Who we are
When We Grow Up (WWGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization providing underserved youth with direct access and early exposure to high-impact, high-paying career paths — like finance, technology, medicine, law, and more.
We believe every child deserves equal access to the opportunities that open doors to
high-impact, high paying careers. But in America today, children from disadvantaged backgrounds are often locked out.
The best careers are often inherited by privileged children born into families able to provide
mentorship, connections, and guidance that families with less resources cannot.
Wealthy kids grow up surrounded by people who model success and explain the rules.
Kids without these resources don’t.
As a result, the kids who need it most rarely even hear about the careers that could
change their and their families lives– until it’s already too late.
Showing Up
We partner with underserved schools (Elementary, Middle, High) and send in top professionals — from investment bankers to engineers to doctors — to deliver short, powerful talks demystifying what they do and how they got there.
If You Can Stream It You Can Dream It
Select talks are turned into engaging, 90-second animated videos that live online and can be used by schools and families nationwide — making exposure scalable and accessible anytime.
Fellowships & Access Grants
As we grow, we partner with leading companies and institutions to offer site visits, mentorship days, and scholarships that help students take action on what they’ve learned — from laptops to summer programs to transportation.
Our goal is simple: to normalize ambition, confidence, and access; to provide the same kind of
early exposure, guidance, and access that privileged youth get by default — for every kid who
never had that privilege.
At scale, WWGU will reach young people around the country, birth career trajectories, and begin
to reverse the compounding cycle of inherited disadvantage — one breakthrough at a time.
Our Founder & Founding Story
