About Us
Our Mission
LYTE believes academic success is foundational to lifelong success. LYTE strives to change the academic trajectory of under-represented youth by preparing middle school students to attend rigorous high school programs and then colleges, through personal mentoring, rigorous teaching, and leadership.
Our Story
In 2013, Ankur Arya was teaching middle school math at Thomas Edison Charter School, located in one of Wilmington’s most underserved, crime-besieged neighborhoods. Arya, a Teach for America alumnus, recognized that his most promising and committed students were tracked for high schools presenting limited academic opportunities. Thus, even if these students overcame socio-economic obstacles to graduate from high school, they were unlikely to attend college or circumvent the cycle of poverty.
The immediate positive impact of LYTE’s programming on its initial Scholars rapidly increased student demand. And LYTE rose to the challenge. As the LYTE Scholars progressed in their academic achievements and goals, LYTE expanded its programming to ensure their success through high school, while adding new students every year. Thanks to the support of our community partners and hard work, LYTE now actively serves hundreds of Scholars.
In 2018, LYTE’s graduating class was admitted to college. Since then, 100% of graduates are attending college and most with substantial tuition support. LYTE Scholars are now attending Cornell University, Swarthmore College, University of Virginia, University of Delaware, University of Miami, Bryn Mawr College, Delaware State University, Rosemont College, University of Akron and many others.
Our Values
LYTE is committed to creating and sustaining positive change in Delaware by altering the life trajectory of traditionally underserved middle school students through robust academic programming. LYTE empowers its Scholars to be leaders in their community and beyond, through mentoring and modeling leadership skills, and by instilling a sense of social responsibility and the desire to give back to the community.
LYTE’s middle school Scholars complete a collaborative, community-focused research project, providing an opportunity to examine a particular challenge in the community, to propose solutions to that challenge, and to present their findings to members of the community. LYTE’s high school Scholars and alumni give back to LYTE through volunteer tutoring and mentoring younger LYTE Scholars, and by doing so, help the younger Scholars see themselves in the exciting high school and college experiences that lie ahead.
Our Scholars
LYTE began as a solution for ten committed students and now LYTE serves hundreds of underserved students from many middle schools and over 35 high schools. Every year, LYTE Scholars have received more than 3 million dollars in grants, scholarships and financial aid.
LYTE focuses its services on low-income populations most affected by the achievement gap. A recent analysis conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics showed that black and Hispanic students trailed their white peers by an average of more than 20 test-score points on the NAEP math and reading assessments at fourth and eighth grades, a difference of about two grade levels.
LYTE collects in household income information from the families we serve at several points of programming. More than 50% of the students LYTE serves are from low-income households. More than 70% are from low-to-moderate income households. Over 95% of LYTE students identify as African-American, Latin(x), or mixed race.
*Low-income households and communities are those with (i) income at or below 185 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines for the size of the household based on the most recently published poverty guidelines by HHS. This standard is equivalent to qualifying for Free and Reduced Lunches based on federal poverty guidelines.
LYTE Board
Board President - Lisa Lessner
Lisa serves as Chief Development Officer for the Combined Campaign for Justice (CCJ). She is currently a board member of the Boys and Girls Club of Delaware, Albert Einstein Academy, and Leading Youth Through Empowerment, and serves as a Commissioner on the Delaware Public Integrity Commission.
Board Secretary - Arati Kohli
Arati is Vice President at Barclays Bank Delaware in Wilmington, Delaware.
Vice President - Zach Beattie
Zach currently works at Capital One as a Product Owner on the Retail end of the company.
Treasurer - Clint Walker
Clint is the recently retired Chief Administrative Officer, Regulatory Counsel and Secretary of Barclays Bank Delaware in Wilmington, Delaware. He also serves on several other boards and commissions.
Kathryn A. Pincus
Kathryn is an attorney and volunteer in Delaware and Washington, D.C., and former LYTE board president.
Tamara Defer
Tamara is a Delaware native, worked in Talent Acquisition for Christiana Care Health System for over three years. She is an adjunct professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Delaware.
Pilar Kraman
Pilar Kraman is a partner at Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP, where she focuses her practice on patent infringement litigation, trade secret, and complex commercial litigation matters in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. Prior to law school, Pilar received a bachelor of arts in social work from the University of Kentucky, and a master’s degree in public administration from Eastern Kentucky University. In addition to serving on LYTE’s board, Pilar also volunteers with Paws for People, a non-profit organization that provides elders, children and people with disabilities individualized, therapeutic visits with pets.
Rachel Harad
Rachel is a community member who serves LYTE and other nonprofits. Rachel is generous with her time and talents specializing in event planning and support.
Benessa Reid
Benessa is the parent representative for Leading Youth Through Empowerment. Benessa currently works as a nurse.
Jeanana Lloyd
(Manager, Talent Optimization and Succession Planning for Christiana Care Health System.) Jeanana serves on the BSD Parent and Citizen Advisory Committee, in addition to being actively involved in parent teacher organizations at the middle school and high school level.
Rossana Arteaga-Lopenza
Rossana Arteaga-Lopenza is a Venezuelan-American from Caracas who grew up in Durham, North Carolina. Today, she is a proud stay-at-home mother of three boys in Wilmington, Delaware and an active volunteer and advocate. Some of her past working experience was in banking at Bank of America, First Citizens Bank and the Latino Community Credit Union. Rossana has served as the President of the Home & School Association and the Chair of Multiculturalism at Wilmington Friends School (WFS) in Delaware. Rossana is currently the President of Casa de Venezuela Delaware and the Vice President of Casa de Venezuela Greater Philadelphia. Rossana served as part of the advisory board for the Venezuelan American Caucus and currently serves in the USGLC’s Delaware Advisory Committee.
