The Case for Mentorship in an AI World — Sarah Morgenthau & Michael Barrett

Sarah Morgenthau runs the "I Have A Dream" Foundation; Michael Barrett has helped govern it from the Board while serving as a trustee at the University of Pennsylvania. Between them they make a grounded case: the technology is changing fast, but the thing that actually improves a kid's life hasn't changed at all: a long-term relationship with someone who keeps showing up.

Across the conversation they get specific about what that looks like in practice: wraparound services in Title I schools, AI Dream Labs that put real hardware in students' hands, a mock interview that ended in tears, and an honest reckoning with whether "go to college" is still the right advice. The throughline is a refusal to accept that a kid's circumstances should decide their future — and a 45-year bet that long-term relationships are what change it. 

"I Have A Dream" Foundation
https://www.ihaveadreamfoundation.org

aiEDU: The AI Education Project

• aiEDU.org
• linkedin.com/company/aiedu/

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introductions

Alex Kotran 0:00

Yeah, with that, welcome to AI EU Studios Um interview series. We still we don't even have a name for this yet. Uh I'm here with um Sarah and Michael. I'm gonna actually give you a chance to introduce yourselves with the I Have a Dream Foundation, uh a nonprofit that um I it's funny, I can't even remember who connected me. Um, but I had a chance to talk to folks on your team, I think like a couple of months ago now, like like set like second half of 2025. And it was it was kind of amazing like how many um just how many things were clicking in terms of just sort of like overall mission and uh like sort of like theory of change and sort of very hands-on, you know, programmatic mindset. And so we were talking about like how could we how could we sort of just start, you know, trying to connect these dots? And and this is one of the goals of this this interview series is bringing change makers, you know, a broad definition of thought leaders, but also like change makers and people that are actually doing work, uh, and make sure that those perspectives are a part of this conversation about you know AI and sort of just the future of education. So Sarah Michael, can can uh I'm gonna I'm gonna sort of give you a chance to introduce yourselves and you know, feel free to just sort of share, you know, how you what what you're doing with I Have a Dream, but then also your you know, maybe how you got there.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Yeah, no, Alex, thanks so much for having us on. I'm Sarah Morgenthaw. I'm the president and CEO of I Have a Dream Foundation. I've been in this role for about six months, but it always felt as if this was the moment in time to do this. Most of my career has been in public service. I've also been a lawyer. I served in the Obama and Biden administrations, but education has been a throughput throughout my life. My mother was first generation immigrant to this country, uh, first in her family uh to go to college. And so it it was something that was always important. She truly lived the American dream. And uh with with public service and you know, my own three children, uh, and really, you know, all of our, all of our children, I feel as if uh this is the moment as things are changing so rapidly.

SPEAKER_02 2:07

And Sarah and Alex, thank you. Uh my name is Michael Barrett. I serve on the board of the I Have a Dream Foundation, the national board. And my career is in banking and financial services. I spent 30 plus years uh working and living both in the United States and overseas. And my passion for really working with students and education platforms started a long time ago. Uh, back to my days as an undergraduate student. And um I enjoyed being able to spend time with students and help them navigate their decisions that they have to make, help them get prepared for school. And um I've continued to do that. And I joined the foundation after I retired from a career in banking. And it's been one of the most fulfilling things that I could do. Every day I get up and I have the opportunity to think about what I can do to make a student's uh opportunity that much more better. I also serve on the board of the University of Pennsylvania as a trustee and I'm on the executive committee. So I bring a perspective of working in higher education. And that I think really helps me because I now understand when we talk about students and what they're looking to do once they graduate from high school, I can think through how I can help them navigate that given my roles at the university.

Alex Kotran 3:29

Oh, Michael, that's

What I Have A Dream Does

Alex Kotran 3:30

cool. That's cool that you actually have that uh sort of like both sides of the equation almost. Uh we will get into it. But um, I mean, Sarah, can you just, I mean, just for our audience's benefit, you can you tell us about like what does I have a dream do?

