Connect Me was founded with a simple yet ambitious mission: to provide free, high-quality tutoring to students in grades K-8. For some background information, the program was initiated by a group of passionate high school students who recognized the education gap in students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Connect Me’s Founder and Chair, Mehmet Tascioglu, started up a tutoring business before the pandemic started as a way to earn some money, but recognized that with schools shutting down everywhere and families losing their sources of income, there was an education gap uprising with students everywhere. In a recent Sacramento Public File podcast, Tascioglu stresses that students in the younger grades are typically more affected by the education gap since they are still in their early learning stages. Tascioglu shut down his business and instead started up the nonprofit organization Connect Me, which now tutors students in grades K-8 in myriad subjects for free.
The early stages of Connect Me originally consisted of just a small handful of high school tutors. After broadening its impact for the next three years, Connect Me transitioned from a local Michigan effort to a worldwide nonprofit organization. It has grown to have over 400 team members tutoring over 1,000 students. The organization has branched out to 8 countries and provided over $600,000 worth of free tutoring through its 30,000+ sessions offered to its students.
The team has just witnessed an incredible milestone. Three years since its startup, Connect Me now proudly takes the name of being the largest student-run free tutoring program. Kaustuv Mukherjee, Connect Me’s Treasurer, expressed his joy at this remarkable achievement.
“It’s a very rewarding feeling – knowing how far we come from our beginnings during the pandemic. I’m grateful to have seen Connect Me grow over the years, from a 3-person team to hundreds, and this milestone is a testament to all the work everyone has put in!”
Kaustuv outlined that one of Connect Me’s major goals was to become the biggest and the best. With the next steps rolling in, he feels there is no doubt Connect Me will continue its expansion and further raise its impact worldwide.
Author: Diksha Lal
