Elm City Internationals

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Overview
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Management
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Mission

Elm City Internationals (ECI) uses soccer to engage low-income youth with academic enrichment, college counseling, mentoring, and college follow-through services. The end goal is for all of our students to attend and graduate from college.

Needs Statement

- Raise $50,000 to for the "Mohamed Kourouma "Minimo" Scholarship Fund" which is ECI's scholarship fund that ensures all of our students are able to attend and graduate from college - Raise funds for an additional full-time staff member -ECI is looking to find donors/foundations who are able to make substantial donation with a 3+year commitment.

Impact Statement

2023-2024 Accomplishments: -100% of ECI students graduated college within 4.5 years of their High School graduation. -All ECI students who applied to colleges with Early Decision options were accepted ED. -ECI's Head Soccer Coach and Director of Tutoring is an ECI alum. Our younger students have really been able to thrive under their leadership. -ECI welcomed a new cohort of middle school students who are thriving!

CEO statement

Elm City Internationals' students come to New Haven from all over the world. Many of our students suffered hardship in the early part of their lives due to war or harsh economic situations. Their families came to New Haven to seek opportunities for their children. When our children enter ECI, they are joining a second family. ECI students spend 20+ hours each week together playing soccer, working on reading and writing, completing community service activities, going on college visits and forming bonds with each other as well as their soccer coaches, teachers, tutors and mentors. Students enter the ECI family in as young as 5th grade and remain in the program until they graduate from college. One of the most rewarding aspects about ECI is that the older students naturally mentor the younger ones. When our college students are home for breaks they come back to play soccer with the younger students and also assist them with their academic work. It is amazing to see the dedication the older students all have to ECI, the younger generations and themselves. As the founder of the organization I have had the honor of watching our eldest students grow from middle school students who struggled academically and behaviorally to college graduates who are dedicated to giving back not only to their younger ECI brothers but to society. I look forward to witnessing our younger students follow in their footsteps.

Board Chair Statement

I am a founding board member of Elm City Internationals and, in fact, worked with the Executive Director on the viability assessment before she launched the organization. The successes are directly attributable to the unwavering commitment of Lauren Mednick and her band of volunteers: many of whom have also been involved in the organization since launch. ECI is a high touch, high impact organization with the goal of shepherding at risk young men to and through college: all indications are that we will see a 100% success rate with the first cohort. With the second cohort, it has been rewarding to see how Lauren has expanded our footprint of colleges by forging relationships with soccer programs at more and more universities. Several of our boys have received full scholarships and others generous financial aid that allowed our organization to bridge the tuition gap. Using feedback from the first cohort and advice from education experts, we have refined the academic program to be even more effective for the second and pipeline cohorts. ECI faces the challenges faced by many nonprofit organizations: funding our future operating budget. While we are fortunate to have several perennial donors, our board maintains a program of active outreach to foundations and individuals so that we can continue to build awareness of ECI and expand our donor base. After ten years, I am still involved with this organization because I have been inspired by watching these boys grow into incredible and thoughtful young men. I also see great opportunity to scale the program that Lauren has built to impact even more children in our community.

