traditional assessments like standardized tests, are associated with academic and lifetime success and can play large roles in explaining job search and career behaviors and outcomes.1
1 Frank, J.L. (2020). School-Based Practices for the 21st Century: Noncognitive Factors in Student Learning and Psychosocial Outcomes. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Vol. 7(1) 44–51.
2 Growth in all measures statistically significant at the p < 0.05 level.
3 Saks, A.M., Zikicb, J., Koen, J. (2015). Job search self-efficacy: Reconceptualizing the construct and its measurement. Journal of Vocational Behavior, Volume 86, 104-114.
4 Reddan, G. (2015). Enhancing students’ self-efficacy in making positive career decisions. Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education,16(4), 291-300.
5 Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.
6 Angela Duckworth Grit FAQ
Job Search Self-Efficacy: The belief that you can successfully perform the behaviors required in a job search to land a job 3
Career Self-Efficacy: The belief that you can successfully perform behaviors for career planning, decision-making, and progression 4
Growth Mindset: The belief and passion for growth, change, and learning despite challenges and setbacks 5
Grit: Having long-term goals you care about, holding steadfast to these goals, and making sustained progress despite obstacles 6
For college students, internships serve as critical proof points of experience and open professional doors.
Sixty-five percent of 2019 and 2020 graduates at NLU, our first two graduating classes, had at least one internship during their college experience, which largely took place before COVID-19. This is on par with their national peers at public four-year universities.1
1 Data from the National Association of Colleges and Employers 2018-19 student survey of graduating 2019 seniors (n=1,666), latest year that data are available
2 Data from 23 National Louis University graduates in 2019 and 2020
In 2020, Braven launched a partnership with Katie Couric Media (KCM), a media company that helps brands through authentic storytelling. The media industry is notoriously difficult to break into and our partnership with KCM provided four Braven Fellows with the opportunity to intern across digital, editorial, and corporate teams at KCM to develop key skills (e.g. communication, managing, working in teams, etc.) and networks.
Experience is everything. This is a huge stepping stone for my career, and I am so grateful for the connections made.
This internship taught me to never shy away from opportunities and helped push me out of my comfort zone.
Thanks to this internship, I feel confident in getting started in the industry. I learned so many new skills I’ll be able to apply.
This internship changed my life, personally and professionally. It showed me that someone like me, who two years ago was a street vendor, has a voice. Braven was right: my story truly is my greatest asset.
During the Braven class, Fellows are paired with a Leadership Coach who mentors them for 15 weeks, helping to grow their career readiness skills.
In Fall 2019, Charla Kelsey was part of Andrew Silverman’s Fellow cohort.
Andrew was an amazing mentor. He helped me figure out what I want to do in life based on my interests. He taught me not to limit myself because of my environment or let other people put me in a small box. Now I know that anything I want to do, I can as long as I believe that I can.
As a mentor I love helping with a specific goal in mind. Charla showed great initiative with a goal of getting a summer internship which I’m thrilled she got at CIBC. We focused on interview tips and tricks and checked in throughout the internship on her experience. Seeing her continued success has been incredibly rewarding!
Braven works in full partnership with four-year institutions of higher education to add more experiential learning opportunities and connections to employers, to help undergraduates develop 21st century competencies, and to engage alumni in skills-based volunteer opportunities.
“Braven provides critical career advancement and growth opportunities for NLU's first-time freshmen students, 80% of whom are the first in their families to go to college.”
Braven works in partnership with employers to empower Fellows on their path to strong first jobs, while helping employers develop their own talent into inclusive leaders through mentoring and coaching opportunities. Additionally, employers have access to diverse talent and opportunities to leverage their resources for unparalleled social impact.
“In a time of deep uncertainty, partnering with Braven has been a concrete way to be part of the movement for racial and economic justice.”
A Better Chicago
Anonymous
Charles Ashby Lewis and Penny Bender Sebring
Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies
Charter School Growth Fund
Cleveland Avenue Foundation for Education
Crown Family Philanthropies
Dani Petrie
David Cohen & Kristin Argo
Finnegan Family Foundation
Invest For Kids
Kelly Mannard
Paula Sneed & Lawrence Bass
Paul M. Angell Foundation
Prosper Road Foundation
Rebekah Eubanks
Siragusa Family Foundation
Square One Foundation
Strada Education Network
The 1954 Project
The Mayer and Morris Kaplan Family Foundation
The Osa Foundation
LEAD PARTNERS
$250K+ & programmatic support
Deloitte
NBA Foundation
Salesforce
Workday
ANCHOR PARTNERS
$100K+ & programmatic support
LinkedIn
KEYSTONE PARTNERS
$25K+ & programmatic support
CME Group Foundation
Northern Trust
UBS
INNOVATION PARTNERS
$5K+ & programmatic support
BMO Harris Bank
CIBC Bank
FTI Consulting
Gucci
KPMG LLP
Loop Capital
Medline
IMPACT PARTNERS
<$5K and/or programmatic support
Anonymous
Cramer Krasselt
JPMorgan
Kindle Communications
Tegus
True Search