Education, Stabilization, REVITALIZATION
Build UP is the nation’s first and only workforce development model that provides impoverished youth with career-ready skills through paid apprenticeships with industry-aligned secondary and early-postsecondary academic coursework, leading them to become educated, credentialed, and empowered civic leaders, workers, homeowners and landlords.
Students gain the tools necessary to lead successful lives, such as job-ready skills, leadership training, a high school diploma and an associates degree.
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Families have access to affordable, stable housing they can take pride in and even rent to earn a passive income and build wealth.
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Stable leadership and improved economic status empowers students and their families to lead a long-term revitalization of their community.
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OUR VISION
To empower and equip youth and communities to determine their own future.
A Model that Eliminates Poverty
As part of Build UP's program, participants will acquire a career-focused education,
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gain knowledge and skills in a high-demand professional field
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become owners of homes and rental properties to build wealth and earn passive income
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This creates an economic and social safety net resulting in the
longer-term revitalization of their communities.
longer-term revitalization of their communities.
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MEET MARKMark Martin and his family recently returned home to Alabama after 14 years away to launch Build UP. He has spent the last 15 years working in urban environments to educate low-income youth and empower children, families, and communities to step out of the vicious generational cycle of poverty.
After completing his undergraduate studies at the University of Alabama with a B.S. in Finance, Mark began his career teaching 1st grade in West Atlanta's Woodson Elementary School. He went on to earn an MBA from the University of Georgia focusing on Social Entrepreneurship, which he leveraged to launch and lead Langston Hughes Academy in post-Katrina New Orleans. Most recently, Mark graduated Harvard's Doctor of Education Leadership program, where he served a fellowship at the Alabama Department of Education and worked with Jobs For the Future (JFF), the national leader in education-to-career pathways. He is now directing his experience and expertise towards his new home community with the launch of Build Urban Prosperity in Birmingham. Mark comes to this work with deep empathy and understanding of poverty's complexity and the impact of race, power, and privilege on low-income communities. His love for God, family and his community drive his servant-leadership and will contribute to Build UP's success in alleviating generational poverty in Ensley and beyond. |
Connect With Us
Why Ensley?This once-flourishing and lively community is now in need of revitalization.
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Support UsContribute to Build UP and help us enable youth, families and communities to lift themselves out of poverty.
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Learn MoreSubscribe to our blog to stay up-to-date on progress and events. Follow us on social media @buildup
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