Unlock Your Potential

Youth Leadership

A study conducted by North Carolina State University showed that youth from disadvantaged backgrounds are twice as likely to attend college when they have a mentor.

Closing the Gap

Participating students, regardless of their curriculum or area of study, leave our programs feeling more confident, self-aware, and prepared to uncover their future.

We offer services designed to cultivate student leaders, motivate and inspire student engagement, improve student performance, and encourage post-secondary success. All of our programs can be customized to fit the unique needs of a school and student body.

Today’s young people face an opportunity divide – a gap between those who have the access, skills and opportunities to be successful and those who do not. Closing this opportunity divide is one of the most important actions we can all take to secure the future of our youth and the future of our global economy.

Current Programs

Lunch with a Leader

The goal of the highly successful~ Lunch with a Leader program is to expose students to successful professionals with similar backgrounds and experiences who are willing to authentically share their personal journey in hopes of inspiring the next generation to Strive for Success.

An area leader from Corporate, Government, Academia or the Non-Profit sector speaks to a group of students over the lunch hour about their educational and career background as well as share ‘pearls of wisdom.’

Additionally, the Leader will bring resources from their organization to mingle and interact with students one-on-one. This will allow the students to hear from a local ‘hero/shero” as well as directly interact with professionals from local organizations. To ensure that students get the most out of the event, a pre-luncheon session is conducted at each school to prepare the students for their speaker and the Lunch With A Leader experience.

Behind the Business

Based on the philosophy that awareness leads to knowledge, the Behind the Business program was established to address the student disengagement and drop-out issue. The more students understand about career opportunities and options, the more informed are their decisions about education and their future.

The Behind the Business Program is designed for students from elementary to high school. The program includes 4 weeks of in-class instruction about general business concepts, business protocol and etiquette, career and post-secondary information. Also, professionals from chosen industries visit the classes and speak to the students about their journey to success. The culminating event is a visit, by a class of students, to a local business to get a glimpse of what goes on “behind the scenes.”

The program goal is to expose students to a cross-section of professions and professionals representing various industries and career opportunities (Executives, Legal, Technology, Operations, Sales, Finance, Marketing, etc) while also intertwining the academic skills and knowledge required to succeed.

Adopt-A-School

The Adopt-A-School Program is an initiative designed to create partnerships between local companies and elementary and high schools. The goal of the Adopt-A-School Program is to foster an environment of academic achievement, while creating potential pipelines to future employment. The students and their families will have the option to receive a plethora of supports in the form of mentoring, special events, school-based programs and field trips.

Project Ready Mentor Program

Project Ready is a signature youth program of the National Urban League. This program prepares youth for the critical transition from high school to college and/or professional work. TriZen, LLC project manages and facilitates this program in partnership with the Urban League of Philadelphia. The Project Ready curriculum is comprised of three key components: social development, cultural and global awareness and academic development.

GEAR UP - College and Career Readiness Program

GEAR UP is a program funded by the United States Department of Education to help low-income students succeed in school and post-secondary education. This seven year grant in partnership with the School District of Philadelphia. TriZen, LLC has participated on three GEAR UP grants and provided direct service programs focused on college and career readiness to over 5,000 students over the past 10+ years.

LincABLE Internship Program

The Lincoln Financial Internship Program is an initiative administered by the Urban League of Philadelphia and TriZen, LLC in partnership with Lincoln Financial Group in an effort to link education to opportunity for 12th grade students. The goal of this program is to enhance the employment and economic outlook of the student’s future by providing a project-based paid internship experience focusing on financial literacy, knowledge of money markets, college preparation and mentorship.

Empowering Scholars Summer Camp

For the past 3 years, TriZen has been the project manager and facilitator in partnership with the Urban League of Philadelphia Empowering Scholars Summer Camp. This four-week summer program for rising 6th, 7th and 8th grade students, designed to provide Academic Enrichment, Career Exposure and Leadership Development. A STEM-focused theme has been adopted to enhance problem-solving and social skills and expose students to STEM careers. Through the facilitation of interactive activities (social recreation is intertwined in the curriculum of each area of focus), students will be engaged mentally, socially and physically throughout the program.

This experience is the result of a partnership between the Urban League of Philadelphia and The William Penn Foundation.

Youth Empowerment Day

TriZen’s signature youth leadership program is Youth Empowerment Day, an annual youth symposium for middle and high school students within Philadelphia and the surrounding areas. The goal of Youth Empowerment Day is to empower students to expand their 21st Century Skills and link their Education to Opportunity by attending workshops hosted by area professionals and learning about the plethora of careers available to them. Students will participate in a “Lunch with a Leader’ program, which allows students to have lunch, network and learn from youth empowerment presenters.

Summer Internship Programs

TriZen, LLC has administered summer internship programs for high school and college students for over 7 years. We are adept at identifying companies and organizations that are interested in contributing to the successful career development of our youth while exposing our youth to the world of work. We also provide professional development to the students to assist them in the development of workforce development skills.