OPENING RECEPTION WITH BRITEBOUND AND ASU+GSV
Sunday, April 12 | 5:00 - 7:00 PM | Manchester Grand Hyatt
Kick off the summit with new connections and infectious excitement on the 4th floor pool deck of the Manchester Grand Hyatt. As you mingle with fellow attendees and take in the stunning view of San Diego’s coastline, enjoy delicious food and drinks. Don’t miss out on the chance to network with colleagues and peers before launching into jam-packed days of discussion and learning at this opening night event.
WELCOME TO THE BRITEBOUND EXPERIENCE: ALLOW US TO (RE)INTRODUCE OURSELVES
Monday, April 13 - Wednesday, April 15 | 10:00 - 4:00 PM | Town Square
Visit our immersive booth to experience how Britebound is lighting the way to career-readiness learning and real-world opportunity. Discover the rebrand, explore our work, and pick up a free pair of shades to celebrate the “brite” futures our young people are bound to experience. Trust us, you’ll need them. 😎
CAREER-CONNECTED LEARNING & PATHWAYS SESSIONS
Britebound and ASU+GSV will present joint sessions featuring experts from across education and career readiness. Insightful panel discussions and interactive workshops will focus on how we can support and inspire young people on their path to a bright future. We’ve organized our 10 sessions across three key themes:
- Career Exploration: We dive into how educators and families can connect learners' passions to real-world careers as early as middle school, setting them up to pursue every opportunity that follows with intention and purpose.
- Career Experimentation: We share how we and other like-minded organizations are creating opportunities for experiential learning that builds workplace-ready skills, driving confident decisions after graduation.
- Career Navigation: We shine a spotlight on initiatives helping students understand post-high school pathways and gain the skills, education, and credentials to navigate their futures with preparedness and confidence.
DAY ONE: MONDAY, APRIL 13
Turning Goals Into Scalable Systems: Statewide Career Navigation in Action
Career Navigation | Panel
As states advance policies to strengthen career navigation and workforce development, many are grappling with how to translate those goals into coherent, student-facing systems. This panel features state leaders and system partners sharing how they are putting policy into practice through aligned data strategies, open career navigation platforms, and cross-sector coordination across K–12, postsecondary, and workforce systems.
Drawing on examples such as Advance Vermont, Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education, and the Nebraska Department of Education, panelists will highlight effective approaches to building and sustaining statewide career navigation tools while also surfacing persistent pain points.
Panelists will share what remains difficult, particularly at the K–12 level, where gaps in access continue to limit the ability to identify meaningful post-high school pathways. Participants will leave with concrete examples, lessons learned, and open questions states are still working to solve as they build career navigation systems that truly work for young learners.
Beyond the Novelty: Evaluating AI-Powered Career Navigation Tool
Impact Investing | Panel
Novel AI-powered career navigation solutions are emerging rapidly – investors hear pitches daily, educators evaluate new tools constantly, and young people navigate an expanding set of options. Amid this innovation explosion, how do we evaluate what’s actually helping young people feel prepared for their future?
This session, led by Britebound's Head of Impact Investing, Rilwan Meeran, brings together impact investors and entrepreneurs building these innovative career navigation tools for a candid conversation about sifting through the many creative ideas to find solutions that genuinely serve students.
Panelists will discuss the realities of how these AI-powered tools are both adding value and exposing weaknesses in youth career navigation. The conversation will also address the ongoing inequities that emerging technologies pose – such as disparities in reliable internet access and continued biases – and how to measure whether these tools are truly improving student outcomes.
Attendees will gain practical frameworks for evaluating which innovations are worth investing in, implementing, or recommending to young people navigating the rapidly evolving future of work.
Non-Degree Paths: Hype or Hope?
Career Navigation | Panel
As education and career decisions become more complex and costly, many young people are questioning whether a traditional degree is the right path. Yet, many lack the information and confidence to choose another way. Nearly half of young adults do not pursue a four-year degree, and many who do enroll never complete, often resulting in debt and missed opportunity.
This panel highlights real-world proof points that short-term credentials (STCs) and nondegree pathways (NDPs) lead to meaningful, well-paying careers. Panelists will represent the perspectives of young people who pursued these paths, career navigators coaching young people, and employers who have hired from nondegree pathways.
The conversation will showcase how these pathways expand opportunity, reduce risk, and help young people navigate “what’s next” with confidence.
DAY TWO: TUESDAY, APRIL 14
Tech Tools Cutting Through Career Readiness Complexity
Career Experimentation | Workshop
In an increasingly complex landscape of career pathways, work-based learning (WBL), and policy shifts, it can be difficult to navigate the ecosystem of providers, stay current on nationwide policies, and identify high-quality resources to prepare young people for life after high school.