SPEAKER_01 3:42

Yeah, you know, so I have a dream, we're an education nonprofit. We work across the country in uh low-income communities. We work closely with Title I schools uh and also housing communities. We have, you know, pillars, if you will, which is you know the belief in long-term uh mentorship, uh, in relationships, in social and emotional learning, uh, first grade to first job, uh, you know, skills-based uh career readiness uh are all you know enormously important as kids are navigating through both a really difficult education system and you know a tough journey, right, to being successful in school and in life. And those long-term relationships are really uh sort of at the crux uh of everything that you do. You know, you we have to create that soft landing, that base, if you will, for kids to be successful. I I saw some statistic recently that said that uh kids who are in the lowest uh you know socioeconomic quadrant are only graduating college at 11%. Um, you know, our reading and our math skills um, you know, are tanking. Um, and it means that you know the US is losing uh competitiveness, but it it starts, you know, really right at the crux of making sure that we meet these kids where they are. I've been influenced for many years. My kids, when they were in high school, read the book The Other Wesmoore. And um, to me, you know, it's all those little those little steps, right? And there's so many times from first grade to first job where you can go off in the wrong direction. For viewers who haven't read it, it's about two men who are both named Wes Moore, who grew up uh in uh tough communities in Baltimore. Uh, and one went on to be the CEO of Robin Hood and now the governor of Maryland, uh, and the other uh to serve a life sentence uh in prison uh because he got you know involved and distracted by just a complicated community and you know was was arrested for armed robbery, I think. Uh and and Wes Moore talks about you know the the mentorship, you know, the the small things that happened along the way, his mother sending him off to military school. Uh and it makes you realize, and and I tell people this all the time, there's so many times, you know, in all of our lives when you can go off in the wrong direction. Uh so having that long-term relationship and those mentorships and having uh the ability to check in throughout this really, really hard journey uh is is really at the crux of I Have a Dream Foundation.

Life Inside Title I Schools

Alex Kotran 6:47

One of the hard things about working in sort of like such an innovative space like AI, and there's so much, I think, excitement and a lot of fear, but a lot of excitement as well about the potential for this technology to, you know, support teaching and learning. And um and everybody's talking about, you know, like equity and like reaching underserved kids. But we were in like this in like immaculate, it was actually a brand new building, huge floor-to-ceiling windows, like the light was just sort of like the architecture was really like sort of it was well designed. The light was like hitting the space in like a really beautiful way. And the HVAC was working perfectly. And when you when you know, when you go and visit the schools that we work with, it's just it's so stark. And I think I think some people don't necessarily realize like what the state of like being a kid in a Title I school. And I'm so curious if you could even just like help paint that picture. And like when you maybe even using any stories you have from like kids that have been a part of your programs, like what are the types of supports that are still needed today? And you know, I just assume that for folks that are listening aren't necessarily, you know, they don't necessarily have access to a school like that. It might not really, it might be hard to sort of close your eyes and picture it.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

The thing about it is it's it's all these little things, you know, these check-ins, right? Raising expectations. Uh, you know, one of the things I I I didn't mention uh as I was talking about, you know, all the things that I have a dream foundation does is uh the promise of college, scholarship, and then other post-secondary pathways, right? Because, you know, it's not just college, but it's also, you know, trade schools, it's you know, militaries, apprenticeships, you know, all of those things and raising those expectations so that you know you you truly know, you know, kind of what's out there. A couple of examples too, which is this work is hard, right? And and you know, recently um uh in New York City, uh Columbia Business School and first generation investors are doing a financial literacy program uh for high school students. And Alex, you know, I leaned into this because this seemed like an amazing program, right? And it's, you know, it's it's it's six weeks, they all get $100 at the end of it, um, really learning some financial literacy skills. And the kids were resisting a little bit going because, you know, they're kids, right? And they wanted to do sports or they wanted to hang out. And there were two things that I realized on that. And I said, you know, who's messing, who's who who's talking to the kids about this? Like, you know, how are we messaging the importance of this, right? Which is that this is a good thing to show up for. Not only are you gonna get skills, you're gonna put this on your resume, you're gonna get exposure, you know, to Columbia Business School. And so I took the opportunity to really lean in and say, you know what, you guys got to show up for this. And you know, I think it's it's it's some of that structure and discipline all along the way that's really important. Um, and one other story, and then, you know, Michael, I know has got a lot to say about this too, was we had a um uh mock interview um uh session uh in our offices several weeks ago with some of the college kids. And I walked in and introduced myself and just said, you know, first of all, thanks for showing up. And by the way, you know, a lot of these kids, they were nervous about showing up, and they also like had to run to another job afterwards, right? And so there was just a lot of things that, you know, that they were the kind of contending with. And I kept saying, thanks for showing up, you know, thanks for showing up. And then I was, you know, just trying to explore a little bit. And I saw one young woman, and I could tell she was just, you know, about to, she was so fearful, right? Because again, the social and emotional learning, the deficit, right? Um, when you don't have those relationships. And I just went over, I gave her a hug and she burst into tears, right? So um this, you know, this work is hard.

