Twenty-five years ago, our founders began College Summit with a humble plan.
They would host a single workshop in the basement of a Washington, D.C. community center with the goal of helping students capture their stories for a personal essay to be used for college and scholarship applications. From that single workshop more than two decades ago, College Summit, now known as PeerForward has grown into a national organization that has guided 350,000 students across the nation to higher education.
Now, 25 years later, young leaders are driving the work of PeerForward, igniting change in their school communities by guiding their classmates on the path to and through higher education. In the last two decades, PeerForward has given low-income students the critical training and tools to pursue higher education and to lead the systemic changes needed to level the postsecondary playing field.
Though our fight for educational equity is long from over, we begin this new era for PeerForward by leaning into our Youth Activation method for addressing inherent inequities in school communities head on. By looking at students as problem solvers, not problems to be solved, they will drive the systemic change needed, while working to ensure their classmates stay on track to a degree.
To celebrate this incredible milestone, PeerForward is introducing a series of new stories featuring the people who have ignited our spark as an organization. In our Peer Leader Showcase, we will introduce you Peer Leaders across the country who are fighting back against declining enrollment rates for low-income students. Our Leaders of Serve feature will feature the stories of some of our remarkable alumni who continue positively impact low-income communities across America. We will cover the volunteers and supporters who have been the backbone of our organization through the years. Lastly, we’ll take a look at the members of our staff, past and present, who have molded us into who we are.
We hope that you will join us in this milestone event. You can keep up with our 25th Anniversary storytelling series here on our blog, The Movement.
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