INDIANAPOLIS – November 28, 2023 – The NBA Foundation announced today that Indianapolis based DREAM Alive (DA) is one of 23 nonprofits across the U.S. and Canada selected to receive a grant this season. This first-time community partnership will support and expand DREAM Alive’s work in Indianapolis, allowing Dream Alive to continue to empower Black youth to discover career paths and mentoring them from seventh through twelfth grade.
DREAM Alive, established in 2001 by retired Indianapolis Colt Tarik Glenn and his wife, Maya, was established to break the cycle of poverty by helping youth discover career paths and mentoring them for six-plus years during their middle and high school education. Since its founding, DREAM Alive has worked with more than 5,200 youth, serving 1,169 students in 2023 alone.
Launched in August 2020 with a 10-year, $300 million commitment by the 30 NBA team governors, the NBA Foundation is the NBA’s first charitable foundation. The organization’s mission seeks to increase access and support for high school, college-aged and career-ready Black men and women by assisting national and local organizations providing skills training, mentorship, coaching and pipeline development in NBA markets and communities across the U.S. and Canada.
The NBA Foundation grant to DREAM Alive will support the nonprofit’s current initiatives as well as help expand future programming through DA’s DREAM Campaign, a three-year strategic plan developed to ensure all Indianapolis Public School youth in seventh through twelfth grade have access to DREAM Alive programming.
“We’re excited for this partnership with DREAM Alive, Edna Martin Christian Center and Flanner House in our tenth grant round cohort.” said NBA Foundation Executive Director Greg Taylor. “This community partnership will provide critical resources to support diverse and jumpstart opportunities for youth in the Indianapolis area
Through DREAM Alive’s programming, youth are introduced to various career and employment fields, experience one-to-one and participate in character development programming. Youth will also gain access to exclusive internships, job opportunities, personal and professional development courses, college preparatory work, exclusive scholarships, and professional networking opportunities.
“DREAM Alive offers our scholars a unique, immersive, hands-on experience to explore careers that they may have never imagined before, it’s an opportunity to create new career dreams,” said Tarik Glenn. “But our focus isn’t just careers, it’s about long-term, authentic relationships in the heart of our neighborhoods. Community mentoring makes a difference. And we are grateful for our recent partnership with the NBA. To be a part of this, it’s more than just a grant, it’s an opportunity to collaborate, to serve our scholars together, in our community. Together, we will only open up more opportunities for our scholars.”
DREAM Alive’s interactive approach, combined with the NBA Foundation’s focus on youth employment and internship programs in fields including STEM and its commitment to professional mentorship, made the community partnership a natural fit.
"We are humbled by this investment in our work from the NBA Foundation,” said Eric Müller, Executive Director of DREAM Alive, “ This partnership will empower us to reach, serve and support significantly more youth in our city. Thanks to the NBAF’s generous gift, we can expose our scholars to even more career paths and opportunities they may have never considered exploring and pursuing. We can encourage and empower them to dream bigger about their futures.”
DREAM Alive, which has a 100% high school graduation rate since 2011 compared to city average of 72% over the same period, has expanded to serve two new sites in 2023, and is working hard towards serving youth in all Indianapolis Public Schools by 2026. To learn more about DA’s efforts or to team up with partners like the NBA Foundation, click here.
About DREAM Alive
DREAM Alive (DA) is a local nonprofit which helps break the cycle of poverty by mentoring vulnerable youth from 7th grade through 12th grade, helping youth discover career paths. DA was originally co-founded by retired Indianapolis Colts Left Tackle, Tarik Glenn during his playing career. For a decade-plus, DREAM Alive has empowered scholars who complete their 6-year program to graduate high school, with 96% of those scholars planning to enlist in the military, go to college, or enter straight into the workforce upon commencement. To learn more about DREAM Alive, please visit www.dreamaliveinc.org
About NBA Foundation
Launched in August 2020 with a 10-year, $300 million commitment by the 30 NBA team governors, the NBA Foundation is the NBA’s first charitable foundation. The organization’s mission seeks to increase access and support for high school, college-aged and career-ready Black men and women by assisting national and local organizations providing skills training, mentorship, coaching and pipeline development NBA markets and communities across the U.S. and Canada.
