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You’ve just started a new program to help even more students. Tell us about Promise Pathways.

Many of us can attest: Pathways are often neither straight nor linear. We know this. And we especially were reminded of this repeatedly during the pandemic. Our students pause. They restart. Life, transportation, obligations, financial barriers — they can all contribute to exit ramps along the highway. No matter how clear a student’s Google map starts, the journey is rarely a straight one.

Beacon’s Promise Pathways Program is a pilot program this summer to reconnect with our students who have “paused” on their pathways. We’ll work with national partners (College Promise), our local employers, the Lynchburg workforce community and CVCC to help Lynchburg’s young people engage in our web of support, workforce preparation, career navigation and training. It’s our hope that the skills and credentials they achieve along the way will be stackable, transferable and lead to upward mobility. Some may go back to finish a certificate program so they can move from floor staff to Supervisor, others will regain their footing and find stable employment that allows for decent housing, and still others will connect to any number of resources to help them map out their unique next step.

I heard that Beacon of Hope’s internship program resulted in a daylong interview-palooza not too long ago!

Yes! Our High School Summer Internship program began in 2021-22 when we met with some of our local business leaders to learn more about the “product” of young employees they were seeing. What did they wish young folks knew before coming to work? What made employees successful and sustainable?

Following these meetings, we recruited a pilot class of 13 local businesses who signed on to “build this plane while we were flying it.” We placed 34 rising junior and senior high school students from Heritage and EC Glass with these employer sites across the region where they learned interview skills, job readiness, and on-the-job training.

That pilot was so successful that this year we had 23 employers sign on, and more than 175 high school applicants!

Fast forward to interview-palooza this past April. Together with our friends at the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance, we created a 2-hour speed interview event where more than 940 individual interview meetings occurred. Industry leaders were so impressed that many agreed to host even more interns than originally agreed. In all, 80 students will benefit from this experiential opportunity during summer 2023.

Beacon of Hope truly aims to home grow our workforce, and we do that not just by removing the financial barriers that keep students from entering or remaining on a college or credential pathway, but by introducing them to many opportunities right here at home.

What’s one thing you wish everyone knew about Lynchburg Beacon of Hope?

That Beacon of Hope serves ALL students of LCS. Beacon is not a program that you opt into — it’s a Promise from this community to our young people that we will prepare them for success, that we will provide them opportunities to move upward, that we will not disappear when their maps take a turn. The Stay Close, Go Far Promise Scholarships are an incredible investment by this grassroots community in EVERY SINGLE student in LCS. Most importantly, for our young people, college and credentialing is a means to a really positive end. Our dream is to see our local workforce strong, vibrant and filled with local talent who we’ve trained and retained. And finally, that we’re here to stay, no matter the winding pathway, or the pauses, or the restarts.