๐ Project Next is THREE!
In September of 2023, Project Next officially began a new chapter. And in honor of our third birthday, we thought there was no better time to tell the story of how we got here.
The truth is, our story started long before there was a Project Next.
It began with a young woman growing up in a low-income, single-parent household who would become the first in her family to attend college. College felt foreign, and the path forward was anything but clear. But one high school counselor believed in her, helped her see possibilities she could not yet see for herself, and changed the course of her life.
That young woman was our founder and Executive Director, Lisa Stout.
Years later, as a high school counselor herself, Lisa began seeing talented students facing many of the same challenges. They had ideas, interests, ability, and potential, but they did not always have the information, connections, experiences, or person in their corner to help them figure out what came next.
And one belief began to take shape:
A student’s future should never depend on whether they happen to know the right person.
Our earliest roots looked very different from the Project Next you know today. We began as The San Marcos Promise, an organization providing $1,000 scholarships to San Marcos Unified students attending Cal State San Marcos.
But the Board saw an opportunity to do something more.
What if we could reach students before they had made that big decision? What if we could help them explore all the possibilities available to them, whether that meant college, a trade, the military, or the workforce?
We tried a lot along the way. At one point, we served students from kindergarten through 12th grade, including an after-school and summer enrichment program for younger students. With a staff of just two and some very big ambitions, we learned an important lesson: we could not be everything to everyone.
So we listened.
We listened to students. We listened to schools. And we paid attention to where we could make the greatest difference.
Students taught us that simply giving them information was not enough. They needed someone who would listen without judgment. Someone who could help them sort through their options, introduce them to possibilities they had never considered, connect them with people and experiences, and stay beside them when their plans changed.
That understanding became the foundation of our Future Centers and eventually of Project Next itself.
Then something else happened.
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Communities beyond San Marcos began telling us they needed the same thing.
We realized this was never a challenge belonging to one school district. Students everywhere were being asked, “What are you going to do after high school?” without always having the time, experiences, information, or connections they needed to discover their own answer.
And so, on September 14, 2023, Project Next was born.
The new name represented much more than expansion beyond San Marcos. It captured something we had come to believe deeply:
You do not need to have your entire life figured out at 17.
You need a next step.
And then another.
And the confidence to know that you can keep figuring it out along the way.
Three years later, Project Next has grown, our programs have evolved, and our community has expanded. But the heart of this work remains exactly where it began: with students.
Our role is not to decide their future for them.
As Project Next Board Member Mike puts it, “It is our role to identify and open doors for students’ futures. It’s up to the student to decide what door, or doors, they want to enter.”
That is empowerment.
We open doors. We create access. We provide clarity, confidence, and connections. And then we trust young people to decide what comes next.
Lisa says what makes her proudest today is that a small nonprofit with a big idea has grown into a powerful community of people who believe in young people. A community of staff, Board members, volunteers, partners, donors, educators, and professionals willing to invest their time, resources, relationships, and social capital to create opportunity.
We may be small, but our work is mighty.
And while programs will change, communities will change, and the world our students are preparing to enter will certainly change, one thing cannot:
Students remain at the center.
Because talent is universal. Opportunity isn’t. And every student deserves the opportunity to own what comes NEXT.
Happy third birthday, Project Next. We’re just getting started.