Areas Served
New Haven

Areas Served Narrative

College Readiness Academy

ECI's college readiness program is broken into 3 main parts: reading and writing enrichment, college counseling, and college follow-through. Reading and Writing Enrichment Program ECI's enriching reading and writing program begins when students enter ECI in middle school. ECI acknowledges the importance of being adept readers and writers. Not only are reading and writing the basis of all academic subjects, but research has shown that writing skills are the number one indicator of college success. Due to the fact that the majority of ECI's students are non-native English speakers, the majority of students come into our program multiple years below grade level in both reading and writing, and most ECI students go to under-performing schools that are not properly challenging them, ECI has created a rigorous reading and writing program that first ensures that students understand the basic semantics of the English language and know how to communicate well both verbally and through writing. ECI's reading and writing enrichment program exposes students to many genres of literature and encourages analytical conversations and essays. Additionally, we teach our students how to conduct extensive research and then organize their research into thematic essays. The ultimate goal of our reading and writing program is to ensure that students develop the knowledge, skills and curiosity to be successful in the college classroom and beyond. Between the months of November and June students participate in ECI's reading and writing program 10 hours each week after school. During our 6 week summer academy, students are exposed to 20 hours of reading and writing enrichments each week. In September and October, while students are more heavily engaged in soccer related activities, we engage students in approximately 4 hours each week of "book club". The emphasis of book club is really to get our students to enjoy reading, thinking analytically, and reminding them that even in the months that there is a heavier focus on soccer, that ECI is still primarily an academic program that is preparing them for college. College Counseling Once a student is in 10th grade, ECI initiates a more formal college readiness curriculum. Students continue to participate in ECI's reading and writing enrichment program as well as ECI's intensive soccer program; however, additional "college ready" services are now provided to students. In 10th grade, ECI begins to take students on college visits and introduces students to key college admissions officers as well as college coaches. Also, instead of participating in typical soccer tournaments, once a student is in 10th grade they attend "college showcase tournaments" which are tournaments designed specifically for students to get seen by college soccer coaches. In the summer between 10th and 11th grades, students take a preliminary practice SAT during the first week of ECI Summer Academy. They are then provided with an SAT tutor to help them prepare to succeed on the SAT (most of our students take the SAT in March and June of the junior year and again in October of their senior year). In November of 11th grade, students work with ECI staff to construct a list of their target colleges and at that point, ECI staff starts making connections with admissions offices and setting up formal, individual visits. ECI staff takes students to the college visits and interviews. During the winter of 11th grade, ECI students also write a preliminary draft of their college essay and participate in mock college interviews. By the summer prior to senior year ECI students have a complete list of colleges they are going to apply to as well as a plan to which school that will apply early decision to. During students' senior year of high school, ECI staff help students identify private college scholarships as well as apply for financial aid. Students are also provided with assistance filling out college applications. ECI also has its own scholarship fund that students can apply for during their senior year of high school that can help provide "Gap Funding" in cases where there is a gap between what financial aid and scholarships students received and what they owe the college. College Follow-through ECI students are all provided with follow-through services once they matriculate into college. This means that ECI students complete ECI when they graduate from college and not when they graduate from high school. ECI students are in touch with staff at least once a week (and often more) when they are in college and staff makes sure that if any obstacles arise, the student is well equipped to take the necessary steps to get back on track. ECI continues to provide students with the ECI Scholarship Funding throughout college. When college age students are home for school vacations, they act as tutors and mentors to the younger ECI students.
Example of Program Success	-During ECI's 2022-2023 "Summer Academy" each of our student-athletes constructed substantial research papers and gave presentations on topics of their interest ranging from "The Impact of Suadia Arabia's Investment in Soccer" to "The Impact and Harm of AI" to "The Right To Dream Program". Additionally, they all read "5 Days" by Wes Moore and analyzed it through discussion and writing prompts. They also, did daily assignemnts pertaining to current events and discussed and analyzed with their peers. -To-date 100% of students athletes have graduated from college or a professional program within 4.5 years of high school graduation.

