Byrne Urban Scholars

Utilizing a combination of mentoring, case management and partnership with families and top-performing Denver private and charter schools, Byrne Urban Scholars empowers participants to graduate high school with a meaningful life plan for future academic and/or career success.

Byrne Urban Scholars is a Denver-based program dedicated to helping students graduate high school. Our goal is to help each Byrne Urban Scholar earn a high school diploma from a top-performing Denver-area private or charter high school. With their high school diplomas, our scholars have more opportunity to participate in higher education, obtain meaningful employment and lead fulfilling lives.

Byrne Urban Scholars (formerly The Byrne Foundation) was established in 1995 by Larry and Margaret Byrne. Larry grew up on the South Side of Chicago where resources were scarce. Despite his humble beginnings, he made education a priority and eventually became a successful entrepreneur. But Larry always knew he wanted to give back. So in 1995 he established The Byrne Foundation in order to provide at-risk Denver youth scholarships and to prepare these students for college and future employment. Today, the program has helped more than 350 students reach their potential in high school and beyond.

Urban Scholars works with students from Denver Metro area who attend  KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy, La Academia, KIPP Denver Collegiate High School, Denver School of Science and Technology, and West Denver Prep. We match our students individually to mentors and also provide them academic, emotional, and financial support with the goal of supporting them until they graduate from high school. All of the mentor/mentee matches are also paired with case managers. The case manager is a masters level clinician who acts as a liaison and support to the family, school, mentor, and mentee. We want to provide as much support as possible to our youth to make it easier for them to be successful academically and for their future. We ask each mentor to make a 1yr commitment to their mentee.