Reentry to Career Mobility. Supports individuals transitioning from incarceration in rebuilding professional identity and accessing sustainable career opportunities.
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Stability to Direction. Provides structure, mentorship, and guidance to help young adults move from instability into clear career pathways.
Education to Career Pathways. Supports adult learners in completing their education and connecting it directly to long term career opportunities.
While each ASCEND program serves a different population, all are powered by the same underlying system. Participants are connected to mentorship, career navigation, and professional networks through BDN’s national community of scholars and professionals. This shared infrastructure ensures that regardless of where someone enters, they gain access to the relationships and guidance that drive long term career mobility. ASCEND is not a collection of separate programs. It is a unified system applied to different moments in the journey toward opportunity.
Participants build mentorship relationships that encourage persistence and growth.
Participants receive guidance navigating educational systems, career decisions, and professional pathways.
Participants strengthen leadership skills, communication abilities, and workplace readiness.
Participants gain exposure to employers, industries, and professional networks.
Participants move toward stable career pathways and long-term economic opportunity.
ASCEND programs can be deployed across a wide range of environments, including:
Each program integrates into existing systems while strengthening outcomes through mentorship, career navigation, and professional exposure.
ASCEND is a national initiative of BDN, operating in partnership with colleges, universities, and regional systems.