ECI's college readiness program is broken into 3 main parts: reading and writing enrichment, college counseling, and college follow-through. Reading and Writing Enrichment Program ECI's enriching reading and writing program begins when students enter ECI in middle school. ECI acknowledges the importance of being adept readers and writers. Not only are reading and writing the basis of all academic subjects, but research has shown that writing skills are the number one indicator of college success. Due to the fact that the majority of ECI's students are non-native English speakers, the majority of students come into our program multiple years below grade level in both reading and writing, and most ECI students go to under-performing schools that are not properly challenging them, ECI has created a rigorous reading and writing program that first ensures that students understand the basic semantics of the English language and know how to communicate well both verbally and through writing. ECI's reading and writing enrichment program exposes students to many genres of literature and encourages analytical conversations and essays. Additionally, we teach our students how to conduct extensive research and then organize their research into thematic essays. The ultimate goal of our reading and writing program is to ensure that students develop the knowledge, skills and curiosity to be successful in the college classroom and beyond. Between the months of November and June students participate in ECI's reading and writing program 10 hours each week after school. During our 6 week summer academy, students are exposed to 20 hours of reading and writing enrichments each week. In September and October, while students are more heavily engaged in soccer related activities, we engage students in approximately 4 hours each week of "book club". The emphasis of book club is really to get our students to enjoy reading, thinking analytically, and reminding them that even in the months that there is a heavier focus on soccer, that ECI is still primarily an academic program that is preparing them for college. College Counseling Once a student is in 10th grade, ECI initiates a more formal college readiness curriculum. Students continue to participate in ECI's reading and writing enrichment program as well as ECI's intensive soccer program; however, additional "college ready" services are now provided to students. In 10th grade, ECI begins to take students on college visits and introduces students to key college admissions officers as well as college coaches. Also, instead of participating in typical soccer tournaments, once a student is in 10th grade they attend "college showcase tournaments" which are tournaments designed specifically for students to get seen by college soccer coaches. In the summer between 10th and 11th grades, students take a preliminary practice SAT during the first week of ECI Summer Academy. They are then provided with an SAT tutor to help them prepare to succeed on the SAT (most of our students take the SAT in March and June of the junior year and again in October of their senior year). In November of 11th grade, students work with ECI staff to construct a list of their target colleges and at that point, ECI staff starts making connections with admissions offices and setting up formal, individual visits. ECI staff takes students to the college visits and interviews. During the winter of 11th grade, ECI students also write a preliminary draft of their college essay and participate in mock college interviews. By the summer prior to senior year ECI students have a complete list of colleges they are going to apply to as well as a plan to which school that will apply early decision to. During students' senior year of high school, ECI staff help students identify private college scholarships as well as apply for financial aid. Students are also provided with assistance filling out college applications. ECI also has its own scholarship fund that students can apply for during their senior year of high school that can help provide "Gap Funding" in cases where there is a gap between what financial aid and scholarships students received and what they owe the college. College Follow-through ECI students are all provided with follow-through services once they matriculate into college. This means that ECI students complete ECI when they graduate from college and not when they graduate from high school. ECI students are in touch with staff at least once a week (and often more) when they are in college and staff makes sure that if any obstacles arise, the student is well equipped to take the necessary steps to get back on track. ECI continues to provide students with the ECI Scholarship Funding throughout college. When college age students are home for school vacations, they act as tutors and mentors to the younger ECI students.

Example of Program Success

-During ECI's 2022-2023 "Summer Academy" each of our student-athletes constructed substantial research papers and gave presentations on topics of their interest ranging from "The Impact of Suadia Arabia's Investment in Soccer" to "The Impact and Harm of AI" to "The Right To Dream Program". Additionally, they all read "5 Days" by Wes Moore and analyzed it through discussion and writing prompts. They also, did daily assignemnts pertaining to current events and discussed and analyzed with their peers. -To-date 100% of students athletes have graduated from college or a professional program within 4.5 years of high school graduation.

ECI Soccer Academy

ECI's Soccer Academy's goal is to pair soccer with academic services and mentoring to low-income students in New Haven. The concept of ECI is fairly simple. Since soccer is considered "the international sport" and is enjoyed by young men around the world, ECI uses soccer as a lure to create a supportive learning community for low-income adolescent boys (predominantly immigrant and refugee boys, but not limited to this population) who live in New Haven and thrive on the soccer field, but require extra academic assistance. The boys participate in 10-15 hours of soccer programming throughout the school year and 20 hours in the summer. While the boys do have extensive soccer training and play in competitive soccer leagues the most important part of the soccer academy is the fact that it connects our students to their coaches and soccer supporters who also act as their teachers, tutors and mentors. Because the boys all love soccer, the sport keeps them engaged in ECI's academic programming throughout middle school, high school and college. Additionally, 95% of our students are recruited to play soccer in college. This is a very helpful factor in the college admissions process.
Example of Program Success	ECI's Head Soccer Coach is an ECI alum who also had a successful soccer career at Dickinson College (class of 2020) now has the opportunity to motivate ECI's student-athletes on a daily basis.

