History

BEAM was founded in 2011 by Daniel Zaharopol to address a largely unrecognized problem: while affluent students often have ample opportunities to explore deep topics in mathematics and problem solving, students in historically marginalized communities (especially Black, Latine, and Indigenous students) often have no such access.

Too frequently, they receive only rote instruction focused on basic skills; the result is that their potential goes unrecognized and their interest is not nurtured.

BEAM began as a small 3-week residential summer program for 17 rising 8th graders in New York City.

Pretty quickly, we realized that students required holistic, long-term support to have the best chance at reaching their aspirations. So, in 2013, BEAM began to provide resources and guidance to students during the academic year, including weekend classes and admissions support.

Each year, BEAM’s programs in NYC grew, and, in 2018, with the support of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, BEAM expanded to Los Angeles.

Seeking to reach more students across the country, in 2021, we launched a pilot National Program working directly with teachers in schools.

We now run six summer camp sites in New York City and Los Angeles serving 450+ students each summer and provide year-round programming for 600+ students. Our National Program is supporting more than 1,000 students in the 2025–2026 school year.

To our knowledge, BEAM is the only organization in the country providing comprehensive, long-term support to ensure success in advanced mathematics for students from low-income and historically marginalized communities.