named programs · 4 · from sources
What they call their work
Good Life SPEAR Team
Mentorship initiative that partners with juvenile courts, such as in Greene County, Ohio, to support justice-involved youth
R.E.A.L. Life
Mentorship program providing emotional and social support to at-risk youth referred through community gateways
R.E.A.L. Success
Workforce development program teaching employment, entrepreneurship, and intrapreneurship skills to youth
The Hip-Hop Center for Youth Entrepreneurship
Program using hip-hop culture as a foundation for youth entrepreneurial training and development
activities · 10 groups
What they do
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Youth One-on-One Mentoring 1 activity
- Community-based life coaching for high-risk youthOperates the 315 L.I.F.T. program, a community-based life coaching initiative for high-risk youth in Syracuse, NY and Onondaga County, focused on mentorship, skills development, and employment opportunities.
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Cultural Facility Development and Management 1 activity
- Development of youth center for music, art, and food entrepreneurshipRedeveloping a 38,000-square-foot former dairy building into the Hip Hop Center for Youth Entrepreneurship, supported by a $250,000 grant from the City of Syracuse, to serve as a hub for youth programming in music, art, and food-related social ventures.
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Family-School Engagement Programs 1 activity
- Family engagement and student success planningEngages Family Coaches to work with families of at-risk youth to identify external barriers and co-create student success plans, supporting improved attendance, behavior, and academic performance.
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Youth and Student Entrepreneurship Competitions 1 activity
- HipHop-preneurship summer boot camp and pitch competitionOperates a 4-week summer HipHop-preneurship Bootcamp integrating hip-hop culture with entrepreneurship education, culminating in the annual Beats, Bars and Business (B3) Pitch Competition where youth can win up to $10,000 in startup grants. Provides post-competition coaching to support winning entrepreneurs in launching their businesses.
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Youth Development Programs 1 activity
- Partnerships for student mental health and community programmingPartners with community agencies to support student mental health programs and has provided youth programming through Pop Warner at Kirk Park and school-based family engagement initiatives.
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Youth Workforce Readiness Programs 1 activity
- Social ventures for youth entrepreneurship and job trainingDesigns, creates, and operates social ventures that hire, train, and prepare youth to launch their own businesses, promoting self-sustainability through real-world entrepreneurial experience and business incubation.
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Financial Literacy Education Programs 1 activity
- Two-generational workforce and financial literacy programRuns a two-generational program that engages both youth and parents in culturally competent financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and career development to support families in moving out of poverty.
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Nonprofit Capacity Building Services 1 activity
- Youth development consulting and model replicationProvides consulting services and supports innovative model design for youth equity initiatives through SPER, its consulting arm, extending impact to jurisdictions such as Kansas City and Albuquerque.
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Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Programs 1 activity
- Youth mentorship and social-emotional development through hip-hop cultureProvides one-on-one life coaching, group mentoring, and hip-hop-informed social-emotional learning (SEL) circles ("One Mic cyphers") to support the emotional, social, and personal development of at-risk youth in Syracuse, NY and Onondaga County. Programs include the R.E.A.L. Life program and the One MIC school-based initiative.
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Youth Entrepreneurship & Financial Literacy Education 1 activity
- Youth workforce and entrepreneurship development programsPrepares at-risk youth for employment, entrepreneurship, and intrapreneurship through structured programs including the R.E.A.L. Success program, HipHop-preneurship Bootcamp, and HipHop-preneurship Academy. Offers skills training, business literacy, experiential learning, and annual workshops to support pathways to higher-than-minimum-wage work or self-sustaining businesses.
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financials · form 990 · fy2024
revenue
Total revenue$3.67M
Contributions & grants$268K7%
Program service revenue$3.29M90%
Investment income$00%
Other revenue$109K
expenses
Total expenses$3.37M
Program expenses99%
Admin / overhead1%
Fundraising0%
Salaries & benefits$2.15M
Grants paid out$0
Largest expense lineCompensation
balance sheet
Total assets$994K
Cash$253K
Investments$0
Liabilities$30K
Net assets$964K
Liquid reserves0.9 mo
3 years on record · 2019–2024 · YoY revenue +51.7%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2024
Who runs it
paid leadership · 1
| Name | Title | Hours/wk | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| HASAN STEPHENS | EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | 40 | $129K |
board members · 12
- BRIAN KURASZEWICZ — TREASURER
- EL-JAVA ABDUL-QADIR — DIRECTOR
- JAMES CZARNIAK — DIRECTOR
- JONATHAN CERRITO — CHAIR
- JUHANNA ROGERS — DIRECTOR
- LAIZA SEMIDEY — DIRECTOR
- LEPA JONES — DIRECTOR
- MATTHEW READ — DIRECTOR
- NICOLE OSBOURNE — DIRECTOR
- STEPHANIE PASQUALE — VICE CHAIR
- WINFIELD PRASS — DIRECTOR
- YOLANDA MITCHELL — DIRECTOR
relationships · 32
Who they work with
- Annie E. Casey Foundation Network — Board member James Czarniak is a member of the Applied Leadership Network.
