According to their mission statement, Uncommon Good seeks to break the cycle of poverty among young children through the aggressive pursuit of education. Along with the mentoring program Uncommon Good also has green and health care initiatives, which sponsors young health professionals who work with the poor.

Founded in 2000 and based in Claremont, CMC students and alumni are involved with the organization in a variety of capacities. At the end of the past academic year, there were 44 CMC student mentors (40% of the 5Cs total), and 63% of the organization’s total mentoring force were from the Claremont Colleges.

SOURCE, CMC’s student-managed non-profit consulting organization sponsored by the Kravis Institute, has a team of students working with Uncommon Good during the academic year. Roxanne Phen ’10, mentor and former SOURCE team leader, comments:

“The SOURCE Uncommon Good team works closely with the nonprofit on capacity building, aiding in the writing of grants and recruitment of mentors at the Claremont Colleges, among other things…this not only gave me a deeper understanding of how nonprofits work, but inspired me to explore alternative funding sources for traditionally nonprofit causes in my year-long thesis. My hope is that I can continue to work on these issues as I start my career.”

You may also remember that Roxanne presented the gist of her thesis at the Ath idea night –and won. She also helped her mentee pay her way to a leadership conference for which she had been nominated through fundraising efforts.

Requirements for mentees to be matched with a mentor (other than the availability of a mentor – there are currently over 60 kids on the waiting list!) are that they be in good academic standing, come from a lower income or troubled household, and that they want a mentor. The requirements insure that students work with mentees that are bright and motivated to learn from their older role models, and in many cases just need that support from someone older to become motivated to attend college.

To be a mentor, one must be a good role models, meet with one’s mentee for at least an hour every week, and be a steady source of support for one’s mentees with a full year commitment. When mentors graduate they are tasked with re-matching their mentee to another student who they believe would be a good match for their mentee.

Mike Peel, CMC ’07 and Uncommon Good’s Development Director, is a huge advocate of the organization as well as their mentoring program. “Uncommon Good has been an experience that has surpassed my expectations for a career choice. The organization’s unique and multi-faceted approach to poverty and environmental issues ensures that I am constantly being challenged and growing as a professional.” While a CMC student Mike also founded SOURCE, CMC’s student-managed non-profit consulting organization.

Uncommon Good is a great organization to get involved with when you get back on campus if you are looking to give back to the community in a fun and meaningful way. If you are interested in becoming a mentor, you can apply to be one here – if you apply now you will also skip the longer waiting process in September.

Some more comments by CMC students and alumni:

“This has been one of my most rewarding experiences at college! Vincent is like my little brother away from home. My influence academically speaking has taken hold as he keeps up with his grades, is reading on a daily basis, keeps a list of words he doesn’t understand and looks them up in the dictionary.” –Charlie Sarosy, CMC ‘10

Claudia Lopez, CMC ’10, has been matched with her mentee, Nina, since her freshman year. “I got involved because I was a tutor in high school. I found out that this is a lot more fun, plus I feel like I really make a difference in Nina’s life. She didn’t know anything about college when we met, but now she knows that going to college is attainable for her.

“I thoroughly enjoyed my time as a mentor, and in retrospect it was one that defined my college career because it had such a big impact on me.” –Greg Hall, CMC ‘09

According to Mr. Arnold, the decision to keep the stipend at $3,000 (it was $3,000 last year as well) came when the Career Services Center reported receiving a record number of applications. KLI found itself trying to raise enough money for every applicant and has been mostly successful, but is unable to raise the stipend amount this year.

“KLI elected to retain the $3,000 stipend amount in order to maximize the number of internships we could support,” said Arnold in an interview today. “The challenge is a positive one in that [Career Services and the Kravis Institute] collectively got more applications this year than have ever been received– over 180, as compared to about 130 last year.”

Although Mr. Arnold reports that the KLI will be able to support “the great majority” of applicants, he says they will not know the final numbers for at least a month because many students have applications that are not complete. This includes applicants who are waiting to hear back from their organization or are still searching for an internship. “We won’t know what the final picture will look like for another month,” says Mr. Arnold.

Since the KLI program’s pilot year five years ago, many students have come to depend on CMC’s sponsored internship program, which provides students who choose certain non-profit, unpaid internships with a stipend for living expenses such as housing and food. In the past, KLI internships have involved domestic organizations from the Heritage Foundation to Habitat for Humanity (KLI’s 2007 international internships are listed here). When asked what he would do if CMC cannot fund his internship with the Sierra Club in San Francisco, Joe Swartley ’11 says, “I don’t know what I would do… I would probably wash cars or work at a retail store to make money.”

Other sponsored internships are available through CMC, including the McKenna International Program. The McKenna International Program is in the 9^th of a 10 year gift from Donald McKenna.

Even though the program has an application process, in past years almost all students were awarded a stipend for their internships. According to Mr. Arnold, this is not subject to change, but it is obviously more difficult to raise money for over 180 students than it is for 130 students or fewer. It is a task to raise money because funds may not come from tuition or fees paid for by students themselves. “The students contribute zero to a program that last year provided over $300,000 in stipends,” says Mr. Arnold.

“Henry Kravis has provided the institute with a lot of funding, some of which has been directed toward growing the internship program,” says Mr. Arnold. “There have been major gifts in the past couple years from [CMC Trustee] Shaw B. Wagener ’81, and members of the KLI Advisory Board, such as Duane Kurisu [Parent '08], as well as others. President Gann has also been directly involved in securing funding.” Mr. Arnold emphasizes that a lot of people have been instrumental in supporting the programs, even though it is more of a collaborative effort than a centralized one.

Despite some disappointment from students who were anticipating more in funding, CMC’s sponsored internships have come a long way in the past five years when they were started. Three years ago, stipends were increased from $2,500 to $3,000. This year, more than $500,000 will be awarded in stipends.

“We want to be as supportive as possible, keeping in mind the increased demand,” says Mr. Arnold. “I understand the concern about funding… but it is a program that has grown because of the great support by the administration and through faculty involvement in the academic portion of the internships.”
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Example e-mail:

“Greetings, Your summer internship application has been received and reviewed for support by the Kravis Leadership Institute (KLI). Pending final confirmation from your organization of acceptance and responsibilities, I expect the KLI will be able to support your internship with a $3,000 stipend to cover expenses associated with your otherwise unpaid internship. Please continue to provide any additional relevant information to the Career Service Center. Additional information concerning academic requirements will be forthcoming. You will be required to attend an internship meeting in April to go over the requirements of the program. Details about this meeting will also be forthcoming.”