SPEAKER_02 10:58

Yeah. You know, Sarah, I I would second that in terms of the work that we do, it's hard and we sometimes underestimate some of the things, the little things that matter. You know, Alex, you mentioned, you know, being in a at a conference in downtown San Francisco at a very large, you know, new constructed building. When we go out and we spend time with the students, we lean in in these under-resourced communities and we are intentional about it. Why? Because we know that that's an area where we can do the most amount of good. And we want to try and provide the students and also the families those wraparound services, which is what the foundation does as kind of what we call our secret sauce. When I think about it, um, one of the things that that I that really resonates with me is students, they just don't have the access to a lot of the things that we just think about every day. So when you think about an under-resourced community, maybe having access to computers or having access to coming into buildings where they can see how companies really function day in, day out, walking and talking with people that have been there before and have done it. You know, understanding more of the concepts of how do you take what you may or hear and see in a textbook and actually see it real time. Those are the kind of things that we're trying to do with the program. And start early enough so that we can actually help them fulfill their dreams. We call them dreamer scholars because we want to provide them with the right tools, the right mentoring, the right access so that their dreams can hopefully and potentially be fulfilled as they think about going from first grade to first

Real Stories Of Support And Grit

SPEAKER_02 12:47

job.

Alex Kotran 12:47

And I'm sorry if you mentioned this, but how when were you founded? Like how how long has I have a dream in doing this work?

SPEAKER_01 12:52

Yeah, so we're we're 45 years this year. And actually, we um had uh an incredible opportunity a couple of weeks ago to ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange uh to really um uh uh reflect on this moment um and to be you know at the heart of the business community, which we talk about the importance of everyone in this moment right now um figuring out you know the workforce of the future, right? And and the business community uh is a big part of that. Uh and so we were, you know, we were pleased to be able to celebrate that. Michael and I were both there. Uh we had some of the students with us, and we had some of the uh the alumni with us too. Uh we're happy to share some uh some uh footage of that because you know, really wanted to be there and show, you know, this is the workforce of the future. You know, we're we're we're sounding the alarm bells, but also talking about the opportunity. And it was kind of cool too, Alex, because the market actually made history and went over 50,000 uh the day that we rang the the uh the bell, uh the closing bell. And so I have said, I have a dream foundation needs to go back again to make sure uh that we keep pushing it up over 50.

Alex Kotran 14:15

What uh was it the the this past year? That that was like in February, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Uh we just did it a couple weeks ago.

Alex Kotran 14:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:24

Yeah.

Alex Kotran 14:24

Oh yeah. I'm looking at the uh oh, that's so cool. Yeah, this is February 6th. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:28

And the important thing about that, I mean, there's two things that came out of that. Number one is the 45-year run of the foundation. You know, one of the things that I that I really get excited about is that the foundation is sustainable. It's been around and it's been through a number of different cycles. But at the end of the day, it's about the students, it's about the education, and it's about the mission. The other thing that I that I got from that event is just looking at the the eyes and the body language of the students. They were so excited to be out on the floor and so excited to be up ringing the bell and cheering. And for them, it was like they'd they'd never had access, they'd never seen something like this. Maybe they dreamt about it, maybe they saw it on TV, but for them to actually go down to Wall Street and be part of that experience, that's what makes this very special. That's what makes this meaningful. Because I think and I hope some of those students will take into account what we did and what they were able to experience and let that be another motivation point for them as they think about what they're studying and how what they're doing day in, day out matters and how they can create opportunities for themselves.

SPEAKER_01 15:45

Yeah, and Alex, I would just add to that too, that it was a moment of reflection. Uh, this 45 years, and I I feel like I'm maybe I'm taking the lead from you on this, but when I talk about this was the image of the workforce of the future, right, in 45 years, but it's also a reminder to all of us that what are we going to do in the next 45 years, right? And here we are in this moment coming out of pandemic, coming out of one of the greatest, you know, isolation crises, if you will, which, you know, is is just exacerbated, you know, by social media, um, by you know, the skills of today and tomorrow changing so rapidly, right? I I know because I know you that you listen to the same podcast, you know, about AI bibing, which I listened to a few days ago, you know, hearing about you know tools that we can now use that have just come online in like the last couple of months, right? You know, which which may mean, you know, that that certain software engineering careers that we all thought we should be doing are no longer going to be relevant, right? And so as a foundation, we are really uh working also on making sure that our skills uh for these kids you know meet the moment and that we are getting them ready. And and that requires really collaboration, you know, from government, from from you know, companies, from universities like University of Pennsylvania, uh, you know, thought leaders, so that we can do that. We've made you know a commitment, you know, to by 2030 to really make sure that our that that we along with others, it's not just the foundation, um, are are really focused on what are those what are those skills so that we can uh make sure our kids have it, not just the ones in the foundation, not just the dream kids, but really as a society, as a country, we have to be laser focused on that.

