The path from school to a career has never been simple, but today it’s more uncertain and more unequal than ever before. For decades, we told young people, especially those from under-resourced communities, that if they worked hard, graduated high school and earned a college degree, opportunity would follow. For many, it didn’t.
I’ve spent almost two decades building schools and programs designed to help students from every background graduate, continue their education and find pathways to meaningful work. Yet I heard the same thing from students years after they walked the stage: “I did everything right, and I still can’t get the job I want.”
At TGR Foundation, we’re working to change that. By combining academic learning with opportunity access, connecting schools, industries, and communities, and grounding every innovation in caring relationships, we’re helping students discover who they are and how to thrive in the workforce ahead.
When I started my career, higher education was considered the end goal. We built systems that celebrated access to college as the ultimate measure of success. These programs helped students graduate with minimal debt and strong academic preparation. But then, as those same students hit their twenties, I heard a common concern.
“I’ve got the degree. I did everything you said, would lead to success, but I still can’t find a job in the field I care about.”
Through our TGR Learning Labs and community partnerships, students gain hands-on experiences, build professional networks, discover what they love, and start mapping their passions toward viable, growth-based careers. We supplement academic access with opportunity access, because both are essential.
AI is disrupting everything, from— education to, work and more., I remain optimistic about its potential, if used wisely and safely, as it’s one of the most powerful tools humanity has ever built. However, if used recklessly, it can deepen inequity and erode genuine learning.
AI has the potential to solve two long-standing problems in education: overcrowded classrooms and uneven support. For centuries, one-to-one learning and mentorship—what princes and princesses received—has been the gold standard. With thoughtful integration, AI can move us closer to that ideal, offering personalized learning that adjusts to each student’s level, learning modality and pace. In theory, every learner could “learn like a prince or princess.”
But the risk is clear. We’ve seen this story before, with the internet. The first families to buy home computers and modems gained an early, compounding advantage. Today’s affluent students are getting that same head start with AI. Their schools buy premium tools, their teachers integrate AI projects, and their parents understand how to harness it. Meanwhile, many students from under-resourced communities still struggle with spotty Wi-Fi or outdated hardware.
That’s how a new AI opportunity divide begins.
At TGR Foundation, our approach is to blend optimism with responsibility. We teach AI literacy as both skill and mindset. Students learn to use AI as a creative and analytical partner while still being expected to master the fundamentals of reading, writing, math, and critical thinking through their academic studies.
For those who remember the old handheld calculators, Texas Instruments, —AI is the new TI-85. It was essentially the first computer accessible to the masses, it can help you do the work faster, but can’t enter the equation for you.
Too many educators fear the tool rather than teach it. The institutions that get it right will teach AI and core content in tandem. Students still need the skills to think and the intuition to use technology intentionally.
At our Learning Labs, we’re already offering AI courses, integrating tools into our projects, and writing our own AI curriculum. Most importantly, our programs remain relationship-based and place-based, because no algorithm replaces a caring mentor who knows your name. Technology should enhance humanity, not replace it.
Academic preparation alone can open a few doors, but it doesn’t keep them open. Opportunity access is what fuels academic success in the classroom, career and life.
Students from under-resourced communities often graduate with strong grades but little professional social capital, informal networks, internship experiences and mentors compared to affluent students who are guided naturally into first jobs. According to a report by LinedIn, nearly 85 percent of jobs still come through relationships or warm referrals, not résumés stacked in a database.
That’s why our Learning Labs are so intentional about connection. We host field trips, summer programs, after-school classes and mentoring events, that tie learning directly to high-demand industries. Local companies collaborate with us on real projects, challenges, internships and site visits so that students get to see and touch the world they’re preparing to enter.
The belief that academic achievement alone will lift every student equally is a myth that has failed students for decades. Mentors, internships and exposure to industries should not be luxuries; they’re structural necessities. The true formula for thriving in the workforce combines learning, access and relationships—and that’s the equation we strive to foster every day.
Few things frustrate me more than how society has undervalued the skilled trades. For decades, we labeled individuals as “college ready” or “not college ready,” and careers as “white collar” or “blue collar,” as if hands-on skills are a consolation prize instead of a cornerstone of our economy.
The result? Schools stripped shop classes from high schools, retired generations of technical educators, and disconnected a whole swath of young people from incredibly viable, essential, and often lucrative careers.
AI and digital transformation are now forcing us to confront that mistake. Every industry—from energy to infrastructure to aerospace, relies on tradespeople who can weld, design, install, and maintain the systems that power innovation. Sam Altman of OpenAI recently noted he’ll need to hire tens of thousands of tradespeople just to build the physical and energy infrastructure to support AI’s growth. These are not the jobs of the past; they’re the foundation of the future.
At each of our Learning Labs we integrate indoor maker spaces with outdoor trade studios, where we blend fabrication technology and AI tools into everyday learning experiences.
Students can explore robotics, CNC machining, 3D printing, laser cutting, and energy systems not as abstract lessons but as real pathways to work. We need to replace the tired narrative that trades are “less than.” In truth, they are the bedrock of workforce development for students, especially those ready to build the tangible future.
Exposure is the key. We bring students in as early as second grade through field trips and short workshops. From there, they can explore after-school classes ranging from drones, AI, multimedia production, and golf, to engineering and design. Some programs run six weeks; others span years. The point is to give students a safe space to try, to fail and to learn.
When the lightbulb does go off, it’s pure joy. I’ve seen a student go from playing with drones in a beginner class to earning a Federal Aviation Administration pilot’s license at sixteen. I’ve met alumni who started as kids in our Labs, explored countless paths, and eventually launched local companies, joined the trades, or came back as mentors. One young man attended our Anaheim Learning Lab’s groundbreaking two decades ago, wearing a hard hat that turned out to foreshadow his future. Now he runs his own construction business and plans to send his children to the Learning Lab program. That’s the generational impact of access.
The future of education and work will not arrive fully formed; it will be built by partnerships. No single school, nonprofit, or company can be all things to all people. We need to collaborate across sectors to design career pathways for youth from under-resourced communities that combine academic excellence, opportunity access, and well-being.
Since our first TGR Learning Lab opened in 2006, the world has changed dramatically. Technology has evolved, careers have shifted, and students’ realities have transformed. Yet one belief has remained constant: every student deserves the right not just to learn, but to belong in the future of work.
As we expand nationally, we’ll keep evolving—adding AI curricula, upgrading maker spaces, and deepening our corporate and community partnerships. We’ll also stay rooted in relationships, curiosity and care, spark interests, nurture skills and connect students to opportunities. That’s how we’ll build the future workforce for everyone.
Because when students have access to education, opportunity and caring adults who believe in their potential, the doors of education stop being gates and start becoming gateways.
