Our Mission

MexEd is a non-profit agency that seeks to promote educational attainment and community leadership among Mexican immigrants and their children, especially the undocumented.

Our main vehicle for accomplishing this mission currently is the Mexican Mentorship Project based at Washington Irving High School in Union Square, where we also offer a once a week after school program. We also offer programming at a church in the South Bronx.

We seek to provide information about college to students and their parents via community outreach events in schools with lots of Mexican students and at community groups. We have had standing room only with crowds of well over 300 in their outreach events for the City University of New York (CUNY). By putting this information in the hands of Mexican students and their parents, we are helping them rethink their future options.

We also offer a mentorship program and an after school program. The mentoring is one on one, two hours a week, with caring, dedicated adults working with Mexican high schoolers (“Mexican” here means Mexican or Mexican American.) The after school program attracts a larger number of students, and meets once a week, doing programs focused on education, preparation for college, and also recreational and social activities. These two activities have begun to change the micro-culture among Mexicans in the school. Instead of saying, “Mexicans don't go to college,” or “I won't be able to go,” they are talking about what they want to study.

MexEd has sought to foster strategic alliances that will enable it to multiply its impact. MexEd has formed a strong alliance with CUNY to work with Mexican community leaders to advance its work. A key accomplishment was an agreement between the Mexican Consulate and CUNY in which they pledged to promote this agenda. Among its provisions is the training Mexican community leaders as “CUNY Ambassadors” who will act as informal CUNY admissions counselors, helping prospective students negotiate the application process. CUNY also offers in-state tuition to undocumented students that meet certain requirements as a result of 2001 New York state law that expanded who can qualify for resident tuition.

• Robert Smith, co-founder
  Dr. Smith has worked for the last 18 years studying Mexican immigration to New York , including working closely for the last five with Angelo Cabrera, president of CUNY's Mexican American Student Association (MASA). His research, funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation and other entities, has sought to learn about why and how Mexican youth do well or poorly in school and in the labor market. He recently published “ Mexican New York ” which documents his research in New York 's rapidly growing Mexican community. He has acted directly on the insights of this research, working closely with community groups, especially MASA and MexEd, to design effective interventions to aid in their efforts to help the community. The Mexican Mentorship Project is the result of this collaboration.
  
• Israel Garcia, member, board of directors
  
• Yesenia Ruiz, after school program coordinator
  
• Blanca Ibanez, mentorship program coordinator