
By 2020, more than 60 percent of all jobs will demand higher education. In fact, 99 percent of all jobs created after the 2008 recession require some form of post-secondary education. However, only 10 percent of students from underprivileged communities graduate college by age 25. Counseling high school students can change this.
Recognizing the acute shortage of counselors for high school students in the United States, Peer Forward was established to train and empower small groups of influential peers in underserved communities who would then guide classmates toward their goal of attending college. To date, the organization has placed more than 250,000 students on the path to college success. Two of these students are Dasha Good and Kion Douglas.
Ms. Good is the first person in her family to attend college. She graduated from Ballou Senior High School in Washington, D.C., and was admitted to Old Dominion University.
Mr. Douglas graduated from Charles Herbert Flowers High School in Prince George’s County, Maryland. After donating 324 community service hours and serving as a student representative, he earned a scholarship to attend Norfolk State University.