{"id":22526,"date":"2016-08-01T18:02:12","date_gmt":"2016-08-01T22:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/creator\/?p=22526"},"modified":"2020-04-03T15:52:34","modified_gmt":"2020-04-03T19:52:34","slug":"good-ailun-ku-opportunity-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/community-stories\/member-spotlight\/good-ailun-ku-opportunity-network","title":{"rendered":"Doing Good: AiLun Ku of the Opportunity Network"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>AiLun Ku has always been inspired by community service. With an MPA in nonprofit management, she says she finally found a way to align her professional goals with a full-time job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI was working at admissions at New York University,\u201d says Ku, \u201cbut was interested in shifting my career towards direct service and working with young people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Five years ago, she made the move from higher education to take a job as chief operating officer at the <a href=\"https:\/\/opportunitynetwork.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Opportunity Network<\/a>. Based in New York, this nonprofit focuses on providing equal opportunities for low-income high school and college students. Their mission is rooted in the belief that all students can increase their potential to get into a good college and get ready for a productive career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"507\" src=\"\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/07\/AiLun-Ku-.jpg\" alt=\"AiLun Ku\" class=\"wp-image-22528\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Founders:&nbsp;<\/strong>Jessica Pliska and Brian Weinstein<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Year founded:\u00a0<\/strong>2003<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Employees:&nbsp;<\/strong>22<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Where we\u2019re based: <\/strong>WeWork Member based in New York<strong><br><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Moment of inspiration:&nbsp;<\/strong>&#8220;I\u2019ve always been social and justice-driven,\u201d says Ku. \u201cEven at NYU, I was in admissions at the school of public service, so I was always involved in mission-driven work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Biggest hurdle: \u201c<\/strong>We know the need is out there and that there is a greater need than what we can serve, but we\u2019re trying not to grow too fast,\u201d says Ku. \u201cWe have to be responsible about growth\u2014if you grow too fast and don\u2019t manage it well, your program quality might go down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How we want to change the world:<\/strong><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>\u201cThe organization is meant to level the playing field for low-income, high potential students,\u201d says Ku. \u201cWe want to find those students and make sure they have the skills and knowledge to succeed and push them through.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AiLun Ku has always been inspired by community service. With an MPA in nonprofit management, she says she finally found a way to align her professional goals with a full-time job. \u201cI was working at admissions at New York University,\u201d says Ku, \u201cbut was interested in shifting my career towards direct service and working with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1633,"featured_media":34825,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43903,43911],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-stories","category-member-spotlight"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.4 (Yoast SEO v25.3.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Doing Good: AiLun Ku of the Opportunity Network<\/title>\n<meta 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