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Metro International is a not-for-profit organization whose goal is to create global learning opportunities, reduce inter-cultural prejudice, and facilitate access to higher education for New York City’s youth. Since its founding in 1977, Metro has accomplished its mission by connecting Americans with international students, scholars and Fulbright grantees through a wide variety of programmatic opportunities that are structured to meet the needs of both city students and the international fellows. A core program in Metro International’s curriculum that demonstrates its innovative educational practices is Global Classroom, an initiative that broadens young people’s world-view by connecting them with visiting scholars as part of in-school workshops.

In 2005 Metro launched Global Careers in Education, an initiative that links disadvantaged high school students with international mentors so that students can build self-confidence, expand their perspective and sharpen their skills in order to continue on to higher education. In the two-semester program, trained mentors work intensively with 120 eleventh graders, who have been competitively selected from two at-risk public schools. GCE’s primary objectives include:

• Motivating students who live in challenging environments to attend college.
• Providing these students with the necessary information and pre-college experience that will help them to succeed in the college admissions process.
• Offering opportunities that will help to internationalize the perspectives of inner-city youth and their families, who often have not had much experience outside of their communities or neighborhoods.
• Provide teachers and parents with training and technical assistance that will help them more effectively support the students in the college application process.

The program design utilizes international mentors to promote higher education because teenagers, particularly first-generation Americans, are known to respond enthusiastically to young adults from international locations. Metro’s unique approach will provide New York City students with the motivation, support, and experience to successfully continue their education and thrive as part of our globalized world.

Genesis provides support to Metro for Global Careers and Education to support inner-city students in their quest for higher education.

For more information about this institution, or to make a direct contribution, please contact genesis@genesis-foundation.org.