Helping young students find their passion is part of the Lead the Way Learning Academy’s mission.

Jackie Kemp, the founder of the organization, told Mike Kallmeyer that her goal is to help young people prepare for life after high school.

“Part of our program is about developing relationships,” Kemp said.

Not only does her team work with potential employers, they also work with families and hold frequent open houses for parents to learn how they can help support their child. Kemp shared that her background motivated her to start this program.

“I was a year old when my mother died... our grandmother took care of us,” she said. “So there was a lot of poverty. Folks who really didn’t have high hopes for us because of our family’s socioeconomic situation. I joined the military right out of high school and the whole difference was, someone had positive expectations of me."

For Kemp, success is seeing a young person confidently navigate from point A to point B.