The Question That Started It All
Opening Scene: A Simple But Urgent Question
More than a decade ago, a single question started to rise—quietly at first, then with growing urgency:
Why are so many brilliant, curious young people—especially from underrecognized communities—still excluded from the innovation economy?
I had spent 20 years in high-tech and had seen what design, science, and technology could make possible. But I had also seen how distant and invisible those possibilities could feel for students living just blocks from the labs, startups, and institutions shaping our future.
I knew this story intimately.
I grew up just 20 miles from Kennedy Space Center. From my doorstep, I watched rockets launch into space. But even from that close, I had no idea that a curious kid like me could be part of it. The pathway was there—I just couldn’t see it.
What We Were Seeing
We began noticing the patterns far too early.
Bright-eyed students were losing interest in design, science, and technology by third and fourth grade. They weren’t lacking potential—they were lacking access. Too many programs offered just a taste of possibility—brief exposure, no depth, no follow-up, no community, or what we like to call “sugar highs.” Meanwhile, companies waited at the finish line, hoping to recruit diverse talent—never questioning why so few made it that far.
Let’s be clear:
The system wasn’t broken.
It was never built for them in the first place.
What We Chose to Build Instead
In 2014, my wife, several friends, and I co-founded Innovators for Purpose (iFp) to chart a new course.
Not to fix students.
But to rebuild the system—this time, with them at the center.
We didn’t wait to draft a five-year plan. We dove in and let the work shape itself through listening, learning, and iteration.
Here’s what iFp has become:
Year-round, immersive programming—not just one-off exposure or fleeting sugar highs
A lab school model that prioritizes depth over breadth
A culture of purpose, agency, and creative risk-taking
A hub of advocacy, mentorship, and connection
A place where young people feel seen, supported, and empowered
The Power is in the Pathway
At iFp, we’re not preparing students for the future.
We’re inviting them to build it.
Our students don’t wait to be chosen. They design real-world solutions to real-world problems—tackling everything from educational equity to bias in AI.
And along the way, they gain far more than technical skills.
They discover identity.
They claim a sense of belonging.
They see their purpose.
And they begin to believe in the power of their own story.
Closing Reflection: It All Begins with Why
We didn’t set out to create a program.
We set out to answer a question.
That question still drives everything we do.
Building Pathways | Question It
Each post in this series lifts up one of the four actions in our framework: Question It. Understand It. Reimagine It. Build It.
This week, we focused on “Question It”—because change always begins with asking the right questions.
This post kicks off our new series, Building Pathways into the Innovation Economy—a new (almost) weekly series sharing real stories and reflections from the front lines of youth empowerment and inclusive innovation.