Peer Power Big River Crossing Race

These races fund Peer Power’s mission to empower and inspire scholars through their innovative student-to-student tutoring program.

Peer Power's mission is to provide youth with high-quality, life-enhancing tutoring and mentoring services that ensure personal, partner, and provider success. Since 2004, the organization has advanced that mission through a peer-to-peer model that recruits and trains college students as Success Coaches, placing them alongside teachers to provide in-classroom academic support, mentoring, and meaningful encouragement for young people across Memphis. Peer Power’s vision is a world where all children receive holistic, individualized academic support regardless of their zip code.

That mission translates into measurable impact for students, schools, and the future workforce of Memphis. Peer Power currently supports thousands of students through embedded school partnerships, and the organization’s model helps young people show up, stay engaged, and make stronger academic progress. Students supported by Peer Power average a 91% attendance rate, attend school two to three weeks more each year than peers without a Success Coach, and 85% of Peer Power-supported subjects meet or exceed statewide goals. This year alone, Success Coaches have delivered more than 5,500 tutoring hours and 28,000 student interactions through high-dosage tutoring, co-instruction, split-classroom support, and other targeted academic interventions.

Peer Power also creates opportunity far beyond the classroom. The organization is the second-largest employer of University of Memphis students, 84% of Success Coaches graduate at a higher rate than their peers, ACT Prep participants average a 3.2-point increase, and more than 350 youth are employed annually through workforce programs. With 143 Success Coaches serving 9 schools, supporting 63 teachers, 353 sections, and 2,887 students, Peer Power is building a stronger pipeline of success for both younger scholars and the college students who serve them. That impact produces lasting value: Peer Power delivers a 3-to-1 return on investment, meaning every $1 invested generates $3 in measurable benefits for students, schools, and families. Peer Power’s Big River Crossing Race helps fuel that work by turning community participation into direct support for Memphis youth. The organization’s race materials likewise describe the event as a way to connect the public to the transformative work supported by Peer Power’s tutoring and mentoring model.