Student Leadership Network

Student Leadership Network supports young people growing up in diverse underserved communities gain access to higher education, helping them fulfill their dreams. Student Leadership Network believes in the potential of all students and is cultivating a generation of young people empowered to lead. The organization works with every student, developing their abilities to achieve their educational ambitions. Its three-decade track record demonstrates higher college enrollment and graduation rates, significantly surpassing national benchmarks. Student Leadership Network advances educational equity by increasing access to higher education in under-resourced public schools nationwide through two models:  The Young Women’s Leadership model elevates practices in girls'+ schools that lead to success and ultimately change the face of leadership. It is currently being implemented at 24 schools nationwide and impacts 12,300 students. The co-ed CollegeBound Initiative model develops college-going school cultures — creating high expectations and viable pathways for post-secondary success. It is currently being implemented at 50 schools nationwide and impacts 37,350 students. Student Leadership Network students are prepared to thrive, not only in school but in life. Higher education yields greater economic mobility, deeper civic engagement, and improved health. Communities are lifted, and the country is stronger. When all students succeed, we ALL succeed.

Educational Equity for all

Goal One: Scaling Our Work

Goal Two: Increasing Alumni Engagement

Goal Three: Strengthening Our Outcomes & Deepening Our Understanding of our Impact

SL Network’s leadership training and development is addressed and implemented based on our organization's evolving needs and in response to both internal and external factors. Our Leadership Team meets weekly and retreats quarterly, and we facilitate quarterly meetings for our Management Team and monthly all-staff meetings. At the end of each gathering, staff are surveyed for their feedback regarding their opinion on the training and what additional professional development they would like to receive. These efforts are now overseen by SL Network’s first Director of Talent and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), who joined our team in January 2021 and has been charged with facilitating management and leadership training through the lens of DEI and developing additional opportunities for staff development. Finally, each department has their own professional development budget to support more role-specific training.

SL Network adapted well to external changes in the past year, we remain strong organizationally, programmatically, and financially. This said, SL Network is not immune to the incredible impact of the COVID-19 crisis and recent racial reckoning in the United States, and our staff and students are showing great resilience. We met our students where they were, and staff worked at all hours to meet with students whenever they could. We listened to current students and alumni to understand their changing needs and provided real-time support and resources based on what we heard. For example, we worked with each TYWLS school to provide counseling and other mental health support to students, and facilitated more opportunities for CBI students to meet with alumni and college reps later in the year as the pandemic delayed their college decision-making process. While college-related outcomes are down nationally, we continue to trend above national averages thanks to our team’s relentless efforts.