
ABOUT
WISE UP
TO RISE UP FOUNDATION
Rewriting Possibility. Inspiring Kids to See Their Future at the Highest Level.
Our Mission
We empower underserved youth by helping them discover their potential, challenge harmful cultural norms, and build a future rooted in knowledge, ethics, and vision.
Through mentorship, recognition programs, motivational events, and creative community partnerships, we make achievement visible, character admirable, and education exciting—especially for those who’ve been overlooked.
At Wise Up To Rise Up, we introduce kids to the highest level of human achievement across every field—science, literature, computing, public service, athletics, the arts—and challenge them to imagine their place in that history.
Most kids grow up never imagining that their name could one day be mentioned in the same breath as a Nobel Peace Prize winner, a Pulitzer recipient, or a National Medal of the Arts honoree. They see those names in history books, in headlines, or etched into museum plaques—distant, elite, untouchable. Somewhere along the way, the world taught them that these kinds of honors belong to other people. People from other places. People with other lives.
So we bring the extraordinary into the ordinary. We invite high achievers—recipients of national honors, global recognitions, and record-setting awards—to come into the room. But not just to inspire. To show and tell. To hold up the very medal that once seemed like a myth, and tell the full story behind it—not just the moment of triumph, but the rejections, the detours, and the doubts that came before it. We call it The Show and Tell of Greatness, and it’s not a performance. It’s a revelation.
But we also do something else—something just as vital. We leverage the honors and recognitions that are already within reach. We introduce students to the awards given out by city council members, state legislators, school board trustees, and respected community leaders—so they can see that their journey doesn’t start at the White House. It starts right here. We make the local feel legendary. We treat a city proclamation like the honor it is. Because for a child who’s never been affirmed, a simple certificate presented with pride can change everything.
And then we stretch their vision even further. We talk to them about why certain people are awarded honorary doctorates from major universities—what it means to make that kind of impact, to carry that kind of legacy. We don’t just say, “Look what they did.” We say, “Look what you could do.” We plant seeds of worthiness early—not someday, but now.
This moment—when a student sees a Fields Medal, a Congressional Gold Medal, or a Presidential Medal of Freedom in person, paired with the raw truth of how it was earned—is the crack in the illusion. The myth of "those people over there" collapses. That distance they’ve always felt between themselves and the greats suddenly feels conquerable.
We don’t stop there. We walk students through the idea that their name, too, belongs in those conversations. We name the highest achievements in human history—Nobel Prize, MacArthur Genius Grant, Olympic gold, Turing Award—and place them within reach. Not hypothetically, not abstractly, but deliberately. A kid who’s only known survival begins to imagine significance. A student who’s never been encouraged to think beyond next week begins to visualize a future where they are recognized at the highest levels—not for fitting in, but for breaking through.
Through our Show and Tell presentations, the unimaginable becomes tangible. The distant becomes personal. And that quiet inner voice that once whispered “not me” is replaced with a question far more dangerous to the status quo: “Why not me?”
We don’t just help kids dream big. We help them understand that big was always meant for them. We start where they are, honor what they’ve already overcome, and show them a future where their name is not only celebrated—it is engraved in history.
And once they see it—really see it—there’s no going back.
We don’t just help kids dream big. We help them redefine what’s possible.
How We Break-Through
We work in underserved, inner-city schools, where 85% of students live below the federal poverty line and qualify for free or reduced lunch. Many have incarcerated parents, are in foster care, or face systemic barriers that make high achievement feel out of reach.
We break through those barriers by providing:
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Radical Exposure – We introduce students to history’s biggest achievers, showing them what’s possible in fields they’ve never even imagined.
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Extreme Vision Expansion – We push students to see themselves at the level of a Nobel laureate, an Olympic champion, or a global leader—because that’s where their ambition should start.
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Unconventional Mentorship – We don’t just tell them they can succeed. We teach them how to think like the people who shape history.
This isn’t about helping kids "do well."
This is about redefining success entirely.
Who We Serve
We work with kids from all walks of life.
Some of them are social butterflies, well-connected, excelling in academics and extracurriculars, raised with every advantage. Others have been counted out—told they’ll never make it, never rise beyond their circumstances, never leave a mark.
But here’s what’s different about us:
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We don’t lower the vision based on where a student starts.
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We don’t change the conversation based on privilege or struggle.
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We refuse to set a ceiling on any student’s potential.
Whether they "have it all" or are struggling to find their place in the world, our message stays the same:
⭐ Your name belongs among the greatest.
⭐ You can aim for the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer, the Fields Medal, or the National Medal of the Arts.
⭐ You can stand alongside the highest achievers in human history—if you dare to reach that far.
The vision is so high, so bold, so unwavering, that every student we work with—no matter their background—leaves seeing themselves differently.
Because we don’t see them as they are today.
We see them as who they could become.
And we make sure they start seeing it too.
Why This Matters
Most people never believe their name will be etched into history.
But why not?
The Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal— these are not for some unreachable class of people. They are earned by those who refuse to accept ordinary limits.
We believe that:
✔ Excellence isn’t a privilege—it’s a choice.
✔ Achievement isn’t about where you come from—it’s about how far you refuse to stop.
✔ History belongs to those who dare to write it.
The Future We Are Creating.
Wise Up to Rise Up isn’t here to help kids “do better.”
We’re here to ignite the kind of thinking that changes history.
By exposing kids to the highest level of human excellence, we show them that their future can be as bold, legendary, and world-changing as they decide to make it.
When they rise, they don’t just achieve for themselves.
They push humanity forward.
We won’t stop until every student we reach understands this truth:
⭐ Your potential is limitless.
⭐ You belong among the greatest.
⭐ You have the power to reshape history.