Vision

ALL IMMIGRANT YOUTH HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SUCCEED

Mission

to empower immigrant youth to achieve academic, career, and personal success through inspiring out-of-school experiences

What Guides Us

Who We Are

OUR TEAM

OUR Board of Directors

Founded in 1938 as the Cambridge Community Federation, Enroot began as a philanthropic organization supporting local charitable efforts. In 1951, it became Cambridge Community Services (CCS), a community development agency dedicated to identifying local needs and designing programs in response. Over the decades, CCS evolved into a direct service provider, playing a central role in youth employment, education, and career development across Cambridge.

As Cambridge transformed, so did our focus. Building on the success of our flagship City Links program, helping immigrant students graduate college at twice the rate of their peers, our Board envisioned expanding this impact beyond Cambridge. With support from Deloitte’s Inspire program, we launched our first expansion site at Somerville High School, where we continue to serve immigrant youth today.

Guided by our core value of constant improvement, in 2016 we rebranded as Enroot to reflect our growth and renewed mission: helping immigrant youth put down strong roots and thrive. As our programs expanded to serve more than 80 students across Cambridge and Somerville, we continued to deepen our commitment to immigrant communities - empowering young people from around the world to define success on their own terms.

At Enroot, we’ve reimagined how we support immigrant youth on their journeys through high school and beyond. The result is Success Lab - our new, student-centered model that weaves academic support, mentoring, and career readiness into one integrated experience.

Inspired by the power of hands-on labs, Success Labs are where students take initiative, build curiosity, and gain confidence as they try new things. Each Lab meets students where they are - whether they’re building foundational skills, strengthening their identity and sense of belonging, or exploring pathways to college and careers.

Through partnerships with schools, employers, and colleges, Success Labs connect learning directly to the real world. Students apply what they learn, expand their networks, and discover opportunities that shape their futures.

These Labs are designed to ensure students graduate ready, persist in college, and launch meaningful careers all while being part of a community that recognizes their strengths and honors their identities. It’s more than a program redesign; it’s Enroot’s new way of operating: active, collaborative, measurable, and deeply rooted in diversity, belonging, inclusion, and equity.

As Enroot looks ahead, our future is defined by a simple but powerful idea: students should not only build skills, they should be able to use them in the real world. That vision comes to life through FutureReady!, the applied learning engine within Success Labs.

FutureReady! introduces Applied Tracks - focused pathways that allow students to explore industries, earn credentials, and create meaningful work aligned with their identities and aspirations. These tracks are not new programs, but extensions of Success Labs that open doors into fields such as Digital Storytelling & Design, Green Economy & Sustainability, Healthcare & Wellness, Creative Industries, Education Leadership, Hospitality, and Entrepreneurship & Financial Literacy.

Across these applied pathways, students will design bilingual media, contribute to community health initiatives, explore climate tech, or launch micro-enterprises -transforming preparation into participation. Each experience reinforces agency and belonging while helping students build portfolios and pathways for college, careers, and community leadership.

With Success Labs as the foundation and FutureReady! activating students’ skills, Enroot is shaping a future where immigrant youth have multiple, meaningful pathways to thrive.

WELCOME TO THE NEXT CHAPTER OF ENROOT