Executive Summary

BRYC is a college and career readiness program founded in 2009 when two East Baton Rouge (EBR) Parish high school teachers recognized their students faced tremendous barriers to postsecondary success. What began with 15 students is now, in 2024–2025, a community of 560 8th-12th-graders and 750 alumni. BRYC’s predominantly Black, low-income participants (“Fellows”) attend 61 schools across nine parishes (counties), the majority from EBR. With 338 students per counselor, our local schools cannot offer the individualized attention Fellows require to realize college success. BRYC fills this gap with proven after-school programs at three campuses in EBR and Iberville Parish and five in-school sites , collaborating with districts to support our shared students.

Across town, affluent families pay inordinately for tuition, tutoring, and test prep to position their children advantageously for college. Equity, then, means offering equally comprehensive services for free. BRYC’s model ensures 100% of graduating seniors have clear postsecondary plans, which is why our 750 alumni complete college at a rate of 83% — 5x the national average for lower-income students. But we aren’t satisfied with completion. BRYC’s support extends through college into careers, helping alumni land jobs (including at BRYC) so they reap the economic value of their degrees.

The heartbeat of BRYC’s model is the Culture Code (thebryc.org/culture-code), a Fellow-created constitution anchored in BRYC’s core values, which guides how our staff and volunteers treat Fellows in our universal capacity as youth mentors. It’s important, but insufficient, that BRYC’s adults represent and understand our Fellows’ experience. The Culture Code reflects BRYC’s commitment to center Fellow voices always.

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