PropelNext

Braven

San Jose, CA

Founder and Chief Executive Officer: Aimée Eubanks Davis

Co-Investor: The David & Lucile Packard Foundation

Braven empowers promising college students with the skills, confidence, experiences, and networks necessary to transition from college to strong first jobs, which lead to meaningful careers and lives of impact. The organization works with first-generation and low-income college students at large public universities, transitioning them into jobs and careers worthy of their degrees. 

Braven partners with universities to offer a two-part program that builds professional skills and social capital. After 12 months, Braven college graduates outpaced their peers by 30 percentage points in obtaining jobs worthy of a bachelor’s degree or enrolling in graduate school.

"PropelNext helped us push to get more specific on our target audience. That level of specificity has allowed us to then ensure that the students who need it the most are getting access to this specific intervention." - Andrea Schwartz Boone, Bay Area Executive Director

In addition to its work in San Jose, Braven serves youth in Chicago, IL and Newark, NJ.

Through PropelNext, Braven is becoming more of a learning, data-driven organization by taking a closer look at its target population at each stage of the program to maximize impact. Braven is working to ensure the students who need its services the most have access to them, especially after the initial course.

Learn more about Braven and the organization's participation in PropelNext.