LYTE Staff Members
Executive Director - Ankur Arya
Ankur Arya is a Delaware-based educator and the founder of Leading Youth Through Empowerment, Inc. Ankur became passionate about educational equity through his own academic experience. As an adolescent he transitioned from a Title I middle school to a prestigious private high school. This experience highlighted disparities in education. Ankur attended Haverford College. Through Teach For America Delaware he taught 7th and 8th grade math at Thomas Edison Charter School in Wilmington. There he found himself amidst a hardworking and talented group of students. Inspired he helped them get into top performing high school programs in the area. These collaborative after school efforts were the beginning of Leading Youth through Empowerment.
Director of Development and Finance - Sean Boyd
Sean has launched and grown several Life Science businesses, one of which went public, developed several divisions, and served worldwide markets. His business experience includes C level roles in marketing, sales, operations, and product/service development. He has a classic science background but his real passion is for education. Sean has been a classroom teacher, started a highly successful Charter school, and has served on boards of organizations focused on changing lives through education. Sean uses his experience to assure LYTE has appropriate management systems, clear financials, and sustainable revenue strategies.
Middle School Manager - Rafael Rodriguez
Rafael Rodriguez is the Middle School Manager at Leading Youth Through Empowerment. Rafael first moved to Wilmington, DE, as an Americorps service member in 2016. He completed his service year as a Tutor Fellow at Great Oaks Charter School in Wilmington. During his service year, he made the decision of becoming a full-time educator. Rafael started teaching Social Studies at Great Oaks Charter the next year. He started working with LYTE as a Math/ELA teacher in 2017 and joined LYTE full-time as its Middle School Manager in 2022. As the Middle School Manager, he works with LYTE’s eighth graders on high school applications, manages the middle school afterschool program, and helps with the recruitment process at LYTE.
College Access Advocacy Manager - Rachel Carver
Rachel earned her Bachelor of Science in Human Services with a concentration in Youth-At-Risk from the University of Delaware. Immediately after, she moved to New Hampshire where she worked with underserved high school students at a small school; first through AmeriCorps, and then after being hired directly by her host site, she served as the Assistant Director of the school. After five years in New Hampshire, she moved back to Delaware and worked for a local nonprofit which provides workplace readiness support to high school students. Rachel is passionate about removing barriers to success for underserved young people and this passion drives her to support our Scholars as they are navigating their 11th and 12th grade years, applying for colleges, and making big decisions for their futures.
College Access Advocate - Daisy Rodriguez
Daisy earned her B.S. in Political Science and Criminology with a concentration in Black Studies from Cabrini University. After earning her degrees, she worked at College Possible Philadelphia, where she supported low-income high school juniors, seniors, and their families as they navigated the college application process; first through AmeriCorps, and then after being hired full-time. She is extremely passionate about educating students about the financial aid process. Daisy believes financial aid is sometimes the biggest obstacle students and families face, as the FAFSA and CSS terminologies can be confusing. When Daisy isn’t working with students, she donates her time by teaching an ESL class with a Latin X non-profit called Congreso in Philadelphia. Prior to her work with LYTE , Daisy worked as an Administrative Coordinator for the Wolfington Center at Cabrini University. During this time, she worked primarily with the GEAR-UP program, helping undocumented high school seniors navigate college and financial aid applications.
High School Advocate - Shana Roberts
Shana Roberts is the 9th and 10th grade Advocate. She holds a B.S from the University of Delaware and an M.A.T in teaching Secondary Science from RELAY Graduate School of Education. For over 10 years she has been serving Delaware youth in and around the Wilmington area. While she is passionate about all youth, she is dedicated to providing opportunities for students within BIPOC communities that will help to close the achievement gap. Prior to her work with LYTE, she was a middle school Science teacher at a local School in Wilmington. She uses the skills she has learned along the way to encourage her Lyte Scholars to maintain high academic success so that they are able to take advantage of a myriad of opportunities that will help them reach their goals.
High School Advocate - Aleya Taylor
Aleya Taylor is one of our 9th and 10th grade Advocates. She holds a B.S. in Applied Health Science from Indiana University Bloomington and a M.A. in Urban Education from Union University. After college Aleya, moved to Memphis. TN where she taught elementary school for 6 years. Additionally, Aleya has also taught in Gary, Indiana and Chicago, IL. She is extremely passionate about youth and being able to assist students in black and brown communities achieve their goals and attain success. Additionally, she is very passionate about students being well-rounded and serving the whole child including their mental and emotional health. Prior to her work with LYTE, Aleya was a middle school English Teacher at a charter school in Indiana. She brings a wealth of knowledge and uses her experiences working with a diverse group of students to help students achieve their goals despite any obstacle placed before them.
Middle School Program Coordinator - Andrue Smith
Andrue Smith is the Middle School Program Director for Leading Youth Through Empowerment. At a young age, the importance of education was established in his life. In order to become a positive influence in the city where he grew up, Mr. Smith joined Teach for America Delaware in 2013 and became a teacher at Thomas A. Edison Charter School. He is dedicated to improving the lives of children through education. Andrue earned his Bachelor’s degree at University of Delaware and is working toward his Masters at Wilmington University.
Career Pipeline Coordinator - August Stover
August Stover holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Harvard University and an MEd in Secondary Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. During high school and college, August pursued many internship and work opportunities in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. As a low-income, first-gen student, August sees these high school and college internships as some of her most valuable learning experiences. Before joining LYTE, August taught middle school social studies, developed college preparatory/social emotional learning curriculum, and worked for a college counseling company in the Boston area. August is excited to support underserved Delaware students as they build professional skills, make valuable connections, and financially prepare for college and career.
Financials & Annual Reports
Model
LYTE also collaborates with over 35 high school programs to ensure that students are prepared for college and have support in the college admission and financing process.