Help Lauren Hoffman raise money for COOP Careers!

Why I'm running for COOP Careers

There are organizations you come across in your career, and then there are the ones that stay with you. COOP Careers has been a constant for me both personally and professionally; for over ten years.

My introduction to the organization was back in 2017 from a coworker who had just joined the program, working full-time while supporting my team on the side. The partnership later expanded, and my team was invited to a Talent Connect Day at Google HQ in Chelsea, and I said yes without thinking much of it. 

I walked into a room full of students, met with them back-to-back, and left feeling overwhelmed by the energy and fire in these students' bellies. Within months, nearly a dozen of them had been hired. 

Since then, COOP has shown up at every stop of my career; Horizon, Assembly, and most recently Kepler, where I managed a cohort for Kepler Academy in 2022, and 80% of our students were from COOP. What started as showing up for a career day became recruiting, mentoring, coaching students 1:1, and watching them grow into professionals I’m genuinely proud of. 

COOP is a competitive professional learning program supported by Google and other leading companies in media and advertising. Career days, externships, mentorship, scholarships;  but more than the programming, it’s the people. The students lift each other up, and the staff pour themselves into every cohort.

Running the TCS NYC Marathon for them isn’t a stretch; it’s the most natural thing I could do.

What is COOP Careers?

Founded in 2014, COOP (“co-op”) Careers has supported nearly 9,000 first-gen and low-income college grads on their journey from underemployment to upward mobility.

Over the last decade, COOP has developed a targeted intervention that reflects the powerful role of relationships in the labor market — and the three qualities every job seeker needs: head, heart, and hustle.

• HEAD: Hard skills in defined career tracks

• HEART: Soft skills informed by Social Work team

• HUSTLE: Networking and employer partner engagement

Grounded in these core pillars, COOP delivers an intensive, 16-week fellowship offered in three career tracks: data analytics, digital marketing, and financial services. Fellows participate in a holistic, cohort-based model designed to build in-demand skills, expand professional networks, and provide the targeted support needed to secure their first good job after graduation. Fellows meet most weeknight evenings in cohorts of 16-20 peers, each led by a team of four captains, COOP’s signature alumni coaches. 

Following the 16-week fellowship, COOP provides up to eight months of optional alumni programming. This is a structured job search phase lasting two to eight months, when most alumni secure their first offer.

Historically, COOP participants are 2.3x as likely to be employed than non-COOP participants within 12 months of completing the fellowship. 

Your donation ensures first-gen and low-income college grads have the skills and connections they need for the careers they deserve.

Support Lauren and COOP’s mission. Donate today!