Pathways2Success

Youth Economic Advancement (sponsored by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation)

Expand existing project, program, or initiative

Our Pathways2Success (P2S) program addresses systemic socio-economic marginalization of BIPOC young adults from low-to-moderate income backgrounds. These young adults often face "opportunity deserts," lacking critical life skills, financial literacy, and career readiness training, thereby exacerbating cycles of poverty, housing and food insecurity, and increasing justice involvement risk. Economic disparity, systemic social injustices, housing instability, and limited quality education converge to create these barriers, inhibiting stable, financially sustainable lives. P2S combats this multi-layered marginalization, providing the tools and support to equip these young adults for a financially stable and fulfilling future.

The Pathways2Success (P2S) program is a transformative initiative aimed at redefining the future of BIPOC young adults from low-to-moderate income backgrounds. We confront the harsh realities of systemic socio-economic marginalization and "opportunity deserts" head-on. P2S provides an integrative approach to career readiness, imparting essential life skills, financial literacy, and entrepreneurial acumen to break the cycle of disadvantage. Our innovative P2S model incorporates a hybrid training program with in-person courses and a cutting-edge eLearning platform. We offer tailored learning paths, self-awareness and self-leadership training, and comprehensive support for career preparation. We also offer 3-6 month transitional work opportunities to give 12-25 young adults annually on-the-job experience in project management, marketing, and/or technology careers supporting community nonprofits that we are partnered with. This builds their portfolio and gives back to communities in Los Angeles County. P2S also provides supportive services including housing referrals, food assistance, and transportation vouchers, addressing intersecting barriers to sustainable living. Through P2S, we're not just preparing young adults for jobs; we're nurturing leaders, entrepreneurs, and agents of change, empowering them to shape a prosperous, equitable future for themselves, their families, and their communities.

We envision a future Los Angeles County transformed by young adults who have a clear vision of their self-worth and ability to create transformative change for themselves, their families, and their communities. "Opportunity deserts" are history; every young adult is skilled, financially literate, and career-ready. No longer mired in poverty, they're active in a vibrant, inclusive economy. We have provided training and development services to over 3,700 young adults since 2016 and we have a commitment to serve at least 10,000 by 2026, giving them the tools and resources needed to create a sustainable and thriving life. We have also provided transitional work opportunities to twenty young adults during the pandemic who have now moved on to successful careers in technology and project management. Access to financial resources such as the LA2050 grant will allow us to reach our vision of expanding our services to reach more young adults.

We use Salesforce and Program Management Cloud to track key outputs connected to our training and development, and transitional work opportunities. This helps us to understand how our program is addressing the immediate needs of individuals, as well as, the nonprofits that we support who are receiving our services. We track outputs such as how many program participants create budgets, how many savings accounts are started, and how many hours of training are provided. We also track qualitative data such as mindset shifts, improvements in behavior, and lowered risk factors that could lead to homelessness or incarceration. Long-term, we stay connected with program participants and interview them over a period of 3-4 years to see the progress in their lives, especially economic mobility. These individuals often become donors and volunteers in our organization as well.

We are not naming a specific nonprofit partner in our application. However, it is our plan to outsource the Training Facilitation and Coaching line-item to a smaller capacity BIPOC-led and serving nonprofit partner. We have several in our membership program and we will select one or more to fulfill this part of our project. We are especially looking to partner with organizations whose facilitators were previously incarcerated and who have successfully reentered back into society. We are already working with one partner to do this, but want to expand it and have the funding to pay them. This would account for $25,000 of our $75,000 award.