Improve Your Tomorrow-Wisconsin (IYT) welcomed community members to Verona Area High School on Sept. 30 for a showcase highlighting its programming and the impact it is having on students across the state.
The event offered an inside look at what IYT-Wisconsin Director Korbey White calls the organization’s “secret sauce” — its approach to helping students of color build pathways to college and beyond.
Improve Your Tomorrow is a national nonprofit focused on creating college pathways for young men of color. Its Wisconsin branch, the organization’s newest, launched in October 2025 and has since expanded its work with students and schools across the state.
During the showcase, community members had an opportunity to learn more about IYT-Wisconsin’s programs and see how the organization works with students at its partner schools.
“We’re not here as a savior program. We’re working collaboratively with our educators, with our school districts, to ensure that we assist all of our brothers,” White said. “We’re here to assist the work that’s already happening that our educators are putting in daily.”
(Photo by Omar Waheed)
At the showcase, White provided an update on IYT-Wisconsin’s progress nearly a year into its work in Wisconsin. The organization is currently partnered with three high schools across the Verona and Madison school districts: Verona High School, La Follette High School and Capital High School.
One key measure highlighted in the update was the organization’s “dosage” rate, which measures how often students receive actual interventions from IYT staff. The rate has reached 87%, up from 72% in early spring of the previous academic year.
Attendance cannot be directly compared with IYT’s national figures because the Wisconsin branch operates somewhat differently. In Wisconsin, students can enroll in IYT as part of their regular class schedules rather than participating solely in an after-school program.
After-school participation currently stands at 37%. White said incorporating IYT into students’ regular school schedules is the organization’s “secret sauce” and a key factor in its success.
(Photo by Omar Waheed)
About 88% of students receive mentorship; it retains 98% of students; it exceeds its capacity for students with a 103% rate of enrollment; family engagement is 88%, and 76% of students gave generally favorable responses to a survey on their sense of belonging.
“All these young men needed was a sense of belief, a sense of brotherhood, a sense of empowerment, being seen, valued, heard,” White said.
Success in its programming has led to other schools and districts asking if IYT can come to their schools, White said. Most recently in its expansion, Madison East High School is now on the roster of schools partnered with IYT.
“Our mission is to increase the number of young men of color who not only attend college but actually graduate from college, all right, and that after that they become leaders in the community,” White said. “We see a country, a nation, a world, where young men of color are overrepresented in the community college and university area, and underrepresented in the prison population.”
(Photo by Omar Waheed)
After an update on IYT’s progress in Wisconsin, a live session showcased some of its programming.
Its first exercise asked students to use three words to describe themselves. Students described themselves as a son, worker, athlete, goofy, intelligent, caretaker and more. The exercise was meant to help students express their identities, which can be multifaceted, instead of locking themselves into one thing.
The second exercise continued the theme of self-exploration. Students went around the room in groups at one of five areas to discuss their roots, strengths, roles, values and future. Attendees of the showcase also joined in.
It capped off with a worksheet that students filled out to think about where they come from, what they carry with them and what they’re becoming. Afterwards, students ripped off a piece of the sheet, balled it up and tossed it towards the floor. Students then picked up each other’s crumpled-up notes to read anonymously about how their fellow brothers see themselves.
“I want you to take in what one of your other brothers might have said. They may have been labeled. You are much more than any label or assumption that anybody puts on y’all,” said Aaron Broadwater, associate director of programming for IYT. “I want you to be firmly aware of that.”
Improve Your Tomorrow’s approach is having an impact not only on students but also on the schools where it operates. Verona High School Principal Brian Cox said IYT’s work has prompted the school to examine its own internal processes and consider changes to better serve students.
Capital High School Principal Victor Chukwudebe, who was unable to attend the showcase, sent a message that White read to attendees. Chukwudebe highlighted the progress of a student who had received more than 200 behavioral referrals a year before joining IYT. It’s now zero.
