Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Impola.
Urban Promise Miami was created in 2010 by Dr. Ana Ojeda and the Hon. Kristy Nunez to equip Miami’s inner city children and young adults with the skills necessary for academic achievement, life management, and spiritual growth. Urban Promise Miami creates a safe and supportive environment where the youth of the community can thrive by providing positive role models, resources, and dynamic programs. Since 2015, Scott Impola has been the Executive Director of UPM.
Has it been a smooth road?
Urban Promise Miami has been privately funded for eight of its nine years (last year we received a large five-year grant). This has been a tremendous challenge in fundraising $250,000+ every year. But it is a labor of love, we love what we do, and this keeps us agile and connected to the cause.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Urban Promise Miami story. Tell us more about the business.
Urban Promise Miami’s mission is to serve at-risk families by providing a space to dream, grow and become leaders in their communities. The mission goes far beyond only meeting the current needs of low-income communities, in fact equipping our students and families with educational, life, emotional and problem-solving skills to provide lifelong outcomes.
The Urban Promise Miami Model is based on building “family-like” environments where youth feel safe, loved, valued and connected to caring adults. Urban Promise Miami serves children and teens between the ages of five and 18 who qualify to be designated “at-risk” as defined by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
These are children who are exposed to high levels of risk in their families, homes, communities, and social environments to such a degree that they could experience educational failure, school dropout, or involvement in juvenile delinquency.
Tell us about your childhood, what were you like growing up?
Insatiably curious, I’d sit for hours and read the encyclopedias trying to absorb as much geography, history, culture as I could. I was an explorer/daydreamer. I took my first international trip at age 18 (backpacked through all of Central America on a shoestring budget) and haven’t stopped since.
I never imagined I could have a job now that keeps that curiosity going and gives back. I feel like the luckiest guy in the world. I get to do mentorship of fatherless boys, executive, and strategic leadership, develop staffs leadership potential, offer mental health to underserved communities (I once started a Masters in counseling psychology) and of course lots of fun.
Contact Info:
- Address: 985 NW 1st ST Miami, FL 33128
- Website: www.upmiami.org
- Phone: 305-988-5251 (Mobile)
- Email: ScottImpola@UrbanPromiseMiami.org
- Instagram: instagram.com/urbanpromisemiami/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UrbanPromiseMiami/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel&eid=ARCXCs7L8BOCqSdOFvL-ynopl7R0-StFyRQJ0skg_Bs4b9tOC7qCv-IiaQ-3Wsr2SZRgzs6R08RUJg4P
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