SPEAKER_02 17:55

The other thing I would add in on that is when you take a look at um, again, the 45-year history, you know, over the last several years, the foundation has evolved. The mission of educating students, making sure they're prepared for college or prep or other types of trade schools has still remained the same. But when we talk about how we go about making them being prepared, how when we when we talk about getting an exposure, Sarah just mentioned, you know, the work that we're doing around um financial literacy and how we should be leaning in on that. AI literacy is is is just as important. And for us, it's around how do we recognize that the importance of giving the students access to the different types of areas around finance and around technology and around AI so that they have the opportunity to not be threatened by it, but to embrace it, to relish it, and to be comfortable with it. One of the things that we are doing is this summer we are having a conference at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. We are bringing the students there to spend a week on campus, and they're gonna get exposure to the students at the engineering school. They're gonna get exposure to the instructors that teach AI and technology and STEM. They're gonna get exposure to instructors from the Wharton School of Business so they can understand about finance and business concepts. And the importance of that is again, letting them be on campus, letting them be exposed to other students in college, letting them be exposed to professors so that they have the opportunity to really understand what's possible for them and make sure that they also understand and see where those concepts are and how important it is, and how you can leverage that to build out a career.

Alex Kotran 19:50

Yeah, I mean, just reflecting on 45 years. So this is what, 90, 1981? Um or 80, 81.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

You got it right, Alex. 81. Yeah.

Alex Kotran 20:00

81. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:02

Eugene Lang started I Have a Dream something.

Alex Kotran 20:04

It's interesting because you were saying, actually, like that there's there's a lot more in common to paraphrase, there's a lot more in common with the message to kids today than there is different. Which I I think I I think I agree with as well. Um how I mean, how has like just the advice that you give kids changed, if at all? Or or do you feel like it's actually been relatively consistent?

SPEAKER_01 20:26

I mean, I can answer that and say, I don't I I think the fundamentals are the same. I just think we need to make sure that we're getting the message to all kids, right? And so, you know, we we've talked about just that you know, I talk about just a sort of a base, if you will, right? Of making of raising expectations, of making sure that they've got somebody to check in with,

Forty Five Years And The NYSE Moment

SPEAKER_01 20:52

of the mentorships, of, you know, even just the rigor, right? Uh the importance of showing up the career and and and and college, you know, post-secondary readiness, you know, the exposure to the skill, you know, you know, how do you write a resume? Um, you know, how do you, you know, do your LinkedIn page? Yes, you should show up for this financial literacy program. Uh, yes, it's really important. And that's why I kept saying, you know, you showed up. Um, but but making sure that that you know those messages, look, I'm a mom of of of of three, you know, now, you know, grown young kids. And I sometimes feel like I'm putting on my mom and chief hat, you know, because we need to to just say it the same way we would say to any kids, right? That that it's that all of these things are important. And part of that is the is the mentorship and sh and showing the way.

SPEAKER_02 21:55

And the other thing I would say is um the messages remain the same. But we have more examples that we can see real time in terms of how it continues to evolve. And what I say to students is I say the met the same messages, but I say the pace has now quickened. It's now faster. You get to see real time things like technology, things like globalization, things like issues that you can see on a device, you know, on a mobile device, that ordinarily you may have had to spend time in a in a school reading or hearing a lecture about it. You can now pull up that information real time on a device and get that much more information, that much more quicker and faster than before. And with that pace, with that speed of access, it just means that students have to really be comfortable and being able to embrace where things are going. And Sarah and I spent some time earlier in the week talking to companies. And we talked to one company that was talking a lot about workforce development and where the workforce is going to be in the future. We want to make sure that we're preparing our students to be eligible to be able to contribute in a meaningful way of where those industry sectors are going to be in the United States. So when we think about our mission, the mission stays the same. The way that we go about it has more intentionality, and we can look at examples of what we're seeing now with companies making decisions to relocate to certain parts of the country to drive more manufacturing. Or we're looking at decisions being made by the government to look at how they're going to make the U.S. more competitive. And as a result of that, what does that mean? That means that we have to be preparing our students to be able to take those jobs and have the right skills and have the right intellectual curiosity to be able to be successful in those roles.

