UP2US INC
National Service Through Sports
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Up2Us Sports programming addresses the challenges that young people in low-income, urban communities face – namely high rates of obesity and poor health and trauma resulting from Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). The wide-prevalence of “pay-to-play” is arguably the most egregious barrier to participation in sports programs that underserved youth face (The Aspen Institute’s State of Play 2018). While the decline affects all youth, those most affected are youth from inner-city communities where the temptation of gang affiliation, the prevalence of trauma, and the rates of obesity and other health related conditions are all much higher. Given that youth from homes in the lowest income bracket are three times less likely to be physically active than youth living in wealthier households (Aspen Institute 2017), the Up2Us Coach program currently engages low-income youth, especially Latinx and African American youth who are at an increased risk of childhood obesity.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Up2Us Coach
Up2Us Coach is an AmeriCorps program designed to address some of the most pressing issues facing youth who reside in underserved communities. Up2Us Coach recruits young men and women from targeted communities to serve as AmeriCorps Members who are trained in SBYD and trauma-sensitive coaching. Up2Us Coaches engage youth in physical SBYD activities that foster positive social and emotional skill development and in group and individual mentoring sessions that emphasize the link between sports skills and life skills. Up2Us Sports places trained AmeriCorps coaches in schools, parks, community organizations, and nonprofits who partner with Up2Us Sports to expand their sports/recreation programming to serve more youth and deepen their impact.
Up2Us Training
Up2Us Training teaches the components of positive youth development through sports coupled with trauma-sensitive coaching techniques to equip coaches with skills and knowledge to help youth thrive and reach their social and academic potential. We educate coaches, program staff, and community organizations on the fundamentals of quality coaching, the components of positive youth development, as well as how to navigate the challenges and of working in an urban environment.
Up2Us VISTA
The Up2Us VISTA program aims to build the capacity of Up2Us Sports member organizations who run high-quality sports-based youth development programming in under-served communities.
AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) members make a full-time commitment to support organizations in the following areas: marketing, development, program implementation, community outreach, monitoring and evaluation, and more.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
The Aspen Institute Project Play Champion 2018
National Youth Sports Strategy Champion 2020
National Youth Sports Strategy Champion 2021
National Youth Sports Strategy Champion 2022
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of hours of coaching
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Young adults, Children, Ethnic and racial groups, Social and economic status, Health
Related Program
Up2Us Coach
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Total cumulative number (current and former) of service hours by AmeriCorps Up2Us Coach service members.
Number of people trained
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Young adults, Seniors, Older adults, Ethnic and racial groups, Social and economic status
Related Program
Up2Us Training
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Number of attendees at an Up2Us Sports Training event.
Number of youth who have a positive adult role model
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Ethnic and racial groups, Social and economic status
Related Program
Up2Us Coach
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Total number (current and former) of youth served by AmeriCorps Up2Us Coach service members.
Number of hours of training
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Up2Us Training
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Training hours by year.
Number of training events conducted
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Up2Us Training
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Training events by year.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Up2Us Sports’ coaches provide youth with much-needed exposure to trauma-sensitive physical activity and sports programming. Through these efforts, Up2Us Sports coaches seek to build the social and emotional skills of its youth participants by leveraging the teaching moments and messaging inherent in sports. The short-term outcomes of the project are to: 1) Improve the physical fitness of youth participants; and, 2) Improve the social and emotional learning (SEL) skills of youth participants. We envision specific long-term outcomes to include: 1) Decreased truancy, delinquency, and risky behaviors among youth; 2) Improved physical and mental health; and, 3) Improved academic performance.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The Up2Us Coach program strategy starts by engaging adults from the local community to serve as AmeriCorps coach-mentors. AmeriCorps coach-mentors serve at community-based organizations (CBOs) that have established themselves as reliable physical activity service-providers for youth living in low-income neighborhoods. Rather than supplant existing programs with a new program, Up2Us Coach utilizes resources that are already being activated by CBOs – relationships, partnerships, access to youth, cost-effective program models, and built environments. Key to the strategy is identifying the appropriate CBOs who will benefit from a coach-mentor.
An additional component to the Up2Us Coach program strategy is training the coach-mentors to achieve impact on health outcomes. The coach-mentors receive at least 50 hours of training and a professional certification in the Up2Us Sports evidence-based model, called sport-based youth development (SBYD). The SBYD methodology enhances the traditional model used to teach sports with strategies to ensure that the following elements are present during each activity: physical and psychological safety; positive relationship building; support for efficacy and mattering; opportunities to foster cultural competence; active skills learning; and moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) that engages all participants. The training transforms the way coach-mentors understand coaching and prepares them to promote physical activity, healthy living, and good decision-making while cultivating trust-based relationships with the youth they serve. Coach-mentors learn how to provide the supports and opportunities youth need in order to ensure that their time with the youth is as impactful as possible.
The last component of the Up2Us Coach program strategy is delivering high-quality SBYD programming. The coach-mentors utilize their knowledge of the SBYD framework to conduct SBYD activities that lead to increases in physical activity and healthier behaviors among youth at their CBO placement. Each coach-mentor serves at a CBO for at least 900 hours over the course of 10-12 months. Each coach-mentor provides additional capacity that allows an average of 80 more youth to attend physical activity programs. All youth participating in SBYD programs with a trained coach-mentor will spend more time being physically active in a safe and supportive environment. They will also have the opportunity to build positive relationships with their peers and their coach-mentor and to learn skills that contribute to positive decision-making.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Nationally, Up2Us Sports has recruited and trained more than 2600 young adults from the community to serve as high quality mentors to almost 500,000 youth in 15 U.S. Cities. Up2Us Sports has attracted more than 1600 community partners including school, parks and nonprofits and has been an active participant in initiatives focused on violence prevention, gender equity in sports, and veteran engagement. Up2Us Sports also conducted an external evaluation which found that our training significantly improves the physical health and social emotional skills of youth.
During the current program year, Up2Us Sports supported 270 AmeriCorps coaches trained in trauma-sensitive methodology to serve in 150 "host sites" across the nation.
Up2Us Sports is recognized as an Inaugural Project Play Champion and is partnered with many professional sports teams and leagues including the NFL, NBA, Baltimore Ravens, LA Dodgers, Miami Heat, New Orleans Saints, Washington Wizards, Washington Nationals and Philadelphia 76ers.
Up2Us Sports also launched Operation Coach in 2014, the first national initiative to recruit and train veterans as youth sports coaches.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
UP2US INC
Board of directorsas of 03/01/2023
Dan Mannix
CSM North America
David Colbert
New York Dermatology Group
Dan Mannix
underdog venture team
Scott Smith
Covington & Burling LLP
Abby McKenna
Emerging Markets Investors Alliance
Matt Grandis
CSM Sport & Entertainment
Brian Hegarty
KPMG LLP
Renee Brown
Renee M. Brown Inc.
Jewell Christian
DC Scores
Adam Davis
Two Circles
Howard T. Owens
Propagate Content
Alexander Penman
Youth Mentoring Partnership
Richard Pogue
Youth Mentoring Partnership
Sarah Robarts
Ballentines PR
Lori Schweitzer
BHC Law Group LLC
Callie Curry
Creative Artists Agency
Kevin Marotta
MSG Networks, Inc.
Elisa Padilla
Senior Strategic Marketer
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 03/10/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.