16 kids to 500: ending generational poverty

0:00So that work was about ending generational poverty in Texas — that was our north star. We started with college access programs in two rural high schools: an after-school program and a summer program, mostly federal funding for those programs as well. We started with those two schools, but over 10 years we expanded to eight schools and three counties, and went from 16 kids to almost 500 kids. And then along the way we also added a program for adults who needed to be reskilled or retrained to re-enter the workforce, and we ran that program for Johnson, Tarrant and Dallas counties as well.

0:36About 3,000 adults served every year in that program. Started with just an idea, and then when I left we were at about $2.5 million. So lots of great work — and they're still working in Johnson County and Tarrant and Dallas, doing great things.