During the past 78 years, Cambridge has changed dramatically, from a manufacturing-based economy to the diverse, capable, resource-rich city it is today. Throughout this change, we have remained true to our mission as a Cambridge-focused community-development organization. However, recognizing these shifts in community demographics, the Board of Directors engaged in a long-term strategic planning process and emerged with an inspiring new vision for the future. Recognizing 24 years of success for the City Links program, the organization’s mandate is expansion: sustainable growth of a program whose alumni graduate college at double the rate of their peers, with substantially increased self- confidence, advocacy, and leadership skills. While the population of low-income and new-immigrant families in Cambridge is not growing at the pace of previous decades due to rising property values and a declining stock of affordable housing, many neighboring communities have seen their immigrant populations grow substantially.
After conducting a detailed landscape analysis exploring surrounding communities and schools, with the help of a pro-bono team of Deloitte consultants through Inspire, the Board of Directors approved the first program expansion site at Somerville High School, in collaboration with the Cambridge program. We successfully piloted the program at SHS in the Fall of 2016 and are thrilled to have been invited back to serve even more Somerville students in the following years.