about us

OUR MISSION:
The mission of Futures for Kids is to connect students to Career Coaches and businesses across North Carolina through our online career exploration program. We equip middle and high school students with the tools necessary to succeed in the 21st Century workplace, while enabling employers to build a steady pipeline of talented, local labor.

OUR HISTORY:
Futures for Kids began in 2001 as a class project in the Executive MBA program at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. One of the students volunteered as a high school wrestling coach, and saw firsthand the lack of direction his seniors had approaching graduation. Seeking to bridge a gap in the career planning process by engaging the business community directly, Futures for Kids was born.

Since then, Futures for Kids has become a resource for students, educators, parents and the business community alike.

• In 2005, the North Carolina Chamber formally endorsed Futures for Kids as a valuable workforce preparedness tool.
• Judge Howard Manning (of the educational equity "Leandro case") recognized Futures for Kids as an effective dropout prevention tool.
• The North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA) named F4K its 2005 Technology Nonprofit Company of the Year.
• In 2006, Duke University's Child and Family Policy Center completed an evaluation on the impact of Futures for Kids on students, reporting 91% of students thought "F4K helped me realize I need to do well in school to get the kind of job I want" and 86% of students said "after using F4K, I feel more ready to make educational and career decisions."
• F4K has continued to work with the business community to provide the program at no charge to any school in North Carolina, expanding from 8,000 students in 49 high schools in 2005 to over 120,000 middle and high school students in 68 school districts across North Carolina.