Our History

COOP was founded in 2014 by Kalani Leifer, a former high school history teacher in the Bronx, NY. As an educator, Kalani encouraged students to believe in the transformative power of higher education, emphasizing that their decisions would shape their future. He believed, like many, that earning a bachelor’s degree was the surest path to economic independence, mobility, and long-term prosperity.

However, after several years in the classroom, Kalani confronted a harsh reality: for many students–particularly those who were first-generation or from low-income backgrounds– that promise was not being fulfilled. Every year, one million first-generation and low-income students earn a bachelor’s degree; four years later, half are underemployed (in jobs that don’t require a degree) or out of work. A 2024 Strada Education study found that people not employed within a year of graduating college have just a 27% employment rate a decade later, with the students like those Kalani taught–first-generation and low-income college grads–disproportionately affected.

COOP Careers was created to directly address this inequity. Over the last 10 years, COOP has developed a unique fellowship to help first-generation and low-income graduates secure their first good job.

We began the decade with a dozen fellows and a couple volunteers; we finished with a powerful community of 10,000+ fellows and alumni helping to propel themselves and each other into upwardly mobile careers.