We unleash the power of young people by helping them discover and access their full potential
Our Impact
25
schools served
32
employer partners
10,000
students chatting
Like all origin stories, Sidekick's is personal
Meet Sarah!
When I was young, I knew I wanted to go into Medicine. I did everything I could to make that dream a reality – taking math and science classes, doing job shadows, and watching re-runs of Rescue 911. I was on a clear path until my junior year of high school when I met with my school counselor about enrolling in a Physics class. My counselor told me, “No girl in our school has ever passed this class.” I took this to mean I couldn’t be successful in a class like Physics, and, by extension, other higher-level math and science courses. I let go of my dream of medicine, and by the time I went to college, I chose a degree as far from medicine as possible.
I wanted to make sure every young person could tell a different story. That’s why I started Sidekick. Our personal champion is always there to show students just what they’re capable of and connect them to meaningful relationships with people who will help them achieve it. So the next time a young person hears what she can’t do, she can point to all the people and evidence showing exactly what she can.
It wasn’t until my second job after college when I had to learn to code that I realized I wasn’t actually bad at math or computational thinking. I realized just how much that conversation, when I was 16, had shaped my understanding of my own abilities and potential. I also learned my story isn’t unique. Students everywhere, even today, have to overcome expectations that are often unintentential but always undeserved All of those undeserved expectations lead to unrealized potential in our young people and in the communities where they live.
Aw, shucks! Thanks for the love ❤️
