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Student Dream
Brooklyn, NY · EIN 471062643 · Form 990 · FY2023 · NTEE S40 · Community Improvement · Micro (<$100K) · studentdream.org
revenue
$78K
expenses
$93K
net assets
$17K
employees
1
program ratio
20%
mission · from form 990

Focused on entreprenuership, investing and personal finance education for young adults, with the qualifications, experience and expertise necessary to effectively provide training to schools,organizations and individuals

profile · synthesized from sources

Student Dream is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit that provides financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and investment education to Black students and young adults aged 16–24. Through paid bootcamps and membership programs, it offers training in personal finance, credit building, investing, and career development. The organization emphasizes wealth-building for historically marginalized communities and has trained over 500 students to launch companies and secure funding.

irs program accomplishments · form 990 part iii · fy2021

What they reported doing

  1. #1 primary $14K
    STUDENT INNOVATE WITH THE CITY OF NEW YORK. 174 STUDENTS LEARNED THE BASICS OF PERSONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT.
  2. #2 $14K
    MONEY MATTERS. Trained and coached 54 youth ages 16-24 on the foundations of personal financial management.
named programs · 4 · from sources

What they call their work

Money Matters Bootcamp
Self-paced 14-hour financial literacy course covering budgeting, investing, credit building, debt-free graduation, and wealth creation, including coaching, worksheets, and a student forum
Music + Money
8-week program for youth aged 14–24 combining music production training with financial education, covering songwriting, recording, publishing, royalties, distribution, and income generation for creatives
Student Innovate with the City of New York
Program that taught 174 students the basics of personal financial management in partnership with the City of New York
Student Investors Club
12-month membership program offering monthly live trainings, group coaching, networking, and access to job opportunities focused on financial empowerment, investing, and professional branding for students
activities · 4 groups

What they do

  • Financial Literacy Education Programs 3 activities
    • Deliver financial literacy and wealth-building training to youth
      Provides financial education programs to young people aged 16–24, including courses on budgeting, investing, debt management, and financial planning. Offers both self-paced and live training, including a 6-week virtual Money Matters Bootcamp and a 32-hour course program, with content tailored to Black students and young people of color.
    • Deliver specialized financial education for creative students
      Offers the "Music + Money" course to help creative students generate income and build professional connections through their artistic work, combining music sessions with financial training.
    • Offer personalized and group coaching for financial and professional development
      Provides 1-on-1 coaching with Coach Nena, monthly group coaching sessions, and live training on financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and life skills for members of the Student Investors Club and other participants.
  • Student Career Readiness and Internship Placement 1 activity
    • Facilitate access to internships, jobs, and income-generating opportunities
      Connects students with paid internship and job opportunities and runs a monthly Make Money Challenge to help participants earn extra income.
  • Youth and Student Entrepreneurship Competitions 1 activity
    • Provide entrepreneurship training and support for student startups
      Offers training and coaching to help students launch companies, with reported outcomes including 83% of students creating their own businesses and over 500 students launching 20 companies that secured $1 million in funding.
  • Professional Association Capacity Building 1 activity
    • Support peer learning and networking through student community platforms
      Operates a student forum and provides on-demand access to recorded training sessions to foster peer-to-peer learning, collaboration, and networking among participants.
financials · form 990 · fy2023
revenue
Total revenue$78K
Contributions & grants$68K87%
Program service revenue$10K13%
Investment income$00%
Other revenue$0
expenses
Total expenses$93K
Program expenses20%
Admin / overhead74%
Fundraising7%
Salaries & benefits$38K
Grants paid out$0
Largest expense lineProfessional Fees
balance sheet
Total assets$17K
Cash$17K
Investments$0
Liabilities$0
Net assets$17K
Liquid reserves2.2 mo
5 years on record · 2019–2023 · YoY revenue -30.9%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2023

Who runs it

paid leadership · 1
NameTitleHours/wkCompensation
Nena Ugwuomo President 40 $35K
board members · 3
  • Dr Chip Roper — Treasurer
  • Eric Shashousa — Director
  • Matthew Lancaster — Secretary
relationships · 12

Who they work with

  • Black Enterprise Funder — Supported Student Dream’s programs.
  • Black Enterprise Funder — Supported by Black Enterprise.
  • City of New York Partner — Partnered to deliver financial education to 174 students through the Student Innovate program.
  • Google Funder — Supported Student Dream’s programs.
  • Google Funder — Supported by Google.
  • Howard University Network — Founder Nena Ugwuomo attended Howard University, which is referenced as part of the organization's founding narrative.
  • Howard University Network — Student Dream was founded by a Howard University alumna inspired by the lack of resources for student entrepreneurs of color at the institution.
  • Rob LaRay Partner — Artist in Residence at Student Dream who teaches the Music + Money course and creates music for the organization.
  • TechStars Funder — Supported Student Dream’s programs.
  • TechStars Funder — Supported by TechStars.
  • The White House – Obama Administration Government — Provided support to Student Dream during the Obama Administration.
  • The White House – Obama Administration Government — Received support from the Obama Administration.
strategies · 3

How they approach the work

Named approaches extracted from this org’s sources. Where others share an approach, follow it to see the full set of orgs running it.

  • Coaching and Mentorship for Financial Agency
    methodology: financial_education_and_mentorship
    By combining financial education with personalized coaching and mentorship from industry professionals, we produce greater financial confidence and goal achievement, because sustained relational support and real-world feedback make abstract financial concepts actionable and relevant.
  • Culturally Responsive Financial Empowerment
    methodology: culturally-responsive financial education
    By delivering financial education that is grounded in the lived experiences and cultural context of Black students, we increase engagement and effectiveness, because culturally responsive programming counters systemic exclusion and builds identity-affirming pathways to financial capability and self-investment.
  • Entrepreneurship as Wealth-Building Engine
    methodology: entrepreneurship-for-wealth-building
    By teaching entrepreneurship, particularly in creative fields, we enable young people—especially Black youth—to build generative wealth and break cycles of economic inequity, because entrepreneurship offers a direct path to ownership, autonomy, and intergenerational financial power in communities systematically excluded from traditional wealth-building systems.