NAPLES – Guadalupe Center has been selected to participate in Stand Together Foundation’s Catalyst Program and join a growing national network of 141 high-performing nonprofits that are working to break the cycle of poverty and transforming communities across the country.

The Catalyst Program is a highly selective, six-month management training and mentorship program that brings together successful community-based nonprofits to increase their effectiveness and scale. Guadalupe Center, which has a clearly defined mission of breaking the cycle of poverty through education for the children of Immokalee, operates educational programs that serve more than 1,300 youth in rural Collier County.

Organizations typically work across one or more of Stand Together’s six issue areas: addiction and mental health; financial empowerment and entrepreneurship; housing and homelessness; in-prison, re-entry and second chances; workforce development; and youth and education.

“We have a network of some of the nation’s most impactful organizations, and this newest group is an inspiring addition,” said Evan Feinberg, executive director of Stand Together. “People are capable of extraordinary things, and each of our partner organizations helps people tap into their unique gifts and talents to contribute to others.”

Stand Together Foundation catalyst partners have a unique opportunity to improve organizational health and scale the social change they’re driving in communities through business management coaching, skills-based volunteer support and connection to national networks of peer nonprofit leaders, influential philanthropists and business leaders.

“Stand Together Foundation provides an opportunity for Guadalupe Center to create a framework that allows us to be the most efficient, effective and sustainable organization we can be as we strive to serve more students in Immokalee,” said Dawn Montecalvo, president of Guadalupe Center. “We are humbled to be a Catalyst with other like-minded organizations from all over the country as we collectively share our vision, values and culture to break the cycle of poverty.”

For more information on Stand Together’s Catalyst Network, please visit StandTogetherAgainstPoverty.org.

About Guadalupe Center
Guadalupe Center is a purpose-driven, nonprofit organization with proven results in creating endless possibilities for the students of Immokalee through education and fostering personal and academic success that leads to economic independence. With a focus on breaking the cycle of poverty through education, Guadalupe Center is proud of the children’s accomplishments: 95% meet or exceed kindergarten readiness measures, 100% of Tutor Corps high school seniors graduate high school and are accepted into college, and more than 92% graduate with a post-secondary degree.

About Stand Together Foundation

Stand Together Foundation is breaking the cycle of poverty by supporting the creative solutions of individuals and communities around the country. It’s goal is to help effective, high-performing social entrepreneurs maximize impact—to help them help more—by bringing a business-like approach to the social sector. The result is a vetted Catalyst Network of some of the most highly effective and top-performing non-profits in the U.S. that are helping people in poverty transform their lives.