SPEAKER_01 24:00

Yeah, and you know, if I can dovetail on, you know, the the question you were asking, Alex, and just where Michael is going, right? Which is you've got two things going on here, right? Which is, you know, absolutely, you know, we need to make sure that, you know, as a country, that we are creating the workforce of the future, that we've got that pipeline, right? And that because things are changing so quickly, it really does take all of us to think about what are those emerging growth uh industries and what are they going to look like? And what are those, you know, what are those actual skills and how do we make sure that we have the pipeline, right? And that requires an inclusive pipeline. We can't afford uh not to let you know all kids in this country, you know, have that uh ability uh to, you know, to have those skills so that they can have a successful life. Um, you know, Arnie Duncan, you know, talks about if we let these kids fall through the cracks, you know, we're all gonna pay for it. It's gonna be expensive. They're gonna end up maybe, you know, where the other Wes Moore ended up. But what I think we can't forget, you know, in all of this um, you know, sort of rapid technological change, you know, that's just going faster and faster, you know, I mentioned the you know, the AI vibing and you know, just just how quickly things are moving, is that at the crux, the problem solving, the critical thinking, uh, the long-term relationships, the social and emotional support, um, the ability to innovate, to work in diverse uh communities, collaboration, all of the things that really are the hallmark of what makes the United States of America great and a leader on the world stage, that we continue to incubate and focus on those at the same time, in parallel, you know, keeping up with these emerging and growth industries uh so that uh they have the skills that they're that are needed.

Alex Kotran 26:11

Can we keep up? I mean, I I don't know that I think even I think a lot of software companies are wondering if they can keep up. I it it feel like you mentioned like three months, and it's I mean, even wait, well when was it? When was the SaaS pocalypse? It was, I wonder it was after February February 6th. Um I think this was like even after that closing bell. Um so it's the the entire industry now is like coming to terms with okay, there's gonna be a lot of change. And I think a lot of the software companies are recovered, which is sort of illustrates like sometimes we just assume that, oh, you know, like the the the you know industry just you know knows what they're doing, and this is all about sort of like guiding students towards, you know, what industry needs. I think right now, even in industry, they're not really sure. I think there are people who are like, well, we're not really gonna need software engineers. I've heard that a lot, right? We don't need to hire software engineers because the AI can do coding. But then you actually kind of dig into it and it's like, well, no, actually we we might need more engineers because the the demand for engineering is gonna increase and and it might be more decentralized, which could be where it's gonna be really valuable to have that, but you also need durable skills. And there's some who are saying, you know, we maybe nobody has any is doing any work. And I think I I keep coming back to financial literacy, Michael, because when you because because thinking about financial literacy is something that you would assume is so obvious. It's like surely every kid by the time they graduate high school should, you know, have had the opportunity to learn some of the basics about financial management. And yet, you know, it is I mean, I'm sure you can attest to this um in the schools that you're working with. I mean, it's it's not always the case that kids have that opportunity. And so I I I'm curious about how you like if we think about the type of mentorship that I have a dream is able to provide, you know, there's you keep mentioning some of the more, I'm not gonna call them soft because I think that's unfair, uh it's not gratuitous enough. It's um some of these like uh sort of supporting but also central like competencies. You mentioned critical thinking, you mentioned um like the social emotional uh learning, you mentioned like grit and resilience, um, like showing up, which is like discipline, it's um also like finding meaning and purpose. And and a lot of that stuff is things that we don't we don't test for it. So so I have a dream is providing that through through mentorship. Um like if if the entire country was like, okay, well, what would it look like for us to like take what we've learned from I Have a Dream's work and like scale the hell out of it? Like, what would be the thing, like like the one thing that you would be pushing for? Like, what is something that every kid should have an opportunity to do, or what is something that every school or community should be putting at the top of their

Durable Skills In A Fast AI Era

Alex Kotran 29:10

agenda?

SPEAKER_01 29:11

Look, I I do think these relationships and the long-term relationships are important. I also believe that they're you know, the the long-term piece is important, but you know, there are critical stages along the way. And so, you know, really, you know, any intervention uh can can you know really move the needle. Um you know, as I said, you know, kind of earlier, um, you know, we're committed as a foundation. We're not gonna do this on our own. We're not gonna solve it on our own, but we're really committed uh to ensuring, you know, that by 2030 we are working with others uh to make sure that our kids are having the skills that they need uh to you know to thrive uh in this world. And I think what we really need to do too is, you know, I gave a statistic about you know 11 per only 11% of those in the you know the lowest socioeconomic um uh you know quadrant are are graduating. We gotta move that, you know. I mean, we got to make that 40% at least. It's you know, the the highest socioeconomic income, you know, is is is something like you know, 55, 57%, right? And so we need to move that. I don't think it has to just be college. I think it could be, you know, many different post-secondary pathways, but we need but we need to ensure that. And we're can, you know, we're we are committed as a foundation to doing that.

