Streetwise Partners

Mission: To leverage mentorship to increase employment opportunities for adults from overlooked and under-resourced communities within New York, Washington, D.C. and Detroit.

StreetWise Partners was founded in New York City in 1997 when our founders, Matt Gorin and Rahul Advani recognized that they had access to resources that could help address economic inequality: career experience, professional networks, and inside knowledge of their industries. They realized they could use these to help individuals who were hindered by a lack of role models, resources, and networks. With a small investment and a borrowed conference room, the founders launched an innovative mentoring program that grew into StreetWise Partners. They quickly learned the immense impact that a mentoring relationship can have on a person’s career and life, and set to work expanding their organization. Since 1997, StreetWise has served 7,000 mentees through the support of 12,000 mentors and expanded its operations to Washington D.C. in 2006 and Detroit in 2019.

StreetWise Partners pairs business professionals with mentees who are unemployed/underemployed in order to provide them with the skills, resources, and access to networks they need to secure and maintain employment. Our program serves 300 mentees through the support of over 20 corporations and 1,000 volunteers annually. Since inception in 1997, StreetWise Partners has transformed the lives of 6,000 job seekers. Our mentees are: Unemployed, underemployed men and women ages 18+ from underserved communities, HS/HSE graduates with basic hard skills training and/or college Individuals facing limitations and challenges spanning work, education, access to professional networks and role models and unstable housing.