Aaron’s Presents is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community engagement mentoring program working in the vibrant gateway cities of Lowell and Lawrence. Through service, mentorship, and opportunity, Aaron's Presents empowers and equips young people to lead with empathy and self-worth as compassionate changemakers, while shaping a stronger future for themselves and their communities.

Our out-of-school time (OST) programs, Givers & Visionaries (G&V) and Agents of Change (AOC), share a vital goal: to close educational and opportunity gaps for predominantly low-middle income, 1st-2nd generation, and BIPOC youth by providing the resources, mentorship and opportunities they need to break generational barriers. We begin by engaging middle and high school-aged youth to initiate and lead grassroots community service projects for them to experience firsthand the value of their actions and build practical skills.

As they age, our Mentor team supports the whole youth by offering individualized mentorship, post-secondary advising, academic and professional opportunities, and mental health and community-building support. By valuing their lived experiences, we help students build emotional resilience and prepare for lifelong success. In other words, youth join Aaron’s Presents because they want to help others, but we simultaneously build community around them to help them move forward and overcome obstacles to setting and achieving their life goals.

Ours is a new approach to “community service”, because we’re asking youth to start seeing giving not as an occasional obligation but as their larger life’s purpose, and to realize that both giving and receiving help are critical to building a fulfilling, joyful life.

We envision a world and communities led and inhabited by actively engaged people who care about others and are themselves cared for by others. The world does not need just any leaders, but those who have learned from an early age how to notice needs around them and create and implement solutions big and small in collaboration with others.