SPEAKER_02 30:51

And I think the you know, the data will show you that um 98% of students that go through the program graduate. You know, they graduate from high school and they go on to pursue opportunities, whether that's in you know, college, trade school, or other types of pathways. And the foundation has served over 20,000 students um over those 45 years. So when I think about what matters most, it's around that engagement. It's around the programming. The program is is it's every day, five, it's five days a week uh after school. There's programming on Saturday. So what we want to try and do is spend time with the students, um, let them understand here are the concepts around math. You mentioned earlier financial literacy. It starts first with really understanding the math concepts. And we start that in first grade kindergarten. As we're now talking about the evolution of the model, you know, we're spending more time now developing labs, what we call dream labs, AI Dream Labs, because we know the importance of having students get access to hardware equipment, basically computers, desktops, being able to be in an environment where they can maneuver on the computer screen and they can ask questions, they can prompt chat GPT or co-pilot or perplexity. These kind of access to these types of tools just adds to their confidence, makes them feel more comfortable, makes them feel like they can be part of what society, everybody else, is going through. So we are all in in terms of how we think about preparing the students and giving them that access and giving them that tools. But we also realize that it's also part of the emotional learn it. When we talk about that, we wanted to try and make sure they could have that comfort level around asking questions and being curious, or that they have that self-confidence about speaking up and participating and being able to really articulate who they are and where they're from. Those kind of things are very important and they play a role in terms of how you then go all the way through from first grade to 12th grade because you're starting to develop who you are as an individual and you're making conscientious decisions about am I going to participate in the foundations program after school and be present and be active and engage? Or am I going to fall off in a trite and not go back? And we obviously don't want the latter, we want the former, and we're really glad and excited about the fact that what we've done has shown positive results, that they do graduate and that do go on and they lead meaningful lives.

SPEAKER_01 33:44

You know, Alex, I think we should make history together right now and say that, you know, we need to have a more inclusive education system. We can't afford, right? We know what the crisis is. We can't afford to let you know kids fall through the crack. And part of that is because we have to be laser focused on ensuring that we have the pipeline for the workforce of the future. This is a matter of national security. This is a matter of U.S. competitiveness. We are seeing our country in uh you know lose pace, be outpaced, right, by by Asia and others. U.S. universities are going down in global rankings. We, you know, and we need to make sure that we have the jobs uh for for the future industries as as they're growing. You know, I say we've done 20,000 kids and their families. Uh that doesn't even take into account all those who are paying it forward, right? And and we see that over and over. We have uh dream scholars who are back, you know, teaching. We have um, you know, uh uh folks who are are continuing that message, right, and paying forward, you know, the the the great benefit and resources that they've had to. We've got to do two million kids. We've got to do two million kids. We we we have to have it be more inclusive, and we can't afford uh to let uh kids fall through the cracks.

Alex Kotran 35:15

I mean, yeah, totally agree. And I'm just actually brought back to a and I don't know if this is intentional or sort of just um like a really kind of fun coincidence, but you you were talking about ringing the uh the bell at the stock exchange, and it's sort of like, you know, it's ringing an opportunity, and there's sort of like all of the the potential to come in that day, but then there's also you know, there is like you talked about alarm bells. Um I'm struck by that. Like I feel like the bell is ringing and it's like a combination of alarm bells, but also um, you know, ushering in sort of like the next generational revol like technology revolution. How are you thinking about the role that AI plays here? Um and feel free to say that. I mean, there's there's a lot of different angles, but I mean, just sort of curious, like tactically, when it comes to like the delivery of your work or um the way that you see kids learning or using the tools, like are there any examples that you're particularly excited about or maybe that are raising your eyebrows?

SPEAKER_02 36:15

Yeah, yeah. I mean, we we we mentioned earlier um AI Labs, which is you know, you bring the students into a classroom and there are desktops there, and there are as an instructor in the front, and they're going through and learning about navigating and asking the right questions and getting information real time to solving problems. For us, we think that we need to be part of that solution. And that's why we're doing this because we think, as we talked about earlier, how do we prepare these students to be to have the right skills, to be active participants in the workforce? And we know it starts early on. So, one of the things that we're doing as part of our overall foundation and strategic pillars is a focus on getting comfortable with the technology. So, what we do, what our thoughts are, is to create AI Dream Labs as being part of our go-to-market and how we work with our students and faculty members and teachers and schools, school and city council members by saying we want to be part of this, and we're gonna help to drive that by incorporating that into our programming so that it becomes a fundamental go-to-market approach of what we can bring to the students that we

AI Dream Labs And Early Access

SPEAKER_02 37:36

touch.

