Building Organizations to Change Communities: Educational Entrepreneurs in Poor Urban Areas

Despite being one of the wealthiest nations in the world, the United States is one of the highest-ranking OECD countries in relative poverty1 (Foerster & d’Ercole, 2005). More than one in fi ve children in the United States lives below the federal poverty line ($21,756 for a family of four),2 and families in poverty tend to live in neighborhoods lacking social resources such as good public schools and jobs. Th ey also have increased risks for disease, substance abuse, social isolation, and criminal victimization (Jargowsky, 1997; Pebbly & Sastry, 2004).