Urban Ed Academy was founded as part of a strategy to inspire excitement for learning in young boys of color by matching them with mentors who looked like them.
Every child deserves to see themselves in the classroom.
From 2010 to 2016, SMART+ Saturdays introduced over 800 boys in San Francisco to STEM project-based learning experiences led by Black and Brown men. The strategy worked on Saturdays but students deserve more — we need Black men working full-time as educators.
Under the leadership of former Executive Director, Randy Seriguchi, we launched the Man the Bay initiative which evolved into our 4-year Educator Fellowship program. This program addresses the intertwining challenges of the educator shortage, the lack of culturally responsive training, and the housing crisis.
Urban Ed has been investing in solutions that innovatively tackle these challenges since 2018.
4-year program that recruits Black male college graduates to the teaching profession. Fellows receive culturally relevant training, support throughout the educator credentialing process, housing in the communities they teach, and mentorship.
The program helps communities by assisting with the current teacher shortage crisis, and by providing a more diverse educator pipeline because representation matters in narrowing the opportunity gap.
Finding affordable housing can be tough, especially in the Bay Area and on an educator salary.
We work with folks in the community to offer free housing to our Fellows. We also give housing subsidies to homeowners who want to help, especially Black homeowners.
We help Black homeowners get the money they need to build housing on their property for our educator Fellows.
SMART+ Program offers year-round FREE and engaging learning experiences tailored for San Francisco Middle School students.
This unique program is designed to nurture the creativity of youth and connect them with local Black entrepreneurs, provide STEAM lessons, representative mentorship through nature, financial literacy, life skills, and community building.
Together, these programs reflect our dedication to creating impactful, well-rounded experiences that empower and inspire the youth we serve.
This program isn’t just good for the educators – it’s good for the communities, too. Right now, there aren’t enough teachers, and that’s a big problem. By bringing in new, diverse teachers, we’re helping address the teacher shortage. We know that having teachers who look like the students they teach is important. It helps students do better in school.
Looking to understand our impact over the years? Take a look at any of our impact reports or email us with questions at contact@urbanedacademy.org. The impact reports below are available for download.
Urban Ed Academy supports and encourages research efforts around teacher representation. Please contact us at contact@urbanedacademy.org if you are interested in exploring Urban Ed’s work in an academic or research setting. The research reports below are available for download.
Office
1485 Bayshore Blvd.
Suite 317
San Francisco CA 94214
(415) 330–1015
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