ECI's Soccer Academy's goal is to pair soccer with academic services and mentoring to low-income students in New Haven. The concept of ECI is fairly simple. Since soccer is considered "the international sport" and is enjoyed by young men around the world, ECI uses soccer as a lure to create a supportive learning community for low-income adolescent boys (predominantly immigrant and refugee boys, but not limited to this population) who live in New Haven and thrive on the soccer field, but require extra academic assistance. The boys participate in 10-15 hours of soccer programming throughout the school year and 20 hours in the summer. While the boys do have extensive soccer training and play in competitive soccer leagues the most important part of the soccer academy is the fact that it connects our students to their coaches and soccer supporters who also act as their teachers, tutors and mentors. Because the boys all love soccer, the sport keeps them engaged in ECI's academic programming throughout middle school, high school and college. Additionally, 95% of our students are recruited to play soccer in college. This is a very helpful factor in the college admissions process.

Example of Program Success

ECI's Head Soccer Coach is an ECI alum who also had a successful soccer career at Dickinson College (class of 2020) now has the opportunity to motivate ECI's student-athletes on a daily basis.

ECI College Scholarship Fund/College Follow-through Services

Elm City Internationals does not only help kids get admitted to college but they commit to supporting their student-athletes until they graduate from college. This requires providing a college scholarship program as well as follow-through support during the college years. College Scholarships: ECI works hard to ensure that all of its students are prepared academically and athletically for college but the reality is that many students still face financial challenges that can make it difficult to attend college. Therefore, ECI helps students seek out private scholarships for college. ECI has helped students receive both full academic and athletic scholarships and many have been awarded partial scholarships. In order to make sure that 100% of ECI students are able to attend college, ECI initiated its own scholarship fund, the Elm City International Scholarship Fund ("ECISF"). ECISF is designed to fill in any gaps necessary to students in our program to ensure that they can all attend college. College Follow-through: All of ECI students are first generation college students. Therefore, families are going through the college process for the first time. ECI offers its students academic and personal guidance throughout college to ensure that they have they can navigate the system and graduate from college. When students come home for the summer, ECI ensures that these students have summer jobs or enriching opportunities. We also play summer pickup soccer as a group and have a book club to promote group cohesion and extra academic support. (Many of our college students volunteer or work for ECI when they return and impact the next generation of student-athletes).
Example of Program Success	100% of our student-athletes have been able to graduate college within 4.5 years of high school graduation.

Elm City Internationals does not only help kids get admitted to college but they commit to supporting their student-athletes until they graduate from college. This requires providing a college scholarship program as well as follow-through support during the college years. College Scholarships: ECI works hard to ensure that all of its students are prepared academically and athletically for college but the reality is that many students still face financial challenges that can make it difficult to attend college. Therefore, ECI helps students seek out private scholarships for college. ECI has helped students receive both full academic and athletic scholarships and many have been awarded partial scholarships. In order to make sure that 100% of ECI students are able to attend college, ECI initiated its own scholarship fund, the Elm City International Scholarship Fund ("ECISF"). ECISF is designed to fill in any gaps necessary to students in our program to ensure that they can all attend college. College Follow-through: All of ECI students are first generation college students. Therefore, families are going through the college process for the first time. ECI offers its students academic and personal guidance throughout college to ensure that they have they can navigate the system and graduate from college. When students come home for the summer, ECI ensures that these students have summer jobs or enriching opportunities. We also play summer pickup soccer as a group and have a book club to promote group cohesion and extra academic support. (Many of our college students volunteer or work for ECI when they return and impact the next generation of student-athletes).

Example of Program Success

100% of our student-athletes have been able to graduate college within 4.5 years of high school graduation.

