Braven-Newark Fellows Outpacing Peers in Quality Job Attainment

Braven-Newark announced today that Fellows who graduate from their university-embedded program at Rutgers University-Newark (RU-N) are outpacing their peers by 30 percentage points in strong economic opportunity attainment: six months after college graduation, 76 percent of Braven Fellows from the RU-N class of 2018 have found a strong first job or enrolled in a graduate program, compared to 46 percent of Black and Latinx students from public universities nationally.

This announcement comes as part of Braven’s recently released 2019 Jobs Report. In addition, 48 percent of Braven Fellows who completed the two-part experience that involves online learning modules and weekly in-person Learning Labs with a leadership coach and peer cohort, are already outearning their parents in their first job out of college. By comparison, by age 30, Americans only have a 50-50 shot of outearning their parents.

“These results are a testament to the hard work and determination of our Braven-Newark Fellows,” said Braven’s Newark executive director Vince Marigna. “Braven was founded with the goal of empowering promising college students with the chance to attain the American Dream within five semesters and deepen their impact on our world. In partnership with Rutgers-University-Newark, we’re committed to expanding this work to create a future in which leaders emerge from everywhere.”

Braven primarily targets first-generation college students, students receiving Pell grants, and other underrepresented college students to help them build the skills and social capital they will need to launch successfully into the modern economy. In their first jobs out of college, 48 percent of Braven graduates are already outearning their parents’ combined income from when they were growing up, while Americans have only a 50-50 chance of outearning their parents by age 30.

“The Braven program pushed me to take advantage of the opportunities and resources available to me on campus while staying true to and owning my own story,” said Dyllan Brown
Bramble, a Spring 2016 Braven Fellow and 2018 graduate from Rutgers University–Newark, now a first year J.D. Candidate at Georgetown University Law Center. “Without Braven, I would not be where I am right now.”

“Rutgers-Newark’s partnership with Braven has helped students take meaningful, substantive steps in their career development, which is a significant part of the purpose of a top-notch education we offer our students,” said Nancy Cantor, Chancellor of Rutgers University–Newark, one of three Braven partner universities. “We’re very excited about significantly scaling up our work with Braven, so that we may reach as many as 4,000 students by 2022.”

In Newark, Prudential is one of Braven’s most deeply embedded employer partners. Since the partnership began, 14 Braven Fellows have been hired as interns or full-time at Prudential. Prudential employees make up 25 percent of RU-N Leadership Coaches who help develop future leaders while investing in their own management skills.

“Prudential’s partnership with Braven allows us to connect with driven, diverse talent as well as access powerful learning and development opportunities for our current associates through the Leadership Coach and Professional Mentor roles. We are committed to helping the next generation of Newark’s leaders prepare for meaningful careers,” said Rick Radice, Vice President, Legal, Compliance, Business Ethics and External Affairs, Prudential Financial.