This workshop will introduce three cutting-edge tools to simplify this process – all on one platform: CareerReadyHQ. This new platform from Britebound (formerly ASA) and partners features a searchable repository of high-quality career readiness resources, a national database of work-based learning providers, and an interactive state-level heat map featuring career readiness policy momentum and gaps.
Participants will have the unique opportunity to explore these tools, learn from partners on the platform, and provide input on how we can make CareerReadyHQ work for you.
Bring Me All of Your Dreams: Activating Youth Potential Through 'Dreamscaping'
Career Exploration | Workshop
Too often, young people impacted by incarceration, foster care, immigration challenges, and other systemic barriers are underestimated and unseen for their potential. Many grow up believing they don’t have permission to dream.
FREE TO DREAM, founded by award-winning artist and activist Common in partnership with Britebound, challenges that belief, affirming every young person’s right to imagine something more. In this interactive workshop, participants will engage with Dreamscaping™, a core practice from FREE TO DREAM’s Dreamkeeper™ Resource Kit, a free digital resource for trusted adults (aka “Dreamkeepers”) to guide young people to explore their dreams as vehicles for personal and collective transformation.
This session offers a deeper, hands-on exploration of Dreamscaping, equipping educators, mentors, and youth-serving practitioners with a practical approach they can immediately apply in their work.
Skills, Degrees, or Both? Making Sense of the Signals we Send Young People
Career Navigation | Workshop + Panel
Young people are navigating mixed and often conflicting messages about whether skills, credentials, or degrees matter most. Britebound's recent research captures this tension: parents' college pathway preference dropped from 74% to 58% since 2019, yet they're less supportive of nondegree credentials than no formal education at all. Young people, who cite parents as their biggest influencer, are caught in the middle.
This session creates space for an honest, values-driven conversation about why leaders across education, workforce, and employers view these pathways differently and what those perspectives mean for learners and families. We will explore tensions, tradeoffs, and open questions about this topic – without advocating for a single best choice or pathway.
After panelists share what has shaped their perspectives and where they feel conflicted, facilitated roundtable discussions will surface the challenges others face in their own work. This conversation will allow participants and panelists alike to identify where more data, better tools, and clearer guidance are needed to effectively support young people making real decisions about their futures – leaving with tangible ideas to implement.
The Student as Builder: Learning, Working, and Creating at the Same Time
Career Experimentation | Panel
Against a backdrop of rising college costs and increasingly blurred lines between learning and work, today’s students are navigating education in fundamentally different ways. And they’re not just students. They are creators, entrepreneurs, and opportunity-seekers—weaving together coursework, jobs, internships and side hustles as they support themselves and build momentum toward their futures.
Yet higher education and the labor market have been slower to adapt. Too often, work and learning are treated as separate tracks rather than interconnected parts of a single journey. What does it mean to integrate work into learning in ways that are not only accessible, but high-quality and truly complementary to students’ education?
This session explores how learning and work intersect from the perspectives of students, education leaders, and workforce practitioners. Drawing on the lived experience of a working student alongside insights from leaders shaping education-to-career pathways, the conversation will examine how learners balance competing demands, what distinguishes meaningful, high-quality work experiences from transactional ones, and where existing models fall short—especially as AI and technological change reshape skills, careers, and pathways. This conversation will explore how institutions and employers can design experiences that recognize students not just as learners, but as active builders of skills, networks, and opportunity—while they are still in school.
The Critical Middle: Scaling Project-Based Career Learning
Career Exploration | Panel
Middle school is often overlooked as a critical developmental stage. Students are forming identities and interests, yet too often disengage academically just when curiosity should be taking flight.
Britebound’s research showcases this disconnect: 87% of middle schoolers say they want to connect their interests to potential careers and 70% of young people express that they would have been more engaged in school if learning had been connected to career interests.
This session will discuss new initiatives aiming to spark career learning among middle schoolers across the country through scalable and accessible project-based learning. Panelists will discuss what it takes to activate durable skills, design thinking, and authentic community connections during these pivotal years – transforming middle school from the forgotten years to a launchpad for curiosity and career exploration.
DAY THREE: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15
Becoming is a Journey: Young Adults Charting Their Paths and Lighting the Way for Middle Schoolers
Career Exploration | Panel
Middle schoolers are just beginning to imagine who they might become – and relatable role models offer a powerful avenue to spark curiosity and help youth envision possibilities they may never have considered. Three inspiring young adults who traveled across the country to meet people with unique, meaningful careers will share more about their exploratory journeys.
Through their candid stories of uncertainty and personal discovery, these roadtrippers offer middle school students something they don’t often see: young adults who are still actively learning about their identities and how to chart their own futures. This conversation will highlight how authentic, unscripted journeys can inspire confidence and open up new possibilities for early career exploration – and how you can bring these compelling narratives into your classroom.
