College Tribe: Empowering Black Youth Through Education and Mentorship
College Tribe is a Washington DC-based nonprofit dedicated to shaping the lives of 3rd to 8th grade black children by fostering their character, scholarship, and social competence. Founded in 2007, the organization offers a range of free programs designed to ignite a passion for learning and open doors to future educational opportunities. From mentoring to after-school STREAM (Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts, and Math) initiatives and an engaging summer camp, College Tribe provides a supportive environment where young boys—and soon girls—can thrive academically and personally, all while being guided by dedicated mentors who model positive manhood and community involvement.
At Kars4Kids, we were proud to award a small grant to College Tribe to support their impactful work with youth. We chose to partner with them because their programs stand out for their exceptional quality and their focus on serving black youth, a group often underserved in educational enrichment opportunities. What particularly impressed us was not only the caliber of their offerings—blending academic rigor with creative and social development—but also their commitment to providing these transformative experiences at no cost to families, ensuring accessibility for all who need it.
Through mentoring, College Tribe builds foundational relationships that inspire growth, while their STREAM programs equip students with skills in science, technology, and the arts, preparing them for a dynamic future. Their summer camp balances learning with fun, ensuring kids stay engaged even during the break. This holistic approach, rooted in nearly two decades of experience, has yielded inspiring success stories and continues to evolve to meet the needs of the community, making College Tribe a beacon of hope and opportunity for Washington DC’s youth.
We put some questions to College Tribe Executive Director Scott M. Perry to learn more about this work:
Kars4Kids: What is the mission of College Tribe? What is the ultimate goal of all you do?
Scott Perry: College Tribe’s mission is to cultivate the character, scholarship and social competence of 3rd to 8th grade children living in Washington DC. Our ultimate goal is get children excited about learning and expose them to future educational opportunities.
Kars4Kids: You have three main programs. Mentoring, after-school STREAM, and a STREAM summer camp. Would you say mentoring is at the heart of everything you do?
Scott Perry: Definitely. College Tribe was founded in 2007 as a mentoring organization for Black boys and we continue to utilize mentoring as a foundation for all our programs. Our staff are intentional in modeling behavior that provide proper guidance to all of our participants.
Kars4Kids: Tell us about your mentors. How many mentors do you have? What qualities do they have and why is this important? Are some mentoring more than one child?
Scott Perry: Our mentoring program is for Black boys in the 3rd-8th grades and we meet twice a month. There are six Black, male mentors who work with the boys and they have careers in education, information technology, landscaping, and social services. Their educational backgrounds include vocational certifications, military, and 4-year degrees. All the mentors are passionate about pouring positive values into the boys and serving as examples of what manhood should look like. Most of the mentors are fathers and want to continue developing children. College Tribe utilizes a group mentoring model where mentors are assigned to a group of 3-5 boys to work with.
Kars4Kids: Can you give us an overview of your after-school STREAM program? What does the “R” stand for? Why did you add it to “STEAM?”
Scott Perry: Our After-school STREAM (Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts, and Math) program operates in three DC public schools and two DC public charter schools and classes take place 3 days a week, 2 hours a day at each site. Classes include photography, videography, graphic design, coding, robotics, VR creation, electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, and English language arts. For many years, College Tribe offered an evening book club to our participants and in 2022 the club was transformed into the reading component of our after-school program.
Kars4Kids: Your program evolved from STEM to STREAM. What prompted the change? What did you hope to achieve and are you meeting your goals?
Scott Perry: In 2016, College Tribe expanded STEM courses to include arts education and transitioned from STEM to STEAM curricula. This addition was in response to our boys’ expressed interest, and the board recognizing that by adding the arts we would create the opportunity for greater introspection by the boys. In 2022, our evening book club was changed and added to the STEAM course offering and changed to STREAM. STREAM provides students with a more holistic view of the world and helps students to see how their studies in one subject can be applied in another. The wonders of a science project can easily translate to the creativity of an arts assignment.
Kars4Kids: The third program you offer is your STREAM summer camp. Tell us about that, if you will. How do the kids feel about attending a summer camp with a focus on learning? What do you offer kids who just want to have fun during summer break?
Scott Perry: Our 6-week summer camp includes some of the courses taught during the school year and allows plenty of opportunity for fun and recreation. The STEM and arts courses are held 3 days a week in the morning, and the afternoons are set aside for book club, financial literacy, math tutorials, arts and crafts, and recreation. Field trips take place two days a week and include water parks, museums, playgrounds, and local amusement parks. Campers also have an opportunity to put on talent show and compete in a spelling bee.
Kars4Kids: How old is College Tribe? Long enough to see results? We’d love to hear one or two success stories.
Scott Perry: College Tribe was founded in 2007 and numerous positive results have taken place over the years. A recent success has to do with one of our junior mentors. Teddy, a 9th grade high schooler, recently returned to College Tribe as a junior mentor working with the elementary school boys. Teddy is a former College Tribe mentee and was enrolled in the program from the 3rd-6th grades. Teddy stated that he had great experience interacting with the mentors and wanted to help create similar experiences for others. Teddy is a committed supporter of the program and actively participates as a role model at every session.
Kars4Kids: What does it cost for kids to enroll in your programs? Are there scholarships available?
Scott Perry: All College Tribe programming is free.
Kars4Kids: What’s next for College Tribe?
Scott Perry: In December 2024, we piloted a financial literacy workshop at one of our partner schools and it has been hugely popular with the students. We are looking to expand the workshop for 2025-2026 school year to at least two additional partner schools. Also, in late 2025, College Tribe will pilot a mentoring program for girls in the 3rd-8th grades. This has been requested by several parents and school staff.
