A Word From Our Founder
“I AM ABEL FOUNDATION, is a 501(c)3 charitable organization I founded following the murder of my young cousin then paralysis of my even younger cousin due to south side gun violence all in the same year. I determined that I had to do more than just speak on the problems in Chicago but had to become an agent of change. I founded I AM ABEL FOUNDATION to engage untapped talent amongst Chicago’s inner-city youth interested in careers in medicine and to empower THEM to become doctors as healers that are prepared to change the narrative in their communities. Each student participates in an intense pre-health and STEM curriculum that is preparing them to be our future researchers, innovators, advocates and physicians. We also connect each student one on one with their own physician and medical student mentors and provide them support in a pipeline program that follows them from their first pinning ceremony until the day they dawn their short white coat. We have a powerful mentoring community and our students are saturated with affirmations that further empower them to believe in themselves and their goal to become physicians as healers. Our goal, through our highly impactful programming is to raise up our next generation of healthcare heroes who will become agents of change in their own communities through the platforms of research and medicine. We believe and teach our mentees that medicine and society are inextricably tied. There is no pill that can take away the pain of the voiceless so community leadership as well as humanitarian service both locally and abroad is woven through our pre-health programming and is an expectation for our mentees.”
- LaMenta Sweetie Conway, MD, MPH
Creating Opportunities.
Providing Support.
The most challenging barrier for our inner-city children is receiving the needed support and assistance in the areas of science and mathematics. Many of our students are from poorly resourced inner-city schools and were it not for our interventions would not be reaching such impressive benchmarks. We have now seen our 1st medical school matriculants and graduates and there are many more in the pipeline. We have increased enrollment of students in AP courses at their high schools and mean GPAs have improved. Our goal is to continue providing valuable academic and tutoring resources to our students free of charge but to help more students who are waiting for our help. Your support will help provide vital resources including MCAT prep, academic advising, and tutoring for our students. Our goal is to help our mentees overcome common barriers and get the one thing they have often lacked – opportunity.
A Word From Our Founder
“I AM ABEL FOUNDATION, is a 501(c)3 charitable organization I founded following the murder of my young cousin then paralysis of my even younger cousin due to south side gun violence all in the same year. I determined that I had to do more than just speak on the problems in Chicago but had to become an agent of change. I founded I AM ABEL FOUNDATION to engage untapped talent amongst Chicago’s inner-city youth interested in careers in medicine and to empower THEM to become doctors as healers that are prepared to change the narrative in their communities. Each student participates in an intense pre-health and STEM curriculum that is preparing them to be our future researchers, innovators, advocates and physicians. We also connect each student one on one with their own physician and medical student mentors and provide them support in a pipeline program that follows them from their first pinning ceremony until the day they dawn their short white coat. We have a powerful mentoring community and our students are saturated with affirmations that further empower them to believe in themselves and their goal to become physicians as healers. Our goal, through our highly impactful programming is to raise up our next generation of healthcare heroes who will become agents of change in their own communities through the platforms of research and medicine. We believe and teach our mentees that medicine and society are inextricably tied. There is no pill that can take away the pain of the voiceless so community leadership as well as humanitarian service both locally and abroad is woven through our pre-health programming and is an expectation for our mentees.”
- LaMenta Sweetie Conway, MD, MPH
WE Need YOUR Help.
Donate and Sponsor our Programs
As a recognized 501c3 non-profit organization, your donations are fully tax deductible. These donations will fund our programs which meet over 40 weekends annually and include many additional experiences including academic advising, medical missions, volunteering opportunities, studies abroad, College Corner (ACT Prep, Personal statement writing, mock interviewing, personalized tutoring), MedSchool University Prep and much more.
The mission of I Am Abel Foundation is not only medicine and research but humanitarian service. Pictured here are our mentees and parents volunteering
and packing food for hungry children across the world.
