About Building Pathways
Building Pathways into the Innovation Economy is a space for reflection, system-level insight, and stories of what it takes to build access, shift power, and redesign who gets to shape the future.
This blog was born from years of work at the intersection of youth, innovation, and purpose. Through Innovators for Purpose (iFp), I’ve seen firsthand what happens when young people are invited to lead—not just learn. I’ve also seen how hard it is to change the systems that were never built with them in mind.
The problem isn’t talent.
It’s whose potential gets recognized—and whose doesn’t.
It’s time for those left out to lead what’s next.
A Personal Journey, A Shared Invitation
This space is where I share what we’re learning as we work alongside youth to open doors that have been closed for far too long—and build new ones where none existed. These are lessons from the field, reflections on failure and growth, and stories from the front lines of equity, design, and opportunity.
It’s not a blueprint.
It’s not theory.
It’s a real-time archive of what it looks like to build—and rebuild—pathways into the innovation economy.
If you care about who gets to participate in the future, who benefits from it, and who leads it—this space is for you.
Empowering Youth.
Shifting Systems.
Redefining Who Belongs.
That’s the work. And this is where we talk about it.- Michael K. Dawson