79% of Gang‑associated youth in urban communites have clear aspirations for college and careers, but often lack accurate information or institutional support They don’t need motivation. They need access and a support system. TWIN bridges the gap with real opportunities—income, careers, leadership, and peer paid mentorship from people who’ve lived it. Because potential means nothing without a pathway.
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Trusted & in motion with
Pulled straight from the paper
Five data points that explain why TWIN exists, why it works, and why it's targetable. Sourced and APA-cited in the full paper.
Population vs. violence
100% of NYC's population →<1% drives the violence
of all NYC shootings & homicides are driven by that less-than-1% concentration. The problem isn't diffuse — it's targetable.
East Harlem youth survey · N=156 · 2011
The #1 strategy young people themselves named.
The economic framing isn't a guess. It's what the block already told us.
Dudovitz et al., 2017
Less alcohol
Less drug use
Less risky sex
Naming a high-education career aspiration is statistically associated with reduced risk behaviors — even after controlling for grades. Building aspiration is building safety.
Equality of Opportunity Project · Chetty et al.
The single biggest variable.
Kids from high-income families are 10× more likely to become inventors — not because they're smarter, but because they were exposed. TWIN exposes.
First-gen college research · synthesis
First-gen students serve as information brokers for their entire family network. Done at scale across hundreds of East Harlem families, this is how a neighborhood changes its own trajectory — through investment, not displacement.
Why ages 13–17
Seals findings · Cook et al. · DOJ youth violence research
Gang participation responds to unemployment only at ages 16–17 — the first age of legal employment. That makes the window before formal employment age — ages 13 to 15 — the optimal intervention point. TWIN's eligibility window of ages 13–17 is precisely calibrated to the research.
Optimal intervention
Pre-employment age — habits forming, identity malleable
Last on-ramp
First age of legal employment — gang participation responds to unemployment here
Path locked in
Behavioral patterns harder to redirect — interventions get more expensive
years where the intervention can still rewrite a trajectory. TWIN catches the first three years of that window — when the cost of changing course is lowest.
Skill Translation Framework · Section 11
When directly asked, low-income minority Millennial & Gen Z youth named these careers more than any others. The Skill Translation Framework is built to convert what's on the block today into what's on this list.
Top named aspirations · ages 13–24 · low-income minority sample
Source: TWIN synthesis of NYC DYCD aspiration surveys, Pew youth career polls, & East Harlem 2011 youth assessment (N=156).
College-degree careers
of named aspirations require a bachelor's degree or higher. Without a campus pathway, 70% of these dreams die unspoken.
Said "I don't know" or "nothing"
The "no aspiration" rate. Tiny. The narrative that these kids don't have ambition is wrong. They have it. They lack the bridge.
The Skill Translation
Negotiating on the corner → courtroom advocacy.
Reading a block → reading a market.
Holding a crew together → managing a team.
Skills already exist. TWIN gives them their legitimate name and the credential that makes them earn.
What we run
The Policy & Civic Engagement Initiative — boys and girls in suits, in real rooms. NYC Council, courthouses, capitol building, major NYC law firms. The face of TWIN.
Explore the Civic Engagement InitiativeMentors aged 19–28 from your block, paid $800/week. Three-year commitments, structured CUNY-partnered training.
See the mentor trackYoung adults walking real CUNY hallways, sitting in real labs, talking to real professors — before they ever apply.
Explore the campus trackVolunteer pathways for professionals, students, and neighbors. Career panels, fieldwork, campus visit days.
Volunteer with TWINHow it works
Tell us where you are, what you want, and what's in your way. 4 minutes.
Paired with a paid peer mentor from your neighborhood, trained with CUNY partners.
Hands-on time at NYC college campuses, real research labs, and partner workplaces.
Career exploration, skill-building, and a 3-year plan. Stipend included for mentors.
Once you make it through — train the next cohort. The cycle continues, but in reverse.
From the community
“Can't wait for TWIN to launch — something like this has been needed in Harlem forever. My little cousins are going to be the first in line.”
Tasha Whitfield
East Harlem resident · Johnson Houses
“I love how TWIN is basically youth helping youth — who's better to understand them than their peers? That is the entire model, and it's exactly what this community needs.”
Dr. Marcus Hale
Professor of Community Health · CUNY John Jay
“I'm really excited to start this leadership part of my journey in NYC and see where this goes. TWIN feels different — like it's actually built by people who know me.”
Jayden Morales
Future TWIN Participant · 16, East Harlem
Questions
Gen Z changemakers, funders, CUNY partners, community leaders, and the teenagers of East Harlem themselves. If you care about trajectory, you belong here.
TWIN mentors are paid, ages 19–28, from the same block, and reachable by phone in the moments a decision is actually being made — not in a weekly office visit scheduled two weeks out.
The model is grounded in Moving to Opportunity (Chetty et al.), Bandura’s self-efficacy theory, the 2011 East Harlem Needs Assessment, the UCLA RISE Study, and READI Chicago’s RCT evidence. See the Work page for all studies.
Funders can underwrite mentor compensation ($23K/year per mentor). Community members can refer youth, host career pathway sessions, or volunteer. Researchers can partner on longitudinal evaluation. Book a call to learn more.
It’s the projected annual operating cost of EDEP at full design — including mentor compensation, campus partnership, curriculum, phone line infrastructure, and evaluation — divided across a 25-youth pilot cohort.
TWIN is built inside the EDEP initiative and partners with established CUNY campuses, community-based organizations, and credentialed research partners for fiscal sponsorship and grant administration.
Inside TWIN
Cohort photos, day-in-the-life, mentor stories, raw field work. Follow the build in real time.
Cohort meet · East Harlem · 04/26
Mentors getting ready · Tues night
Council briefing prep · pre-session
On the corner · field-survey day
"You can't be what you can't see."
CUNY lab visit · spring cohort
Strategy session · the office
Cohort headshots · in suits
Pulling up to the courthouse
Field updates · mentor stories · open volunteer windows · cohort applications. One short email, once a month. No spam.
Last word
East Harlem already has the talent. TWIN is the operating system that turns it into a generation of leaders. You decide whether it scales.
