In 1996, a student at Anacostia Senior High School in Washington, DC said that what young people really needed to be successful were real, meaningful jobs. Urban Alliance founder Andrew Plepler, then an attorney for the U.S. Justice Department, listened, found that student an internship, and enlisted five of his friends to do the same for other students. That experience led to the creation of Urban Alliance.
Urban Alliance has since provided over 6,000 students with internships in professional settings such as law firms, banks, hospitals, and nonprofit organizations. The organization has also worked with over 21,000 students through curriculum outreach. With over 25 years of experience providing evidence-based workforce interventions to thousands of students in Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, and the Greater DC Region, Urban Alliance has a proven track record of improving post-high-school outcomes for young people.