Alex Kotran 37:36

I I wonder if you encounter this question, I'm sure your team does. Like, should we still be counseling kids to go to college?

SPEAKER_01 37:44

So, you know, we've talked about that intentionally. And as you as as I've said, you know, the the this organ, this foundation started, you know, with a promise of college scholarship. Um, and uh, you know, we also have college savings accounts, which is again about expectations, right? Which is, you know, when you when you actually have it there, it provides, you know, that goal. But I think that there are many pathways um uh post-secondary, and we're talking about that, you know, the discourse politically, I think it's pretty uniform that there are many ways to be successful uh in in life and in in career, and and we are you know very much aligned with that. We actually just recently changed our uh language and our mission statement really to to reflect that, because I think that that's that's where we are today.

SPEAKER_02 38:40

I mean, Alex, I will tell you, and I mentioned at my at my uh introduction that I serve on a board at the higher education level at a university. Um, you know, even at the university level, we are evaluating that as we speak. You know, we're saying, how do we ensure that we understand the diversity of students and the diversity of learning options? So for us, when we went to school, it was you show up in the classroom, you attend college, you go through that four-year, five-year experience. Now it's should you have an online curriculum? Should you do weekend classes? Should you do a two-year associate degree? Should you think about going directly to a trade school? Should it be a four-year institution? So there are so many different options out there. And I think all of us would benefit from having a much more diverse set of options out there than just saying everyone should go to college, because I don't think it's colleges for everyone. I think there's so many different options out there that are available. And also, by the way, let's not forget the cost benefit. You know, as as tuition continues to skyrocket, we also have to think about and be sensitive to and empathetic to families and what's affordable and making those right decisions based upon a circumstance for a family and based upon what a specific person's actual dreams are, what they want to do from a career perspective.

Alex Kotran 40:07

Unfortunately, there isn't like a short answer. I think it's good that you didn't just try to come up with like some pithy response because it's like it's very complicated. It's like it depends on, well, what do you mean by college? Are you talking about taking out $200,000 in loans to go to a you know tier two ranked private school just because you want to have the prestige of a private school? That is very different from you know, going to an in you know, a state school that, you know, whether I had whether they have you know need-based scholarships or maybe it's just more affordable, or maybe you start in community college and as you said, sort of lateral, and there's like I think lots of pathways. But the the consistent thing I'm hearing is, and you use a specific language, but I'm gonna sort of paraphrase it, but um like just creating the the the the paradigm of um of like having a thing you're striving for. And that's where I feel like I'm not ready to say I wouldn't recommend for kids go to college because like when I'm asked that question, I'm like, well, the answer is we really don't know, but you need to have something that you're shooting for. And college is it checks a lot of boxes, right? You're gonna learn a lot of stuff. You're gonna be doing hard things and um navigating, you know, complex systems, and you're gonna be dealing with people and like building people skills. Um and it's also a way of signaling that you've done all those things. And are there other pathways that check all those boxes? Like I think for sure, and and that's where maybe there's like an interesting conversation around trades. Um and even like when you mentioned community college and associates' degrees, it's like maybe that's actually strategic if you don't know what's coming, if there's gonna be a lot of change, you know, having it to your degree that you can stack on top of, let's say, other learning that you kind of adapt based on you know how things develop. I I feel like that could make sense, but I can see where the mentorship is so critical there. Um, because like having someone who's sort of guiding you through that process, I feel like if the three of us can't quite come up with like a clear answer, it's like how how the heck are kids who are in high school dealing with all the stuff that you talked about supposed to figure this out for themselves.

SPEAKER_01 42:16

Alex, I I really agree with you. And I think part of it, like let's just like we're all human beings, right? I mean, I always tell, you know, I talk about imposter syndrome, and you know, no matter, you know, where you are in life or how important or not important, you know, you may be, um, you know, we're all, you know, we're all still in high school or maybe younger, right? And I just think the importance, you know, I talk about expectations of possibility, right? Um, of a future is so important. And, you know, where that lands, I don't know, you know, whether it's, you know, college, community, trade, school, you know, you know, other, you know, in an apprentice, just in a really cool job. I think, you know, just the feeling that you are moving through, you know, life and you're excited about it is to me what's at the crux of all of this and making sure that we are catching those kids, you know, early and often if we can. You know, and and you talked about, you know, what would we like to see for I have a dream foundation. And I truly believe, and we've got the numbers to show it, that you know, the impact and the outcomes are great, and we need to make sure that we're doing that as a big a scale as we can.

