For Charleita Richardson, president and CEO of Partnership for the Future, the most fulfilling part of her job is watching the students she works with celebrate graduating from college. Unfortunately, a closing ceremony at the end of the summer recognizing their accomplishments has been disrupted by the pandemic. “I know that they’re going to be really heartbroken about not being able to be together for that,” she says. “We’re working on modifying that celebration for them virtually now.” Despite the pandemic’s effect on the organization’s programs, Richardson and her team are hopeful about their ability to adapt. “It’s been different, but it’s been exciting at the same time because it forces you to think outside the box,” she says.
Partnership for the Future was founded 26 years ago with the primary purpose of helping students from low-income families get into college through the use of various resources and programs, including internships and college-prep classes. Since then, according to Richardson, the organization has expanded its mission to include working with students while they’re in college and even after graduation. “Within the last year or two, we’ve moved towards helping our alums eventually adapt into being full adults and successful leaders in the community,” Richardson says. “It’s a very long term commitment of working with our students and really getting them to where they need to be.”
Richardson, a corporate accountant by trade, first found her way to Partnership for the Future after a mentor recommended her for a job with the organization. “I kind of had this life-changing epiphany that I love working with numbers, but my passion and my heart was really working with young people,” she says.
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