of long-term life-changing legacies
For a decade, Elevate Indianapolis has been redefining economic mobility for urban youth through life-changing relationships and holistic mentoring. Join us as we celebrate 10 years of impact and look ahead to the next chapter.
2015
Local business leaders with the support of the Sagamore Institute and Indianapolis Public Schools visited Elevate Orlando to experience the impact of its mission firsthand as they considered launching a local affiliate. With a vision for supporting Indianapolis urban students holistically shaped by this visit, Steve Cosler, our first Board chair, and Jim Shaffer, our first executive director, and other Board members founded Elevate Indianapolis.
2016
January marked the launch of our Eastside Pipeline with 45 students in two in-school classes at our first partner school, IPS Arsenal Tech High School, coupled with life-on-life mentoring experiences after school, on weekends, during breaks, and throughout the summer.
Superintendent, IPS
November 14, 2017
2018
Our Eastside Pipeline expanded to include partnerships with IPS H.L. Harshman Middle School and IPS Theodore Potter Elementary #74 and produced a 95% graduation rate while serving 500+ students in Grades 4 to 12. Our current president & CEO, Aaron Story took the helm in January.
2019
After in-depth development of our Eastside Pipeline for three years, we began to focus on our city’s Westside with a pipeline anchored at George Washington High School. We served 600+ Grade 4 to 12 students in five partner schools. This same year, Arthur Dean Family Foundation became an impact partner with its generous support.
2020
Due to the global pandemic, we held virtual classes and mentoring sessions and made hundreds of socially-distanced home visits. To fill in gaps, we delivered food and basic necessities, gave gift cards, and loaned laptops and iPads. Confronted with the extreme isolation and painful loss, we provided mental support and social connection for our students and their families. Despite shutdowns and restrictions, we pivoted to fulfill our mission.
2021
We deepened our longstanding commitment to measurable impact by prioritizing the tracking of vital data and maximizing the capabilities of our Thriving Youth Dashboard, our Salesforce-based impact tracking platform. We stepped up integration of data evaluation into organizational decision-making with strengthened infrastructure and creation of a website that highlights current metrics for heightened transparency.
2022
To bolster our Eastside Pipeline impact, we partnered with Purdue Polytechnic High School - Englewood, Paramount Middle School - Englewood, and Thomas Gregg Neighborhood School. We reached a 100% graduation rate with 47 seniors earning their high school diplomas while serving 1,000+ students in eight partner schools as well as alumni. Holding fast to “Once in Elevate, Always in Elevate,” we increased alumni support with more mentoring and events for this ever-growing group. First-time experiences stretched students and sharpened their social-emotional skills through expanded sports & adventure mentoring.
2023
Broadening our reach, we welcomed our fourth high school partner, Shortridge High School, and served 1,250+ Grade 4 to 12 students in nine partner schools and alumni. With the support of the IPS Foundation and our Board, we collaborated with Arsenal Tech High School and Ivy Tech Community College to provide life-on-life mentoring and college and career support for its first cohort of students pursuing dual credit via the Early College Program that launched in January.
2024
Maturing high school partnerships and staff expansions enabled us to serve 1,400+ Grade 3 to 12 students and alumni with in-school classes and out-of-school programming in nine partner schools while building our strategic pipeline through our collaboration with DREAM Alive that acts as a bridge for middle school students transitioning to high school.
2025
Our largest class of seniors graduated with 94 entering college, trade school, or living-wage employment. The new literacy focus of our leadership-level in-school class Elevater served three elementary school partners. With the investment of a record number of corporate partners and individual volunteers, we continued to double down on college and career mentoring and sports & adventure programming that empowers and equips for lifelong impact in students’ lives.
2035
Be Part of Our Next Chapter
A welcome challenge, each year we encounter a record number of alumni and incoming seniors. Elevating this generation of emerging leaders for the transformation of our city requires partnership with our community. To provide quality services, we need your investment of time + talent + treasure. Please consider this question … what could we do together?
Thank you to our board members
Through the years, these board members gave their time, talent, and treasure to Elevate. Grateful for your investment and leadership!