- Boys & Girls Clubs Partner — Board member James Czarniak has been actively involved with the Clubs in Syracuse and Greater Washington, D.C.
- Central New York Community Foundation, Inc. Partner — Provides leadership consulting services to the foundation.
- Children Children Children Inc. Partner — Board member Winfield Prass serves as Senior Case Manager at this nationally recognized youth services agency.
- City of Syracuse Government — Awarded $250,000 to support the Hip Hop Center for Youth Entrepreneurship.
- Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. – Syracuse Alumnae Chapter Partner — Board member Yolanda Mitchell participates in community initiatives through this organization.
- Department of Youth Services Partner — Engaged in a two-day workshop to help create a mentorship network for youth.
- ESM Partner — Recognized as a partner by New York state lawmakers for collaborative work with youth.
- ESM Partner — Recognized as a partner by state lawmakers for youth development initiatives.
- East Syracuse Minoa School District Partner — Partner in implementing student mental health programs.
- Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute Partner — Board member James Czarniak completed certifications in Data Sharing and Multi-System Integration through this institute.
- Greene County Ohio Juvenile Court Partner — Collaborated to form a new mentorship program through a strategic community workshop.
- Greene County Ohio Juvenile Court Partner — Collaborated with Good Life SPEAR Team to form a new mentorship program.
- Greene County Ohio Juvenile Court Partner — Collaborated with the Good Life SPEAR Team to form a new mentorship program.
- Hasan Stephens Partner — Founder & CEO of Good Life Youth Foundation, articulating the strategic use of HipHop culture as a tool for identity formation and youth transformation.
- HipHop-preneurship Academy Partner — Program under the R.E.A.L. Success initiative that connects youth with experienced entrepreneurs through conversational mentorship.
- Hiscock Legal Aid Society Partner — Board member Nicole Osborne serves on the board of this legal aid organization.
- Inkululeko Partner — Board member Nicole Osborne chairs the board of this nonprofit serving learners in Makhanda, South Africa.
- Kirk Park Partner — Site for Pop Warner youth programming and community engagement.
- Le Moyne College’s Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Creativity Partner — Partners to provide training for select youth preparing for a pitch competition.
- Mike Nedrick Partner — Life coach at Good Life working with youth in the Mental Health Mixtape Project, including in music production settings.
- Mothers Against Gun Violence Partner — Board member Lepa Jones is president of this grassroots organization focused on preventing gun violence in Syracuse.
- National Grid Partner — Board member Yolanda Mitchell serves as a senior engineer and liaison to STEM outreach programs.
- New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services Government — Provides leadership consulting services to the state agency.
- Onondaga County Government — Engages with county initiatives including the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative, Regional Youth Justice Team, Racial and Ethnic Disparities Work Group, and School–Arrest Diversion Workgroup.
- SPER (Shifting Power for Equity and Results) Network — Consulting wing of Good Life Youth Foundation that supports model design and equity work in multiple jurisdictions.
- Salvation Army’s Syracuse Area Services Partner — Board member Yolanda Mitchell serves on the Advisory Board, contributing to strategic planning and program development.
- State University of New York College at Cortland Partner — Has a partnership through the founder serving as a professor of Africana studies and hip-hop.
- Stephens Gilfus Partner — Founder of Blackboard and CourseInfo LLC, and quoted contributor endorsing the organization's entrepreneurship-focused model for at-risk youth.
- Syracuse youth Partner — Youth population served through programs including the Hip-Hop Center for Youth Entrepreneurship.
+ 2 more
strategies · 4
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.
- Credible Messenger & Lived Experience-Informed Mentoringmethodology: credible_messengerBy employing mentors with lived experience from the same communities and challenges as the youth served, the organization builds authentic credibility and trust, which increases engagement and reduces recidivism because relatability fosters deeper connection than traditional top-down mentoring models.
- Entrepreneurship as a Survival Framework for Systemic Barriersmethodology: entrepreneurship-as-survival-frameworkBy teaching entrepreneurship not just as a career path but as a mindset of identifying opportunities in chaos and building value from limited resources, the organization equips at-risk youth to navigate systemic inequities and take ownership of their futures because this framework mirrors the resilience they already practice in daily life.
- Hip-Hop Culture as a Cultural Bridge for Youth Engagementmethodology: culturally_relevant_engagementBy leveraging Hip-Hop culture as a shared cultural identity, the organization increases connection, trust, and participation among at-risk youth because it resonates with their lived experience and provides a familiar framework for personal development and learning.
- Two-Generational Economic Empowerment Modelmethodology: two-generational-economic-empowermentBy engaging both youth and their parents in entrepreneurship and financial literacy education, the organization reinforces learning and behavioral change at the household level, enabling family-wide economic mobility because home environments that support new mindsets increase the likelihood of sustained success.