Gary Linnen is the CEO of PeerForward. He works with high schools and colleges across the country and in Bermuda to encourage the power of positive peer influence among low-income youth by connecting them to careers. PeerForward’s goal is to bridge the opportunity gap that low-income students face by giving the youth the skills they need to become lifelong community change agents.
Linnen shares how programs at PeerForward have impacted the youth positively.
In your leadership role, what is your commitment to the community?
I am my community. PeerForward was founded to serve students in under-resourced communities, those with low income, and often low expectations. I come from such a community and I experienced the transformational power of education. We take staying connected to our communities seriously. Fifty-five percent of our entire staff are alums of the program, and 100 percent of our coaches work directly with student alums. Almost all staff are first-generation college graduates or came from underserved communities. Finally, I should emphasize that our whole approach is to provide training, tools, and support to young leaders. They execute their campaigns and they lead the work.
What would you say are the nonprofit’s top three programs?
For more than 25 years, PeerForward, which began as College Summit, has guided more than 600,000 students on the path to higher education. A vast majority of those students were served through our high school program, which has evolved through the years. PeerForward trains teams of eight — four juniors and four seniors — on the intricacies of postsecondary planning and the admissions process, as well as how to use community organizing to influence and assist their classmates to pursue higher education.
PeerForward has a new postsecondary program to leverage peer connections and help students through their first semesters on campus. The program is in its fourth year and has proved very powerful. At Broward College, for example, PeerForward mentees have a 35 percent higher retention rate and earn a degree at a rate 71 percent higher than the general student population. Finally, the foundation for both our work in high schools and colleges is our phenomenal training for youth and educators, beginning with transformational summer workshops and continuing with training camps throughout the school year. Our coaches are world-class in youth development and facilitation.
Why should someone want to support your nonprofit financially or in other ways?
PeerForward supporters are true believers in the power of education to change a person’s life, which then ripples to families and communities. They see achieving equity in education outcomes as essential to achieving equity in other key areas, such as health and housing. Those who share those convictions do have many choices. PeerForward stands out because it is effective and efficient, improving postsecondary success for Black, Latino, and low-income by tapping a resource found on every campus — influential students. Our approach accomplishes so much more from creating a corps of young community leaders with skills and experience in driving change to cultivating cultures in communities where everyone is expected to pursue some form of postsecondary education.
