American Student Assistance Announces New Partners for EvolveMe, a Free Digital Platform That Helps Teens Learn About Careers Beyond the Classroom

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Oct 10, 2023, 09:00 ET

With more than 600,000 users, EvolveMe engages youth with their future planning through access to career readiness and skill-building opportunities and resources needed for post-high school success

BOSTON, Oct. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Research shows that 87% of learners are interested in ways to match specific skills and interests with potential careers, and 85% would like to learn about the requirements for the careers they are interested in. To keep young people engaged with their future planning, American Student Assistance® (ASA), a national nonprofit changing the way kids learn about careers and navigate a path to postsecondary education and career success, today announced the expansion of its network of partners for its EvolveMe™ digital platform. EvolveMe has engaged more than 600,000 users to date, and the free mobile resource features more than 80 career experimentation and skills-building tasks with a completion rate of over 70 percent.

EvolveMe engages youth with their future planning through access to career readiness and skill-building opportunities and resources needed for post-high school success.

"Career-focused learning in the classroom can be challenging, now more than ever, during this era of pandemic-related learning loss," said Clay Colarusso, CMO and SVP of Digital Strategy at ASA. "At ASA, we believe that student-led, digital experiences beyond the classroom are the best way to scale equitable access and give millions of kids agency in the decisions that will ultimately impact their futures."

ASA partners with more than 30 innovative organizations, including some with AI-driven technologies that share its goal of helping prepare middle and high school students for postsecondary education and career readiness. Since the launch of EvolveMe earlier this year, teens have engaged with skill-building tasks and activities, including: Skillsline platform for teaching durable and human skills; Tyto/Immersed Games platform; Talk Hiring AI-powered automated mock job interviews; DeBruce Foundation's Agile Work Profiler; Aha Media virtual internships for geographically underserved communities in the Midwest; Create & Learn Scratch and Python online coding courses; Career Village career information platform with AI-powered career coaching; and FitMoney financial literacy module.

New partnerships have been formed with innovators, such as:

Filament Games, a custom-built game experience for ASA on the Roblox platform that builds skills in engineering and problem solving,

Atlas Primer, which has a personalized AI-powered tutoring solution and lessons that support neurodivergent learners,

Audo, an AI-powered career development platform, that aligns adaptive learning with the experiential reality of working, seamlessly integrating the application of acquired skills into career opportunities,

Growth Hack Your Career, which provides video content that helps teens prepare for getting a job,

Youth Service America, which provides video content to help teens make their community greener, safer, and stronger through meaningful service-learning projects,

Code.org, which provides video content that helps teens better understand emerging technologies like Blockchain and AI,

Big Ear Games, which enables teens to build popular songs in puzzles and learn how music works,

Athlete Tech Group, which provides a mobile app training ground that offers personalized microlearning modules for student athletes, equipping them with the personal, social, and career skills they need for the future of work, whether in sports or beyond,

Gritly, which has constructed micro lessons to help kids develop skills such as grit & empathy,

PopUp School, which provides a quiz that helps kids understand their dominant learning styles and issues certificates upon completion of the quiz, as well as gives access to curriculum lessons tailored to their dominant learning styles and strategies for success in school,

Make Music Count, which allows students to solve math equations where the answers are piano notes to immediately play popular songs on the piano,

uConnect, provider of curated digital career resources and content, designed to engage students in career exploration, earlier in their journey, with the goal of informing and inspiring more meaningful career pathways and outcomes for all students,

WorkTour, where real companies are transformed into 360 virtual workplace experiences that provide interactive games and tools to help kids learn career vocabulary and critical concepts,

Stemuli, which matches kids to their dream careers through an AI-powered chat experience,

Give Us The Floor, which provides a peer led supportive chat community for LGBTQ youth, including videos on finding identity and facing your fears, made by youth in the community,

STEAM the Streets, which demystifies STEAM career paths for students and inspires a new and diverse workforce utilizing storytelling and culturally relevant media,

Edily, which brings videos to kids with an algorithm that emphasizes learning over addiction, helping students discover relevant and engaging learning content around entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and more,

Fearless, which empowers today's learners on their path towards tomorrow's success with courses on personal branding and finance,

Tilt Studio, provider of Bad News: The Game, which helps teens build resilience against online manipulation.

"RoboCo Sports League is infused with the spirit of experimentation and discovery, which is why American Student Assistance and the EvolveMe platform are such a perfect fit for this experience and the Roblox platform at large. We can't wait to meet our players at the top of Mount Delta!" said Dan White, CEO of Filament Games.

"Our partnership with ASA's EvolveMe platform is crucial in providing the next generation of learners with the tools they need to navigate their future careers," said Ahmad Elzahdan, CEO of Audo. "By combining Audo's AI-powered career navigation platform with ASA's expansive network of youth-focused resources, we are empowering young people to take control of their futures and become resilient in the face of uncertainty. This partnership is a testament to our shared vision for a world where everyone has access to the information and support they need to thrive in the modern workplace."

"Athletes have some of the briefest, yet most demanding careers, often sidelining traditional development paths. With Athlete Tech Group's partnership with ASA's EvolveMe platform, we're introducing a new paradigm," said Randy Osei, Founder of Athlete Tech Group, CEO of Training Ground. "By emphasizing personalized microlearning, we aim to efficiently harness athletes' identities and digital skills to empower them for the future of work. This synergy ensures athletes can thrive in and out of their sporting realm."

"Making a difference in Gen Z's future starts with meeting them where they are. Gen Z students are resourceful, mobile, and have incredible potential to make a difference in the world, but most programs aren't communicating with them effectively. Growth Hack Your Career is very excited to partner with ASA and create programs that will truly connect with this next generation," said Bogdan Zlatkov, Founder and Lead Instructor, Growth Hack Your Career.

More about EvolveMe
The EvolveMe platform enables teens to discover high-quality, credible career experimentation activities including virtual work-based learning opportunities, mock job interviews, and mentorships; complete tasks; and develop transferable skills they can apply to any job. Then, they can earn, collect, and redeem points for rewards. Teens are rewarded for completing tasks under the categories of Life Skills, Experimenting with Jobs, Building Your Network, and Career Quizzes. These tasks involve activities, such as watching videos and taking quizzes, playing games, and completing mini-lessons or quests. For tasks completed, teens earn points which they can redeem for entries to the Weekly Drawing or for gift cards to their favorite retail, restaurant, and entertainment brands. They can also track their progress and accomplishments through fun and dynamic visuals with the platform. For instance, they can see their personal tree grow as it sprouts unique flowers and creatures each time they complete an activity.

ASA's free suite of digital experiences, which have engaged and impacted more than 12 million teens, also includes Future Network™, a series of original videos that spans five categories and follows Gen Z as they explore and learn about different careers from industry professionals; Futurescape®, a mobile-first experience that enables career exploration aligned with teens' interests; and Next Voice™, a digital youth advocacy platform that empowers kids with the durable skills they need to effectively make change for the issues and causes that impact their futures.

About American Student Assistance® (ASA)

American Student Assistance® (ASA) is a national nonprofit committed to helping students know themselves, know their options, and make informed decisions to achieve their education and career goals. ASA believes all students should have equitable access to career readiness learning, starting in middle school, so they can develop a plan for their future. ASA fulfills its mission by providing digital-first programming, resources, and experiences, including Futurescape® and Next Voice™, and EvolveMe™ directly to millions of students, in addition to support for educators and intermediaries. To learn more about ASA, visit www.asa.org/about-asa.

SOURCE American Student Assistance (ASA)