College Bound Dorchester (CBD) honored the progress of more than 30 formerly gang-affiliated students who have earned their HiSet (GED), or are matriculating to college last Thursday at the Museum of Fine Arts. The students wore caps and gowns for the graduation-style celebration, where Boston Uncornered students AB Toliaferro and Gerelyn Baez shared their stories. 

“We use the power of gang-involved individuals to transform their lives,” said Mark Culliton, the founder and CEO of Boston College Bound Dorchester. “Their networks are so intimate and powerful that their transformation can really unlock the potential of … neighborhoods across the US, so we’re starting in Boston.” 

Culliton founded College Bound Dorchester in 2009 and partnered with staff to create Boston Uncornered in 2016. The organization has been hosting these celebrations at different venues around the city for about eight years, Senior Vice President of CBD Michelle Caldeira said. 

“We’re calling it the Milestone Celebration this year as a way to expand how we recognize success,” Caldeira said. “We’re celebrating students who have achieved their HiSet, who are persisting in college, students who have made the dean’s list, and we have a few students who have completed their secondary credentials.”

Although the students celebrated their milestones, they are not done with Boston Uncornered. They will continue to be a part of the program’s solution mission and will receive financial and social emotional support throughout their time in college.

Toliaferro, who recently completed his HiSet and is looking forward to going to college to be an accountant, said that he first got involved with the program after he was released from incarceration about two years ago. His advice to anyone struggling to make positive change: “Don’t get discouraged. Get a plan, get positive people around you, like I’ve got my fiancée, who’s always keeping me motivated. Let [people around you] light that fire under your butt if you can’t, and just stick with it.” 

Boston Uncornered has been taking on generational urban poverty by setting the expectation of a college education for former gang members. The program supports its students with $400 weekly stipends, provides social emotional guidance of College Readiness Advisors (CRAs), and sets high expectations.

Elias Perea, one of CBD’s advisors, said that being a mentor is kind of like being a “big brother.” He added that his responsibilities include helping the students find resources, driving them to tests, helping them look after their kids, and, often, being “a shoulder to lean on.”

For his parts, Perea said, “I’ve struggled with school, I’ve struggled through the system, I’ve struggled with family crisis, and I’m there with them through all the ups and downs. I know their struggle, I’m one of them.” 

Makeeba McCreary, chief of Learning and Community Engagement at the MFA, welcomed the students and their families to a packed-full auditorium. 

“The MFA is not a place that I came to when I was growing up, and I don’t know if it’s a place that you come to very often— if at all,” McCreary said. “But this is an incredible moment for me because we are changing this museum step-by-step and in this moment you have changed the experience of this room.” 

McCreary said that Boston Uncornered’s mission of changing expectations is vital. “You can’t just survive what is out there in this world. That’s not enough. You have to take it by the hand and you have to lead. You have to get out here and own this world – and you will do that.” 

McCreary, who was hired by the MFA in November 2018, is the first woman and person of color to be elected into a leadership role at the museum. She announced that each graduate will be receiving a year membership to the MFA for themselves and their families. 

Gerelyn Baez, who is in her first semester of graduate school at Boston College after receiving her undergraduate degree from Endicott College, shared her CBD story and struggled through tears to announce what’s next for her.

“I’m currently attending the Boston College School of Social work to get my master’s in clinical therapy. I was granted a scholarship of $60,000,” she added. “There are ways to break endless cycles of poverty, and physical and emotional abuse. I don’t know where I would be without the amount of support I’ve received. So, use your resources, network, and meet new people. The people that you grew up with might not have your best interests at heart.” 

According to Boston Uncornered’s research, gang members are just one percent of Boston’s youth, but this very small group has an outsized influence in urban cores. They commit 50 percent of the homicides and control the five percent of city corners on which 70 percent of Boston’s violent crimes take place. 

Boston Uncornered targets those least likely to succeed and supports these influential youth as they go through school guiding them toward positive behaviors that can begin to change social norms.