#GivingTuesday OneGoal

Did you go to college?  If so, what was that experience like?  And what did it take for you to get across the graduation stage?

You may have already experienced first-hand that higher education is one of the best investments an individual can make.  And yet, only 9% of students growing up in poverty in America graduate from college.  In Chicago, things don’t look much better – we’ve barely moved the needle in the past ten years.  We can do better.

My name is Sarah Berghorst, and I’m the Executive Director of OneGoal-Chicago.  OneGoal is a national, Chicago-based organization working to ensure that every young person has a real opportunity to earn a college degree – and the life that comes with it.  OneGoal’s aim is to build skills and leadership in our students so they’re getting needed support in the many steps it takes to actually apply and then enroll in college, and to practice the skills they need to succeed in college while they’re still in high school through a daily, in-school class taught by our city’s best teachers.  And it’s working.  Of the over 4,000 students we’re already serving across Chicago, 84% are enrolling in college, and of them, 77% have graduated or are persisting towards graduation.  And we’re growing every year.

What you can do.  We have seats to fill!  Today marks #GivingTuesday, a national movement to kick off our season of giving.  We’ve partnered with CrowdRise this year to harness the power of crowdsourcing to raise important funds as we expand our program to serve even more students across Chicago!  Every dollar raised goes directly to our students.  And this week, every donation of $25 or more earns us an entry to win an extra $10,000 from CrowdRise – that would give more than 12 students in Chicago a chance to get needed support from OneGoal.  Click here to donate today!

Help us kick this thing off.  Join us for a fabulous night of food, drinks, and beats at OneGoal’s newest signature event, Winter Bash: NightCaps for GradCaps.  Mingle, network, and learn how you can make an impact through the power of OneGoal’s college persistence program.  Don’t miss this opportunity to launch our Hustle for the Tassel campaign as we compete in the CrowdRise Holiday Challenge!

Thursday, December 3^rd, ContextMedia. 
Hear from Shradha Agarwal, ContextMedia’s Co-Founder and President, as she talks about her entrepreneurial spirit and why she’s involved with OneGoal.

Special guest: Micah Johnson, Chicago White Sox.

Most importantly, readers of achicagothing.com can get a 40% off ticket by clicking here and entering the promo code DEC2015!

Can’t wait to see you there.