Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Former First Lady Amy Rule Donate $50,000 to Create College Scholarships for BAM and WOW Alumni

CHICAGO, Jan. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and former First Lady Amy Rule announced a $50,000 philanthropic gift in support of the evidence-based Becoming A Man® (BAM®) and Working on Womanhood (WOW) programs, developed and implemented by nonprofit Youth Guidance. The donation will be utilized to provide scholarships to BAM and WOW Alumni, enabling students who face a gap between the available financial aid and their college costs to pursue a college education. 

Former Mayor Emanuel currently serves as the Founding Executive Chair of the National BAM Advisory Council, which champions the expansion of BAM nationally. BAM is a school-based group counseling and mentoring program that currently serves over 7,000 youth in Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and the Seattle area and is expanding to Kansas City, MO and Dallas. WOW currently serves over 2000 young women in Chicago. Former First Lady Rule has participated in numerous WOW circles across the City of Chicago and has mentored WOW alumni.

"I have participated in nearly a dozen BAM sessions and Amy has participated in numerous WOW sessions. We have seen first-hand the incredible impact mentoring has had on young men and women's life choices. For far too many of them, the barriers have outnumbered the opportunities. We've been so inspired by their commitment to their dreams and we want to do our part to make it possible for them to take the next step in their educational journey. We want to ensure their success and hopefully this donation will help," said former Mayor Rahm Emanuel.  

"Our alumni are talented and motivated to pursue college and give back to their communities, but often do not have access to the resources necessary to cover the remaining expenses after receiving financial aid. We are tremendously grateful for the former mayor and first lady's gift, which will meet the needs of youth by supporting their college goals through scholarships," said Youth Guidance CEO Michelle Adler Morrison.

About BAM

BAM is a school-based, group counseling and mentoring program that draws from the fields of youth development, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Rites of Passage to help young men learn and internalize six Core Values: Integrity, Accountability, Self-Determination, Positive Anger Expression, Respect for Womanhood, and Visionary Goal-Setting. For an overview of the BAM program click here.

The University of Chicago Urban Labs has published two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating BAM's impact, and has found that BAM increased on-time high school graduation rates and decreased arrests for the students it serves. To read the studies, click here.

WOW is a multifaceted, school year-long group counseling and clinical mentoring program. WOW works to improve social-emotional competencies for girls in 7th-12th grade exposed to traumatic stressors in high risk and under-resourced communities. Launched in 2011, the school-based program runs throughout the academic year and currently serves over 2,000 students. 

Contact: Rebecca Clarkin, [email protected], 312.994.8101

SOURCE Youth Guidance

Related Links

www.youth-guidance.org