The Alliance for Strong Families and Communities recently honored its member Martha O’Bryan Center (MOBC), based in Nashville, with the 2018 Alliance Commitments Award for Executing on Mission to advance Educational Success. This award recognizes organizations that exemplify the best of the sector through mastery of the Alliance’s Commitments of High-Impact Nonprofit Organizations and achievement of lasting change with children, families, adults, and communities.
MOBC focuses on improving family systems over time and believes that walking with students and families through life’s successes and challenges is the way to create transformational change. This approach drives the organization’s programming and improved outcomes in academic success, college attainment, gainful employment, and overall resilience and well-being.
Over the past 10 years, Executing on Mission in a way that is consistent with its theory of change has brought MOBC to support the school district through robust Academic Student Union programming, while also adding high-performing charter schools. In 2010, MOBC partnered with Metro Nashville Public Schools to establish its first Academic Student Union at Stratford STEM Magnet High to improve graduation and college acceptance rates among its city’s most disadvantaged students, creating a one-stop shop for students to receive academic, social-emotional, career readiness, and college access services.
Among its many successes, Martha O’Bryan Center has helped 77 percent or more than 1,000 of its Academic Student Union participants get accepted into college since 2010, which represents the largest increases seen in the school district.