Rise, founded in 2017, is a college student and youth-led nonprofit fighting to advance social mobility and make higher education more accessible and affordable for all by educating and inspiring young people to become the civic leaders of tomorrow. Rise’s unique peer-led leadership programming model empowers students to become engaged in lifelong civic participation as leaders who contribute to more equitable systems across our nation.
Since 2017, Rise has trained over 5,000 young people to use their voices and lived experiences to build students' power and make college more affordable. From free college advocacy to youth voter mobilization to civic engagement training, Rise invests in students because we believe they have everything they need within them to create a better future.
We believe in empowering young people with the tools to articulate and engage others around our visions for a more just and equitable future. We develop our fellow young people’s skills to become advocates around the issues that have the most potential to improve our futures. Central to our work is engaging students around issues that most deepy impact them, like college affordability. Equitable access to higher education has the ability to dismantle systemic inequity in our nation and improve nearly every issue in our country.
We educate and employ student organizers with the skills to advocate for college affordability as a national issue. Our network of thousands of activists across the country are united by a shared curriculum and programming that equips youth with a variety of personal and professional development capabilities including: confidence, leadership, management, teamwork, collaboration, communications. public speaking, advocacy, accountability, self-determination and organization.
Watch the video to learn more about our Leadership Training Program, Rise University.
Rise’s mission is to build students’ political power to ensure the cost of higher education never prevents students from pursuing their dreams. We believe the right values are necessary to create an environment where students can thrive to their full potential as our nation's next generation of leaders. The four core values that drive our work are student agency, equity & inclusion, innovation and empowerment.
13535 Ventura Blvd, Suite C, 513
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423