Braven

Braven is a national nonprofit organization founded in 2013. Our mission is to equip promising college students with the skills, networks, confidence, and experience necessary to transition from college to strong economic opportunities. We specifically focus on young people from underrepresented backgrounds, supporting them through college graduation and into meaningful first jobs.

We partner with educational institutions, volunteer professionals, and employers to deliver the Braven Accelerator. This hybrid online and in-person career readiness course is typically taken by sophomores or transfer juniors. Fellows in the program learn hard and soft skills, apply these skills in real-world challenges, receive one-on-one and small group coaching from local young professionals, and expand their professional networks. After completing the course, Fellows receive ongoing campus-based alumni programming and support through graduation.

Over 12,000 Fellows are now on a path to strong career opportunities. In 2024, employed Braven graduates reported average salaries over $9,100 higher than recent college graduates (ages 23-24) nationwide. Within six months of graduation, our Fellows are 14-22 percentage points more likely than their peers to land strong full-time jobs requiring a bachelor’s degree or enroll in graduate school. A “strong job” is defined as a full-time role requiring a bachelor’s degree, offering promotion pathways, employee benefits, and a market-competitive starting salary, or enrollment in graduate school.

We began as a pilot program with 17 students at San José State University. We have since expanded to partner with multiple institutions including Rutgers University-Newark, National Louis University in Chicago, Lehman College in New York, Spelman College in Atlanta, Northern Illinois University, City College of New York, San Francisco State University, and Delaware State University. In 2019, we launched BravenX, an online version of the Accelerator course, to make it more accessible.

Our mission is to equip promising college students with the skills, networks, confidence, and experience necessary to transition from college to strong economic opportunities, which lead to meaningful careers and lives of impact. Our ambition is to empower a new generation of leaders and to contribute to rebuilding the middle class and revitalizing the American Dream.

We operate based on five core values:

• Prove the Possible
• Embrace the journey
• Find a way
• Go together, go further
• Live your legacy These values define our approach to achieving our goals and interacting with our community.

We are a team of 51 to 200 employees. Our work environment is hybrid: employees come into the office Tuesday through Thursday and work remotely on Monday and Friday. Because of this, teammates must live within commuting distance of our Chicago, Newark, or New York City offices. We prioritize in-person collaboration and connection while offering flexibility for focused work and personal commitments. Depending on the role, occasional evening or weekend program support and limited travel may be required. We are committed to building a strong, welcoming culture that supports staff development.

We offer competitive compensation, with base salaries set at the market midpoint for similar nonprofits, allowing for salary growth. Salary offers are determined using external and internal benchmarking and are not negotiable, ensuring fairness.

Our benefits include:

• Unlimited vacation time, plus organization-wide holidays and two to three team-wide, week-long shutdowns per year (a minimum of 19-24 days off annually).
• Carrot benefits offering up to $25,000 in lifetime benefits for fertility, family-building, and hormonal health.
• A 401K contribution match of up to 5% of your base annual salary, starting from the first full month of employment.
• Health insurance premiums covered at 85% for employees and their dependents.
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave.
• A one-month paid sabbatical after four years on staff.
• Access to career development opportunities.