CEO/Executive Director

CEO First Name	CEO Last Name	CEO Email
Lauren	Mednick	lauren@elmcityinternationals.org

Staff Information

Number of Full-Time Staff	1
Number of Part-Time Staff	2
Number of Volunteers	1
Number of Contract Staff	0

Staff Demographics - Race

American Indian or Alaskan Native	0
Asian	0
Black or African American	2
Middle Eastern or North African	0
Mixed	0
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander	0
White	1
Other	0
Choose Not to Answer	0

Staff Demographics - Ethnicity

Hispanic or Latino/a/x	0
Not Hispanic or Latino/a/x	3
Choose Not to Answer	0

Staff Demographics - Gender Identity

Male	2
Female	1
I am: (Fill In Below)	n/a
Choose Not to Answer	0

Board Chair Information

Board Chair First Name	Board Chair Last Name	Board Chair Email Address	Board Chair Term Start Date	Board Chair Term End Date
Teo	Baldwin	Teobaldwin16@gmail.com	February 1, 2019	January 31, 2025

List of Board Members

Board Member First Name	Board Member Last Name	Board Member Affiliation
Tim	Swensen	--
Alexis	Smith	--
Rebecca	Harper	--
Michelle	Mayes	--
Sam	Gold	--
Lauren	Mednick	--

Current List of Board Members as of	August 20, 2023

Board Demographics - Race

American Indian or Alaskan Native	0
Asian	0
Black or African American	2
Middle Eastern or North African	0
Mixed	0
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander	0
Other	1
White	4
Choose Not to Answer	0

Board Demographics - Ethnicity

Hispanic or Latino/a/x	1
Not Hispanic or Latino/a/x	6
Choose Not to Answer	0

Board Demographics - Gender Identity

Male	3
Female	4
I am: (Fill In Below)	n/a
Choose Not to Answer	0

Additional Comments

Additional Comments (Optional)

Annual Operating Budget

Fiscal Year Start Date	Fiscal Year End Date	Projected Revenue	Projected Expenses
August 1, 2024	July 31, 2025	$235,000	$235,000

Previous Fiscal Year Revenue and Expenses

Fiscal Year	2024	2023	2022
Total Revenue	$275,056	$239,707	$239,520
Total Expenses	$267,496	$225,170	$215,488

990 Tax Form

2024 990 Tax Form
2021 990 Tax Form	Download
2022 990 Tax Form	Download
2023 990 Tax Form	Download

Financials

Financial Statements
Financial Statements	Download
Financial Documentation Year	2024
Financial Documentation Type	Year End Financial Statement (unaudited)
Financial Documentation Year
Financial Documentation Type
Financial Statements
Financial Documentation Year
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CEO statement (optional)

General Info

Twitter
Federal EIN Number	45-2639435
Organization's type of tax exempt status	501(c)(3)
Website	https://www.elmcityinternationals.org/
Facebook	http://facebook.com/Elm-City-Internationals-425177960899451/

Our Story

The inspiration for ECI came about when its founder, Lauren Mednick, worked in an after-school program at a refugee resettlement agency. She was in charge of teaching first and second grade students; however, her classroom would regularly acquire a group of 4 rowdy seventh grade boys who were asked to leave their classroom due to poor behavior.

In the spring of 2007, Lauren started a recreational co-ed soccer team for middle school students and found that these 4 boys happened to be phenomenal soccer players and also gained confidence on the soccer field. These young men also began to respect their coach, Lauren, and would seek her out after they were let out of their class and request additional help on their homework. Ultimately, these boys who were receiving poor grades for the first three semesters of the year all made the honor roll for their final semester of seventh grade. At this point, Lauren realized the power that soccer could have as a source of confidence and motivation on these young men and others like them.

With her four former students in mind, Lauren founded ECI in 2008. These four students were ECI’s first members along with nine other middle school students who enjoyed soccer but needed access to educational opportunities.

These 4 students who inspired ECI are now college graduates and working in the business world, non-profit field, and played professional soccer abroad.

ECI students have now been thriving and growing athletically and academically for 14 years. 100% of ECI students have graduated from college within 4.5 years of high school graduation.

Contact

360 Fountain St, #40
New Haven, CT 06515

Lauren Mednick
Lauren@elmcityinternationals.org
https://www.elmcityinternationals.org/