Connect with BONBronx Opportunity Network
School. Work. Life. Connected.BON connects trusted Bronx community organizations and CUNY colleges so you can move through education, training, work, and life with people in your corner.
What is BON?
The Bronx Opportunity Network brings community-based organizations, CUNY colleges, and an intermediary partner together to break down barriers to postsecondary and workforce success.
You don’t enroll in BON. Your program is part of it. You stay connected to the organization you trust while BON expands the knowledge, relationships, and opportunities available to you.
Meet the network
Our history
BON began with a shared realization: helping Bronx students enter college was not enough. They also needed trusted people, coordinated support, and institutions willing to remove the barriers that made it harder to persist and graduate.
2008–2011
As the Great Recession deepened the challenges facing young adults, JobsFirstNYC convened Bronx providers to explore a coordinated response. Planning began in 2010, and the Bronx Opportunity Network formally launched in 2011 with community-based organizations and CUNY partners focused on college access and success.
The early years
Member organizations built bridge programs that prepared students for CUNY placement tests, then worked collectively with Bronx Community College and Hostos Community College to make retesting possible. The approach saved students time and tuition while showing what CBOs and colleges could change together.
2014–2020
National investment helped BON strengthen its collective-impact model. Its community of practice brought frontline staff and college leaders together to share data, improve campus processes, expand access to student supports, and build a more responsive path through college.
2021–today
BON expanded its CUNY partnership to support transfer and bachelor’s-degree completion, including work with the Bronx Transfer Affinity Group. Today, the network is widening the path again—connecting college completion with career training, credentials, employment, and long-term economic mobility.
The work has evolved. The principle has not: people move further when trusted community partners and institutions move together.
Find support
BON partners provide support across education, career, health and wellness, basic needs, housing, and more. Explore the network to find organizations offering the services you’re looking for.
Find supportIntroducing the BON Transfer Planner
Transfer conversations can get complicated. The BON Transfer Planner helps advisors and students slow the conversation down, ask the right questions, and think through the decisions that shape a successful transfer.
Explore the Transfer Planner
The network
Our members coordinate support across campuses and communities, so people don’t have to navigate complex systems alone—or start from scratch.
Community partners
Higher education partners
Intermediary partner
BON in the News
Explore stories, research, and publications featuring the Bronx Opportunity Network and our work across education, partnership, and student success.
JobsFirstNYC
Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions
JobsFirstNYC
Connection creates opportunity
Whether you’re looking for support, bringing resources to the Bronx, or building better pathways with us, there is a place for you in this work.
Connect with BON