A Message From Our CEO

The newest impact report has arrived

Hear from our CEO and Co-Founder, Michael Lynch, about our newest impact data:

This is the best moment for our work.

Not the easiest. Not the most funded. But the best. Because when DEI initiatives are being slashed and doorsare closing for young men of color—that’s precisely when intentional, school-based mentorship matters most.

In 2013, my best friend Mike Casper and I returned to our old high school to start IYT and saw what we already knew: young men full of potential were falling through the cracks — not because they lacked ability, but because they lacked someone in their corner. We had made it to college because a mentor believed in us.

We came back to be that for someone else.

Today, we serve over 5,280 students across 80 sites in six states. We’re building something generational. We can’t undo 400 years of racial inequity in 15 years, but we can create a pipeline where young men of color aren’t the exception in college, they’re the expectation. And it’s happening. 100% of our seniors graduated high school and 86% entered college or career pathways.

The impact of that pipeline generates resounding returns. Every dollar invested in IYT produces an estimated $37 in economic impact. That’s over $535 million in increased lifetime earnings and $487 million in taxpayer savings.

This isn’t just education. This is economic mobility at scale.

But we can’t do this alone. To scale this work—to serve more deeply and broadly across the country—we need partners who see what we see: that young men of color aren’t problems to be managed. They’re leaders waiting to be unleashed. Despite the headwinds, this is the best moment for our work because our students need us now more than ever.

And we’re not backing down.

With determination and gratitude,

Michael Lynch
CEO & Co-Founder

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