Mission

EDUCATIONAL DIVIDE REFORM, INC. IS A NONPROFIT 501(C)(3) ORGANIZATION ESTABLISHED IN MASSACHUSETTS IN 2013. ITS MISSION IS TO ADVANCE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL INCLUSION, AND DEMOCRATIC IDEALS THROUGH EARLY ADOLESCENT AND YOUTH EDUCATION. THE ORGANIZATION HAS A STRONG TRADITION OF SERVING DISADVANTAGED YOUTH IN THE UNITED STATES AND ABROAD, INCLUDING NORTH KOREAN REFUGEES. SINCE 2016, IT HAS OPERATED A PROGRAM CALLED STEP UP, WHICH SUPPORTS LOW-INCOME IMMIGRANT STUDENTS IN THE GREATER BOSTON AREA BY IMPROVING THEIR ACADEMIC PROSPECTS AND REDUCING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY INEQUALITY. MANY IMMIGRANT STUDENTS AND FIRST-GENERATION AMERICAN STUDENTS WHOSE PARENTS ARE IMMIGRANTS FACE A COMBINATION OF LINGUISTIC, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC, AND TECHNOLOGICAL BARRIERS. IN ADDITION, CHALLENGES SUCH AS ANGER ISSUES, VIOLENCE, LOW SELF-ESTEEM, AND DIFFICULTIES AT HOME HAVE THREATENED THEIR MOTIVATION FOR STUDYING AND THEIR ABILITY TO PERSIST AND SUCCEED ACADEMICALLY.