Beyond Talent's Final Letter

Dear friends,

After 7 years, Beyond Talent has reached the end of its journey.

When I founded Beyond Talent in 2003, as a 24‐year‐old GED instructor, the District had virtually no resources for students transitioning from GED programs. Because I had nowhere to send my graduating students, I started helping them myself. That was the beginning of Beyond Talent’s journey.

Ever since, Beyond Talent has been helping people embark upon career paths. Literally hundreds of youth and adults in DC benefitted from Beyond Talent’s three programs. The number of participants grew every year.

Today, thanks in part to Beyond Talent, the District has developed extensive resources for what we have always called “non‐traditional students” – essentially, youth and adults transitioning from GED programs to college or job training. A college preparatory program that Beyond Talent helped to create continues to thrive. Public charter schools like Next Step and organizations like Academy of Hope have hired full‐time transition counselors. The Herb Block Foundation and New Futures offer scholarships to community colleges and vocational programs. And, after years of task forces and meetings and advocacy, the District has a community college with 2‐ and 4‐year programs.

Transition is part of the conversation now, in a way that it wasn’t in 2003. That’s something Beyond Talent can be proud of. We have been there for students while the rest of the community caught up. Is it even necessary to say that I have not made this journey alone? From the very beginning, Beyond Talent has benefitted from the expertise, support, and enthusiasm of so many individuals and organizations of all kinds that it boggles the mind. I wish I could acknowledge every single one of you
for your contributions. What I can do is share with you the final stages of our journey.

In many ways, the 2009 ‐2010 school year was Beyond Talent’s most successful. For one thing, Beyond Talent had a full‐time executive director, 2 full‐time AmeriCorps volunteers, a top‐notch office, numerous community partnerships, and a Board of committed, active individuals who put on a beautiful gala event (which many of you attended). Programs continued to grow and expand – we started doing workshops for larger and larger groups of students, and preparing dozens of students for college by tutoring in GED programs.

In 2009‐2010, Beyond Talent ran a program that was a model of efficacy and excellence in education. I have been working in GED programs and helping students transition for almost 10 years, and I can honestly say College Compass was second to none. It combined all the most successful elements of the college readiness programs Beyond Talent had been operating since 2006. The professors, the students, the case management and support – everything was the best of the best. The May graduation event was a beautiful celebration of the students’ success.

One of the purposes of College Compass – and all of Beyond Talent’s college readiness programs ‐‐ was to prepare students for university placement exams such as the Accuplacer. Today, the Community College of the District of Columbia offers enrolling students an Accuplacer‐prep program.

The purpose of the Peer Mentoring Program was to place graduating GED students in the role of tutors and mentors to their peers who were still in GED programs. Our most consistent partner in this effort was Living Wages. Gradually, more and more Beyond Talent Peer Mentors became full‐time AmeriCorps volunteers at Living Wages. Today, Living Wages routinely recruits AmeriCorps volunteers from the student population, and 2 former students (one of whom was a Peer Mentor) staff Living Wages’ second location. Living Wages has always been a model of student involvement, and I am proud to have had the opportunity to share that work with them.

One of my fondest memories of Beyond Talent, and one way in which I think we did a tremendous amount of good, will be sitting side‐by‐side with a student, at a computer, with tax returns in our laps, filling out the online FAFSA (federal application for student aid). I will also remember fondly Beyond Talent’s first student partner, an amazing young woman who became my friend and colleague, who eventually rose from the seat next to me and sat down to help somebody else.

Of course, every journey’s end is bittersweet.

Nobody provides the level of one‐on‐one educational case management that Beyond Talent did. Our volunteers and staff met regularly with students who needed guidance and accountability in completing college enrollment paperwork; registering for classes and buying books; transferring their credits from another country to area universities – and more. As it turns out, College Compass was the last program Beyond Talent could afford to offer. Still, reaching the decision to close was like arriving smoothly at the end of a wonderful and exhausting journey. The work of closing the organization, and the office, has occupied me ever since.

Your belief in Beyond Talent, and in me, has made all of this possible. Your investment in Beyond Talent has made it possible. I hope you agree that the return on investment has been well worth every penny,every moment, and everything that matters.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Ellie Phillips
Founder & Executive Director