About Us

About Us:

RARE Academy is a 501(c)(3) peer-designed, peer-led, and peer-focused organization dedicated to empowering system-impacted individuals through holistic, innovative, and human-centered reentry support. We believe that people with lived experience are the strongest architects of change, and we center their voices in every program we build.

Our suite of services includes workforce development, digital literacy, trauma-informed care, mental health awareness, leadership development, basic needs support, civic engagement, and immersive systems-simulation learning. Everything we do is designed to restore confidence, cultivate excellence, and create clear pathways to meaningful careers and community leadership.

RARE leads with love, dignity, and empathy. We partner with community organizations, employers, and local agencies to create opportunities rooted in equity—not charity. We know our participants are capable, intelligent, resilient, and deeply committed to growth. Our role is to open doors, build skills, and create a community where every person returning home is seen as a leader in the making.

Our Mission:

RARE Academy empowers system-impacted individuals through peer-led, holistic programs that restore excellence, build workforce readiness, strengthen digital literacy, and develop the next generation of peer leaders. Our mission is to provide transformative learning experiences—rooted in lived experience, trauma-informed care, and community collaboration—that support emotional, mental, and psychological growth. We equip participants with the knowledge, confidence, and real-world pathways needed to achieve livable-wage careers, stability, and leadership in their communities. 

Our Vision:

RARE Academy envisions a bold, transformational reentry ecosystem where system-impacted individuals are valued as leaders, innovators, and experts. We see a future where every participant has access to education, career development, mental health support, employment, civic engagement, and community advocacy—all within a self-sustaining peer-led system. RARE imagines communities where people are met with empathy rather than judgment, opportunity rather than obstacles, and where lived experience guides policy, shapes culture, and drives systems change.