Durable Skills + AI Fluency: Preparing Youth for the Future of Work
Career Experimentation | Panel
As artificial intelligence transforms the world of work, young people face an unprecedented challenge — and opportunity. The rise of automation and AI has made durable skills — like communication, creativity, problem-solving, adaptability, and ethical reasoning — even more essential. In fact, durable skills account for 70% of the most requested skills among employers. Technology will never replace human strengths, making it our responsibility to prepare young people to apply a human-centered approach to working with emerging technology.
This panel discussion explores how in- and out-of-school time educators and youth-serving organizations can help young people build these timeless capabilities alongside digital and AI literacy. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies for integrating human-centered skill building into programming that positions youth for long-term success.
CLOSING CELEBRATION: HONORING FORMER CEO JEAN EDDY
Wednesday, April 15 | 5:00 - 9:00 PM | The Rady Shell
ASU+GSV will host a lively closing event at The Rady Shell with dinner, a surprise performance, StageX keynotes, a live band, and presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Awards. This year, we are proud to announce that our longtime President & CEO of Britebound and current Executive Chair & Advisor to the Board of Directors, Jean Eddy, will receive this award. Arrange your travel to attend this exciting evening and celebrate Jean’s amazing career and continued contribution to education and youth career readiness.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Explore GoZig: Our Newest Career Readiness App
Monday, April 13 - Wednesday, April 15 | 10AM-4PM | Town Square
Career readiness journeys are never straight. With the knowledge that they are a winding path full of zigs and zags, our newest app, GoZig, turns career curiosity into confident next steps. As youth explore this free, mobile-first platform, they connect personality, exploration, hands-on experiences, programs, funding, and job opportunities into one seamless journey.
Join our product team at the Britebound booth for a short walk-in demo running hourly from 10AM - 4PM. Spots are limited so try to grab a seat a few minutes before the hour.
Alternatively, pre-register for a longer, personalized 30-minute demo at our booth to:
- Dive deeper into the product
- Discuss partnership opportunities
- Explore pilots and integrations
Impact Investing Office Hours
Monday, April 13 | 1:00 - 2:15 PM | Seaport Tower, Gaslamp C
Since launching its investment strategy in April of 2022, Britebound has invested over $100 million dollars in key sectors and has impacted millions of learners. We aim for optimized investment returns and measurable impact, diversified by theme, geographic focus, management strategy, and investment stage including third-party impact funds (investments that realize market rate returns while advancing Britebound’s mission), Seed or Series A/B direct investment (growth stage investing in private companies) as well as companies with underserved founders or early-stage firms. Our investment focus is across three main verticals: career focused education, intentional postsecondary pathways, and workforce development. Join our office hours to discuss how you can leverage our capital to drive innovation.
Pre-registration is strongly encouraged. If time allows, walk-ins will be met on a first come first serve basis.
EdTech Meets DisabilityTech at the ASU+GSV Summit
Monday, April 13 | 5:00 - 6:00 PM | Roy’s Restaurant, San Diego, CA
Are you a technology builder, funder, or explorer passionate about making education accessible to all learners? Join us for happy hour during the ASU+GSV Summit. Hosted by the Perkins School for the Blind in collaboration with Britebound, this gathering brings together leaders and innovators from the EdTech and DisabilityTech communities. It’s an opportunity to connect, share ideas, and explore how technology can expand access and opportunity for every learner.
Grantmaking Information Session
Tuesday, April 14 | 1:00 - 2:00 PM | Seaport Tower, Gaslamp C
Our grantmaking supports nonprofits focused on career-connected learning for middle and high school students. We strive to support programs that spark innovation, create opportunities, and help shape policies that support young people's career navigation journeys. Join us for a live briefing of our 2026 grantmaking priorities followed by Q+A with our grantmaking team.
Registration required.
Book Signing and Meet & Greet with the Authors of Make School Work™
Wednesday, April 15 | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Seaport Tower, Gaslamp C
Join Britebound and GPS Education Partners for a special book signing and meet & greet featuring Make School Work, with a foreword by Jean Eddy, Britebound's Executive Chair & Advisor to the Board of Directors, Former President & CEO. As we navigate a time of extraordinary transition, new approaches are needed to connect education with the workforce. This book presents a practical, six-part framework for designing and sustaining high-quality work-based learning programs that prepare students for real-world success. Written for educators, employers, and community leaders, Make School Work offers a proven roadmap to expanding opportunity and strengthening career pathways for every learner. Meet the authors, Stephanie Reisner, President and CEO of GPS Education Partners, and Stephanie Loeck, VP of Strategic Development, and explore how we can better align education with the future of work.