SPEAKER_02 43:48

You know, the other the other thing that um sometimes people overlook is the students come from under resourced communities, and what does that mean? They may be the first generation that considers going to a trade school or a community school or a college or university. So, what does that mean? That means that day in, day out, they may not necessarily have access or exposure to someone in their immediate family that can provide them with a lot of those answers. That's where we try to step in. And we talked a lot about the mentoring and the networking and the fact that we start so early because we want to try and be not a replacement, but a supplement. So we want to try and make sure that we've got people on the board and people that are part of the organization that have various different careers, various different education levels. But at the same time, they can play a role in helping the students understand the importance of following education because it can lead to you to so many different opportunities down the road.

Alex Kotran 44:55

I mean, I guess if you could just tell like one thing about like what you need

College Or Alternatives And The Cost

Alex Kotran 45:00

to bring these like supports like to your communities. I mean, there's part of the challenges you kind of described, there's like so much that goes into it. But if you think when you think about the the impact that you were striving to have, um, Sarah, you mentioned like two million kids. Um yeah, like what is like that one barrier that whether it's philanthropy or or other leaders, like that could help, if not entirely lift it for you, at least like, you know, help help you over.

SPEAKER_01 45:28

Look, I think it's it's kind of how the arc of of the conversation, Alex, that we've had, right? I mean, you have the crisis. We've got we've got the numbers, right? Of showing how many are falling through the cracks, how many are not getting this opportunity. And I think that in this moment in time, you know, with so much change, uh, so much disruption happening, uh, both, you know, we've talking about technology, um, you know, uh the disruption and the noise, which is compounded by, you know, social media, misinformation, all of all of these things, right, um, are making it uh you know even more compelling and even more of a need um to you know to come um you know to uh together, right, and and and try to lift up um some of these kids. It's a it's an awareness of the crisis uh and um you know sort of a come to you know Jesus moment. Uh and sure, you know, it it's it's it's a it's an awareness, a call to action, and also uh a moment to think about the opportunity, right? And I think you know, we talked about the closing bell ceremony and it both was ringing the alarm bells, if you will, um for the crisis, but also, you know, 45 years of opportunity and and 45 years um moving forward. This is gonna require all of us. Uh the foundation is committed to working with the business community, with foundations, with philanthropy, uh, with uh, you know, government, you know, on the federal, on the city, on the state level. Uh it's it's about resources. Uh and it's and it's some you know really hard thinking. I mean, Alex, I think you've said too, like, how how are we going to keep up, you know, with this rapid change? Uh, and that is, you know, the foundation plays a role in that, but there's gonna be a lot more that's gonna be play a role in it too. I mean, we know we've got to bring in our thought leaders and our universities and you know, companies who are able to move uh more quickly too. So I see this as uh you know something that all of us have to take seriously, and it's really a whole of society effort uh so that we can uh you know remain strong and and so that we can uh uh make sure that all of our kids have the resources they need uh and the opportunities uh that they deserve.

Alex Kotran 48:04

Michael, anything that you want to close with?

SPEAKER_02 48:07

Now Sarah's captured it really well, and um I I would emphasize the fact that she talked about all of us. At the end of the day, it's about collaboration. It's about creating this ecosystem. You know, we try very hard to go out and talk to other foundations and go out and talk to state and local government and go out and talk to corporate partners. Because at the end of the day, we we we think we we want to be part of the solution, but we also know there's strength in numbers. We know we can drive more of an impact if we have more people that are collaborating together as opposed to trying to do things individually. So for us, it's about scale, it's around impact, and it's around sustainability. And those are the kind of things that are very critical to us. And we recognize that we can't do it by ourselves. So hence we spend a lot of time talking about the things that we have done, but then also being welcome

Scaling Impact Through Partnerships

SPEAKER_02 49:05

and open to creating these palacties, these, these, these partnerships, these collaborations, because we know that we can do much more if we if we do it together.

Alex Kotran 49:13

Ah, that was a really good closing. All right. Well, thank you again. And also just thank you to the I Have a Dream team uh for all their help prepping for this. And, you know, we were super impressed when our team had a chance to meet with your folks. And um, there's a lot I feel like we want to learn from you. I mean, I'm sure you feel the same, maybe, you know, when it comes to AI, but um, you know, our our experience time and time again as we would do work in Title I schools is that you know, AI is often not even the second or third biggest challenge that they have. And like the humility of going in and understanding that and not feeling like this is just the center of the universe. And I feel like you're really living what that looks like. So thank you again for making the time.

SPEAKER_01 49:52

Nah Alex, thank you. We're grateful for that, for the opportunity and and your questions were were really great.

Alex Kotran 49:59

Thank you, Alex. Thanks, Michael.