Empower Students: Support Pathways to Prosperity

Help Launch Pathways to Prosperity, Inc. – Empowering Every Student’s Journey to Higher Education and Career Success

“Because Every Student Deserves a Path, and Every Path Deserves Support.”

I’m launching “Pathways to Prosperity, Inc. (P2P)”— an innovative educational consulting service designed to provide high-quality college and career coaching to high-achieving students from working- and middle-class families, as well as adults seeking to re-enter or pivot in today’s dynamic workforce.

Why P2P?

In today’s complex, competitive world of college admissions and workforce development, too many families are left behind simply because they don’t have access to timely, accurate, or affordable guidance. Navigating applications, financial aid, summer programs, internships, and training opportunities can feel overwhelming—especially when high schools are under-resourced or families are unfamiliar with the process. For the last decade, I have (as a volunteer) assisted over 20 students from high school to community college, elite undergraduate universities and graduate schools and everything in-between to access a free or near-free education (I have even helped parents to negotiate financial aid packages…ALWAYS), and I have enjoyed every minute of it! I love working with “my kids”, and many of them are now Nurses, Aeronautical Engineers, Law Students, Ph.D Candidates, Public Policy experts working in Police Reform, Pre-Vet and Pre-Med, and so many more, the vast majority at the country’s finest universities. In addition, I have also had a nearly 40-year career as an Educator teaching every grade as a Bilingual Special Educator from K-12, Director of Testing for the nation’s Catholic Schools, and have been a Professor in seven national and international universities where I trained Teachers and other Educators in Teaching Methodology and Education Research. I have served two Presidents in the US Departments of Education and Labor, assisting states like Alaska, California and Montana (and many others), Native Communities and the JobCorps program, and I have been a Nonprofit and Trade Association Leader whose has impacted legislation helping the U.S. Residential Building Industry to design registered apprenticeships that will give people lifelong, energy efficient Construction and Building Trades skills. I’m proud of every moment of my experience.

However, we still have TOO MANY young people and their parents who are making critical mistakes with their higher educational goals, and let us face it…the stakes are just too financially high to make poor educational and especially negative FINANCIAL decisions. “All debt and no degree” is still way too common, and let’s face it…most young people do not graduate from college in four years with little to no debt. In fact, in some places, the graduation rate is so abysmal that no one of limited resources should ever consider attending such a school—you simply won’t get what you pay for.

P2P changes this equation, in YOUR favor!

”Our Model: Equity Meets Excellence” (TM)

P2P will be a hybrid *for-profit* and *nonprofit* service:

- **Income-based Coaching Services:** Families will be screened for ability to pay. Those who can afford our coaching can purchase individual or packaged sessions — ideally beginning in 9th grade to build a strategic, reflective path toward college or career readiness.

- **Free, Subsidized or Fee-for Service Coaching:** For those unable to pay, P2P’s nonprofit arm will step in, offering scholarships for individual coaching sessions based on funding availability.

- **Digital Outreach:** Weekly YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram videos will provide free, bite-sized, factual, and motivating content about higher education and career pathways — and invite viewers to *sponsor a student* by donating directly to the nonprofit support our scholarship program.

Every year, an annual report will be uploaded to the website documenting our progress, and showing how many students we served with donated funds (with identifying information about families stripped for confidentiality).

Beyond College Admissions

P2P doesn’t stop at college-bound teens:

- Students pursuing employment training or technical certifications will receive tailored guidance on their options, including financial support and job readiness programs.

- Adults making career pivots, returning to school, or navigating life transitions (due to disability, job loss, or personal reinvention) will find personalized coaching that honors their journey and connects them to resources that matter.

Parents Empowered. Students Prepared. Communities Strengthened

P2P isn’t just a student service — it’s a family service. Parents will gain up-to-date knowledge on financial aid/FAFSA completion, campus visits, test-optional policies, scholarships, and the ever-evolving higher ed landscape. Sometimes, parents need to be encouraged to allow their children to explore their OWN futures with safe and conscientious guidance, not being dragged through the slog of SAT/ACTs, college visits, and all the drama that goes with that. With the right information, families can confidently guide and support their children without fear, confusion, or misinformation, and most importantly, teens and young adults can gradually take responsibility for their own education, thus engendering strong accountability and ownership.

Why We Need Your Help

Launching a high-impact, access-based venture like P2P takes more than passion — it takes resources. Your donation will directly support:

- Building an interactive website and digital platform

-Travel to professional conferences, colleges and universities to meet with Admissions and Financial Aid professionals.

- Developing initial free content for social media outreach, which requires IT, lighting, and editing resources (as well as occasional outsourcing)

- Creating an accessible and vetted scholarship database for families in need

- Licensing, administrative setup, and legal support

- Eventually, hiring part-time counselors to launch our services

Every dollar brings us closer to ensuring that no one — no matter their income, background, or age — is denied access to quality guidance on their path to higher education or meaningful employment. And by putting in good effort and guidance on the front end, as well as support all through the student’s academic process (we even send care packages, at times, because who doesn’t need brownies during finals?), students have an “Auntie” who will make sure that they are ok and will do the very best to keep them in school and stay connected so that they can actually earn degrees that they want from schools that they like based on their personalities and their needs, and most importantly, they accomplish their goals. Students of color, first-generation college students, those with disabilities and those of modest means are at the biggest risk of making poor decisions because there is simply no one to guide them or their parents. Every student who successfully navigates the academic or employment training landscape is one more successful American who becomes part of our communities. They buy homes, cars, open businesses pay taxes and they raise families who more often than not will prosper, too. In this modern day with programs dwindling or being slashed completely, we as Americans cannot afford to leave ANY young person or their families behind.

How You Can Make a Difference

- Donate whatever you can to get us started— no amount is too small.

- Share this campaign with parents, educators, alumni networks, potential investors/contributors and community advocates.

- Consider becoming a recurring donor or a corporate sponsor to fund a family or classroom. It is my goal to get the for-profit and the nonprofit started immediately (May, 2025) so that no later than August 1 (when the Common Application opens for students in the classes of 2025-26), I will be ready to go to take my first class of paid students, and build up a strong portfolio.

Together, we can transform futures — one student, one parent, one life at a time.

Thank you for believing in the power of potential, and in me.

With gratitude,

Sheila Coleman-Castells

Founder, Pathways to Prosperity, Inc. (P2P)