2024:
Continuing Our Impact
A Message from Our Executive Director
For the second year in a row, we served over 1,000 students across Atlanta, ensuring that young people—especially those from underserved communities—had access to high-quality martial arts mentorship. We strengthened our work with dozens of incredible partners, reinforcing our belief that collaboration is key to helping students build self-regulation, resilience, and respect.
We also saw remarkable fundraising success, raising $770,000—far exceeding our original goal of $650,000. These funds have allowed us to expand our programs, deepen our impact, and host our first-ever in-person martial arts tournament—a milestone event that brought together students, families, and supporters to celebrate discipline, perseverance, and achievement.
At PowerUP, we do not just teach martial arts; we build futures. None of this would be possible without the dedication of our board and the generosity of our supporters. Their time, wisdom, and resources are the foundation of our mission. We are committed to growing, reaching further, and continuing to fight for the students we serve.
As we look ahead to 2025, we have set an ambitious goal of raising $1,000,000 to expand our reach and deepen our impact. Your support has made everything we have achieved possible—and together, we will continue to PowerUP for the next generation.
With gratitude,
Connor Cook
Our Mission
Our mission is to help disadvantaged and special needs kids thrive by teaching core values through high quality martial arts mentorship.
Thanks to the incredible generosity and commitment of our donors and supporters, in 2024 we exceeded our expectations, serving over 1,000 students and making a lasting impact on the lives of young individuals in need.
This year marked a pivotal moment as it was the first time multiple major Atlanta-based foundations embraced PowerUP for partnership, setting the stage for even greater growth in 2025.
What PowerUP Partners Say
DAVID JERNIGAN, PRESIDENT & CEO, BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF METRO ATLANTA
“At Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta (BGCMA), we are thrilled to see our partnership with PowerUP Martial Arts flourishing across our Clubs. This collaboration perfectly embodies our mission to ignite the unlimited potential of kids and teens by providing safe, inclusive, and engaging environments. At our Warren Club, BGCMA alumnus Josh White has established a dedicated room for award-winning Judo training. Since 2018, our Club members have secured numerous championships, including at the Junior Olympics.
PowerUP programs are in the early stages at our Harland, Flint River, and Whitehead Clubs, but we look forward to continued excellence at these sites as well. PowerUP not only strengthens our young members physically but also enriches their lives with discipline, confidence, and resilience.”
NELL BENN, CEO, AGAPE YOUTH & FAMILY CENTER
“PowerUP Scholarship has been a consistent partner in Agape’s afterschool and summer programming for several years, delivering fun and interactive lessons to our elementary students. Our students enjoy kinesthetic learning around martial arts, discipline, self-control and the correct methods of self-protection. We appreciate PowerUP Scholarship immensely for the quality of their program. It’s a program our students look forward to every week!”
MINI’MAH SHAHEED, CEO, KIPP METRO ATLANTA
“PowerUP provides exceptional martial arts instruction to students at several of our KIPP Atlanta school sites, consistently delivering impressive outcomes in areas such as character development, school attendance, and academic progress.
As a parent, I have personally witnessed the transformative effects of the PowerUP program with my own son, Yanis. Over the past two academic years—during his third and fourth grades—he has grown significantly, developing enhanced confidence, a strong sense of responsibility, and greater determination.
The unwavering commitment and mentorship from the PowerUP instructors have made a profound and lasting impact on his life. I enthusiastically recommend the PowerUP program to all KIPPsters and families seeking to nurture critical life skills and values that extend far beyond the classroom.”
Our Impact
“As someone who has devoted my career to improving the lives of children, I applaud PowerUP’s thoughtful approach to developing a community-based intervention that delivers meaningful outcomes,” says Dr. Kimberley Lakes, Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the University of California, Riverside.
From day one, we’ve set out to build more than just a mentorship program. PowerUP was founded on the belief that lasting change comes from measurable growth, and we’ve committed ourselves to proving that impact with real data. Every survey, every report, every insight fuels our mission: to help kids thrive through a proven model of mentorship rooted in self-regulation, resilience, and respect.
We use tools like the Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and our custom Behavior Survey to track students’ emotional and behavioral development across every site we serve. This isn’t just paperwork, it’s a vital part of how we hold ourselves accountable and how we continue to raise the bar year after year.
Since 2020, we’ve partnered with leading researchers to sharpen our approach and validate our outcomes. The result? A mentorship model that’s not only compassionate and accessible but based in evidence and results-driven.
At PowerUP, we don’t just believe in our impact. We prove it.
Why Support PowerUP?
When you support PowerUP Scholarship Fund you support much more than a child in a martial arts class. You support parents who receive a helping hand in molding that child into a well adjusted adult. You support local business owners in the instructors who are giving back to their community. You support a scalable model that can reach into any neighborhood and have an immediate impact.
When you support PowerUP you support the foundation needed to build a successful future.
Join us on our journey, and help us grow to 1,500 scholars in 2024 and to raise $1,000,000 in support of our mission!
