Brilliant Pathways was formed in 1991. The Essex, New York based organization helps students across the country and globe prepare for college. Only one person has served as its president: its founder Rick Dalton. He is now planning to step down and hand the reins to a new leader. In a conversation with WAMC North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley, Dalton reflects on how he came to found Brilliant Pathways:
Well, it was a long time ago. It was really almost 40 years ago. And I was working in an admission office, at that point Middlebury College. And prior to that I'd worked at Harvard. And I saw the very wide gap between the haves and have not's. There were kids who had opportunities and they easily went to college and after that they had good jobs. And then there were other students who didn't have those opportunities. And I got involved 40 years ago in a research project with four other admission directors and we surveyed 10% of the colleges and the next year visited high schools across the country and met with students, met with people who helped students. And we wrote a report called Frontiers of Possibility and it outlined what was happening in this country and what we might do about it. And at that point, I decided that I needed to be one of the people making a difference. So I left Middlebury College and started what has become Brilliant Pathways. Brilliant Pathways has been around for now 35 years. We've helped 110,000 young people from 40 different states get or move on to college and 80% of those students have gotten degrees on time. So we've made a huge difference and it's been a great ride.
Well, Rick, when you founded the organization it was called College For Every Student. And based on your explanation that title does seem to really explain the goals of the group. Why did you change the name, or why did the board change the name, to Brilliant Pathways?
Well, actually, at the very beginning we were known as Foundation for Excellent Schools and then we became CFES College for Every Student. But our shift away from CFES is not that we don't believe in college. We believe in it even more today than we did 35 years ago. But there is today such pushback against college and 70% of the students across the country don't believe in the value of college. And that means that 70% of the families in this country are questioning the value of college. And there are all sorts of reasons for that. But the truth is, college today is still the best ticket to opportunity. And college is not just four-year college, it's two-year college. It's certificates and other measures of post-secondary study and we have always been concerned and part of really post-secondary opportunities. And we are an organization that really is about brilliant futures. And to help students get brilliant futures, you need to provide several different things and we've done that. We've provided mentors. We've provided help in developing what we call essential skills. We've provided support in moving down the pathway to, ultimately, college and the workplace. And that hasn't changed, but the pushback against college has really been significant and has become more significant in recent years. So for that reason, we dropped the College for Every Student and call now ourselves Brilliant Pathways.
Well, Rick Dalton, you've mentioned a couple times this pushback against college. Does Brilliant Pathways create any sorts of programs to help the non-college bound students with career training?
Absolutely. You know, the problem with the word 'college' is that people think four year or two year. But really college is any sort of post-secondary training or schooling, and that, of course, includes the trades. So that's very much part of what we have always done.
So what kinds of programs does Brilliant Pathway work with students on?
Well, first of all, we help our students find a mentor. We have found more than 100,000 mentors for our students over the last 35 years. And then we provide exposure. We get students on college campuses. We help them see different post-secondary opportunities and we also introduce students and give them significant exposure to, you know, what are the jobs? What are the opportunities? What's it going to take? And we provide significant exposure to our students in various careers and job opportunities that exist. We give them, again, ongoing exposure to the jobs that are out there and help them understand pathways to those jobs.
Rick Dalton, what do you consider, and what have you seen as, some of the milestones and successes of Brilliant Pathways over the last 35 years?
Wow. I've gotten to know hundreds and hundreds of students and I've seen the life trajectories of those young people change. And I've seen young people who grew up in tenement buildings where they were receiving public assistance become principals today of schools, become wage earners where they have been able to purchase their own house and where they are now mentors for others who are growing up in circumstances that were similar to what they saw many years ago. And I think that's been really the most satisfying part of this work is the life changing that we've seen, the life changes. And we ask our young people not just to sort of get on the path themselves, but to reach out and help others get on the path. So that really has been the most significant reward of this work over 35 years.
Rick, what kind of challenges have you encountered over the past 35 years?
Well, the challenges are many. I mean, certainly colleges are up against it today and they're facing demographic decline. I mean, in the state of New York in the next 15 years there will be a 37% drop in the number of college age students. That's significant for colleges. Certainly, AI is going to present challenges, but also opportunities, and it's going to really provide a facelift for higher education and the workplace. But the flip side of that is that there will be opportunities to learn that come more swiftly and that are more convenient. So that that's the upside. The cost of higher education has been an ongoing challenge. There are opportunities in terms of costs that people don't realize. But cost is an ongoing obstacle for really any young person who's initially thinking about college. And we have to help them understand the calculus of really paying for college. And the opportunities for young people are greater today, I believe, than ever before. But it's not obvious and that's why organizations like ours exist. We help bring young people to those opportunities that can change their lives.
Rick Dalton, the programs at Brilliant Pathways are still expanding. I understand the group just launched a podcast called The Blueprint. What kinds of opportunities do you see for the future of Brilliant Pathways?
Well, we plan to serve another 100,000 students in the next few years and we are about to launch a new initiative called Brilliant Futures. We expect we will work with 25,000 schools across the country and beyond. The need is so great and we have a model that works. We're very agile and adaptive in terms of the services that we provide. We respond to the needs that may exist this year but didn't exist last year. And we are always researching and looking at what today's students need. So we're very excited about the future.
As he steps back from leading Brilliant Pathways, Rick Dalton says he will continue to write for and promote the organization and help with fundraising efforts.
