Follow the story of how we are working in Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is small enough to fix.
Serious enough to prove the model.
All spending is wallet-traceable. You will see exactly who is being paid, for what, and what outcomes are achieved. We do crowdsourced impact, not checkbook charity. We build with people, not for people. We measure what matters.
Pick a lane. Every dollar goes to a person, not an org.
Back one student, onesession at a time.
Learn with a tutor. You pick the student, a music lesson, a coachingsession, a tutoring hour. We match a skilled local.
One family, a whole team,one school year.
A tutor for the child. A mentor for the teen. A coach for the parent. A wraparound team built around one family for one school year.
For families and foundations planting infrastructure
For donors who want their commitment to be a measurable, visible piece of Annapolis. Empower this to launch to long term change.
The numbers don't lie
We picked Annapolis because it’s measurable, urgent, and small enough to fix — and unbelievably faithful. There is nowhere to hide a result, good or bad.
Widest wealth gap after D.C.
$44
3,500
3 blocks
U.S. Census ACS 5-year estimates, 2022 • Maryland Report Card 2023 • NCES, 2022–23 • IPEDS, 2022 All figures rounded. We lead with the truth so you can see why we chose this place — and what’s possible.
People don’t need rescue. They need a team.
1. Identify
Identify: A family or student is referred — by a school, church, a community partner, or a neighbor. They opt in. Agency starts with consent.
2. Build
UpFrom builds a mentor team around them — a tutor for the student, a mentor for the teen, a coach for the parent, a trusted connector for the next step. Visible providers. Local network.
3. Track
Continue to support and build together. Every gift gets a monthly update.
Annapolitans.
All of them
Annapolis is changing. The families our teams support are working families — some who built the city across generations, some who arrived in the last decade. Different stories. Same need: teams behind.
Multi-generational Black Annapolitans
Annapolis is growing Latino community
Families who work, but still need margin
Local providers and mentors
Three reasons we started in Annapolis
40,000 people. A connected market where mentor networks can reach every family who wants in. We do not run out of demand before we run out of teams.
The disparities are within walking distance of each other. Nowhere to run.A result — good or bad — is in the open.
Naval Academy. State capital. Centuries of church infrastructure. Annapolis does not give up and we do not let go of durable ideas.
Get it working in Annapolis, and we’ve written “pattern, not experiment” for the model — anywhere in America.
Three centuries, in plain English
History / The longer story of Annapolis
The story of inequality in Annapolis is older than the city’s charter. We built a separate page for the people who want to read it carefully, for the curious.
Understanding history does not excuse what’s happening now. It clarifies why mentorship matters and why we built this model in this place.
Annapolis is the proof. Your block is next.
The whole point of starting here is to take it everywhere.We picked Annapolis because if it works in this city where inequality has been engineered for three centuries,it works in Charlotte, in Memphis, in Tulsa. On your street.
Choose any path. You will see the impact. We report it monthly.Because trust is built in the open.
I want to back one student
Become a tutor, mentor, or coach.
I want to build a team
Be the glue that holds everything together
I want to build the infrastructure
Make a city wide difference in Annapolis
