By Manat Kaur
Just four in every 10 U.S. employers believe young college graduates are workforce-ready. Students aren’t feeling confident, either — fewer than half say they’ve gained the critical skills to transition from college to a career.
Driven by his own experiences, Anthony Price started Be The Change Venture to help young people in the U.S. build the skills they need to enter the future workforce. His first step: simply listening to his peers to understand their struggles and what they need.
Ashoka Young Changemaker Manat Kaur spoke with Anthony about his changemaker journey, the importance of empathy, and trial-and-error.
MK: Tell us about Be The Change Venture.
AP: We’re a Cleveland-based nonprofit preparing young people, ages 14 to 18, for the future workforce. Through a series of educational workshops, one-on-one coaching, and events, we help youth develop both the soft and practical skills that are necessary for any career. We aim to help young people enter the workforce and thrive.
When did you first realize you had to take action, and how did you come up with your idea?
Coming from a working-class family and growing up in one of the poorest cities in the nation, I understand what it’s like to struggle and to make something out of nothing at the same time. In the midst of a global pandemic, our world is also facing a professional development crisis where young people, particularly those found in urban and rural areas, are not prepared to thrive in tomorrow’s workforce.
In addition to the rising rates of unemployment, UNICEF has found 71 million youth are unemployed. 6.5 million youth in the United States do not have a job. At least 40,000 youth in both Ohio and Nebraska are not attending school or lack employment. As a result, young people, particularly found in urban and rural areas, will not be prepared for the future workforce. To counter this disparity, I founded Be The Change Venture 501(c)(3) in 2014 to ensure youth have a central space and develop the tools that are necessary for the future.
What was your first step?
I spent a whole year listening to young people in order to fully understand the problem. This required me to be empathetic and find common ground to understand the underlying issues. As a result, I made many new friends who would eventually join my founding team to establish a strong foundation for this work.
How did you start implementing your idea?
After listening to other young people, I held an informal pizza party with a few of my friends. We spent the night pitching different ideas on how we could alleviate the youth professional development crisis facing our peers which led us to test our current model. To test it out, we went directly to the classroom, facilitated a few workshops, and gathered feedback from students to understand what works.
What obstacles did you face and how have you overcome them?
Gaining credibility is very hard when starting a new venture. This is where the power of the narrative was extremely useful. Stories are an effective way to gain support — whether it’s to recruiting new team members, partners, and/or donors to fund your work. Don’t be afraid to share your story and help encourage others who are affected by the problem to share their stories. Storytelling not only helped our nonprofit receive national attention but also contribute to changing the minds and hearts of others who are not quite aware of the problem affecting marginalized groups.
Who else supported you throughout your journey? What role did they play?
In addition to our dedicated team, who has contributed countless hours of service, Jesse Ferguson has played an essential role in building the infrastructure and expanding our work to vulnerable groups such as refugees and/or undocumented youth. Thanks to his leadership, we’re on track to accomplish our strategic goals by 2022.
What’s your advice for other young people who want to make a difference but don’t know where to begin?
There are three things that every young person should consider when seeking to bring forth change. First, spend time understanding the problem that you seek to solve. Second, progress and change take time. And third, see every moment working as a small pebble that has the capacity to create large ripples.
Learn more about Be The Change Venture here.
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This article has been edited for length and clarity.
The First Steps series, founded by Ashoka Young Changemaker Manat Kaur, aims to demystify changemaking and show how anyone can start making a change. Follow Ashoka to learn more about #EveryoneAChangemaker and #LeadYoung.