SPRING 2026
A Message from City Year’s Stephanie Wu, Chief Transformation Officer & EVP
In 1988, when City Year was founded, the challenge was clear: young people needed support, community and opportunity to reach their full potential. Today, while we’ve made great progress, that need remains. We know students succeed when they feel connected to their classrooms, their schools and their communities.
By surrounding students with City Year student success coaches — near-peer tutors, mentors and role models — City Year shows young people what’s possible. Interactions with caring adults help students build interpersonal skills, confidence and a sense of belonging — critical ingredients for academic success.
Looking ahead, I’m optimistic. I always tell people I feel so lucky to be working on the future every day. Thank you so much for helping to make our vital work possible.
Every contribution makes a difference.
Helping Students Show Up and Succeed
Chronic absenteeism is one of the most urgent challenges in public education today. When students miss too many days of school, they fall behind and face steeper odds of graduating. The good news is, City Year AmeriCorps members serving as student success coaches help improve attendance:
- Studies on the student success coach model in California found that 50% of students who worked with coaches achieved attendance at 90% or higher after receiving support.
- At one California school, attendance rose from 75% to 85% in one year, and school leaders attributed much of that gain to the trusting relationships student success coaches built with students.
- New interim results show that City Year partner schools are demonstrating a marked and statistically significant reduction in chronic absenteeism, at twice the rate of comparison schools and six times the rate in middle schools.
“For some students, City Year [mentors] are the reason they come to school.”
— A City Year partner principal
Alums Become Leaders
Our growing network of 40,000 City Year AmeriCorps alumni has become an influential presence. Many are leveraging their City Year experience to advance into leadership roles where they are tackling complex challenges across a wide range of professions including education, business, law and public policy.
Macey Amissah-McKinney (Sacramento ‘13, ‘14), now executive director of one of City Year’s 29 sites, exemplifies this trajectory: “I serve because there are people who dared to make a difference in my life, and it is a privilege to do the same for those who come next.”
City Year donors understand that their contributions create ripple effects throughout society. We are grateful for every gift that empowers our student success coaches to have a lasting impact.
The Never-Ending Power of City Year Mentorship
At City Year, we know — and research shows — that mentorship can change lives and improve long-term outcomes for young people.
Mentoring students is a big part of what City Year AmeriCorps members do. Mentorship not only leads to better long-term outcomes for students; it can reach beyond the classroom. After serving with City Year, Rachel Teague (New Hampshire ‘06) went on to earn a doctorate in education and is now a successful knowledge-management consultant, TEDx speaker and academic coach.
She says her City Year experience allowed her to put all the pieces together: to still work in higher education, volunteer with youth, and help people learn. Her time mentoring has led to a career in mentorship.
Rachel even inspired Josh Corey, one of her mentees, to join City Year. He served with City Year New Hampshire last year and aspires to be a social worker. Both Rachel and Josh plan to continue mentoring young people. The ripple effect of City Year mentoring can make a difference for generations to come.
Better Education, Better Outcomes
More than 10 million students across America have had a City Year AmeriCorps member in their lives during a school year, which leads to better graduation rates.
As part of City Year’s commitment to innovation and collaboration, City Year partnered with multiple school districts to increase our partner schools’ capacity to use evidence-based tools and help practitioners continuously learn and refine their skills.
Our Whole School, Whole Child® approach, backed by research and in-school practice, is baked into City Year’s overall mission to drive positive systemic change.
City Year Is Opening Doors for the Teachers of Tomorrow
Many City Year AmeriCorps members who served as student success coaches are drawn to teaching. City Year is making that path more accessible through formalized teacher pathways and an expanding City Year teacher residency — supporting the next generation of educators and providing a much-needed boost to the teaching workforce.
Spending a school year (or two) working closely with students, teachers and administrators gives City Year coaches an advantage as they pursue careers in teaching. They also develop leadership skills while receiving training that can lead to overseeing classrooms of their own. Your support makes all of this possible.
Honoring Dr. King’s Vision of Service and Unity
The Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on January 19 commemorated Dr. King’s legacy, life and commitment to service. AmeriCorps members from around the country participated, and many City Year sites hosted special community service projects and events.
At the MLK Day of Service celebration in New York City, Yaricuyay (Yari) Moran, a second-year City Year AmeriCorps member, shared Maya Angelou’s 2011 poem “Abundant Hope,” written to honor Dr. King.
With a heart of faith
He hoped
To resurrect his nation.
— Maya Angelou, “Abundant Hope”
At other City Year sites across the country, our AmeriCorps members and hundreds of volunteers painted murals, updated learning spaces, packed resource kits for students and more — demonstrating the amazing power of service to uplift communities. We think Dr. King would be proud.
Fuel the Next Generation
Donating your car to City Year is an easy, tax-deductible way to help young people reach their full potential.
To learn more or get started, call (877) 957-2277.
City Year, Inc. is a 501(c) (3) tax-exempt organization (Tax ID Number: 22-2882549) and your donation is tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law. To claim a donation as a deduction on your U.S. taxes, we will follow up with a tax receipt which will show your tax-deductible portion according to IRS guidelines.
How can I make a gift of stock/securities? If you would like to make a gift of securities, please contact Andrew Kent at [email protected] or (617) 927-2364.
Can I pay through my donor-advised fund? Yes, we ask that you have your donor-advised fund gift sent to: Bank of America Lockbox Services City Year Inc. 412755, MA527-08-07, 2 Morrissey Blvd., Dorchester, MA 02125
Would you like to donate immediately? Click here to be directed to our donation page.
