I Am Abel Foundation

The I Am Abel Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that seeks to bridge socioeconomic gaps and promote achievement amongst underrepresented minority inner city youth so that every child will have a shot at the not so impossible dream. Academic Advising: While great advice and guidance is critical, we find that because of a paucity of visible mentors, most of the students we meet early on lack confidence. Therefore, a key component to all of our academic advising is to to be affirmative and uplifting while remaining practical and pragmatic. We build confidence. Unique to our academic advising is that our advising is always affirmative. We tell our students what they CAN accomplish rather than what they can’t and focus on solutions to reach their goals. This approach is key as >90% of our students of color have been told at least once by a teacher, principal, advisor, or person in key leadership over the student, etc… that they weren’t capable of pursuing careers in STEM or medicine. Students meet with Academic advisers both in group and individual sessions 2-4x annually. We have found this to be critical to our programming for our students. They also learn early that there are absolutely NO shortcuts. They also learn what the expectations are early on for scholastic, MCAT and more so that they are prepared to not only meet the expected standards but to exceed them. One on One Physician and Med Student Mentoring: Each student is mentored ONE TO ONE with their own physician mentor as well as their own mentor from medical school who are just a few years ahead of the student. We have created a very positive and comprehensive “mentoring community” with many opportunities for mentees and mentors to bond and hopefully create lifelong relationships and our numerous networking events. Most of our students also shadow their mentors and have the opportunity to apply all that they have learned.