Scholar Career Coaching is a South Florida nonprofit that expands access to mentoring, college and career readiness, scholarships, and opportunities that help students prepare for life beyond high school.
Since 2012, we have partnered with Title I high schools in Palm Beach County and expanded our reach to Broward County, connecting students with the guidance, resources, experiences, and relationships that help shape their next steps.
Scholar Career Coaching’s mission is to support and empower students from high school to college and from college to career by expanding access to mentoring, college readiness, career readiness, scholarships, and workforce development opportunities.
We envision a future where all students have access to the guidance, resources, and opportunities they need to achieve their educational and career goals.
Scholar Career Coaching works with high school juniors and seniors attending partner Title I schools in Palm Beach and Broward Counties.
Our scholars are motivated young people preparing for what comes next who can benefit from additional guidance, resources, exposure, and access to opportunity.
By focusing on this important transition from high school, we help students make informed decisions, build confidence, and prepare for college, career pathways, and life beyond graduation.
Workforce Development: Beyond the Cap
Our support continues beyond high school through Beyond the Cap, Scholar CC’s workforce development initiative. Students gain career coaching, professional development, networking, and paid work-based experiences that help them build professional skills and prepare for the transition from college to career.
1. Mentoring
Students connect with caring adults and professionals who provide guidance, encouragement, goal setting, and support as they navigate important academic and life decisions.
2. College Readiness
We help students navigate college planning, applications, financial aid, scholarships, and the transition to postsecondary education.
3. Career Readiness
Students explore career pathways, connect with professionals, develop workplace skills, and gain exposure to career opportunities with support from their Career Success Mentors and the Scholar CC Success Team.
4. Scholarships
We provide scholarships and college-related support, as funding allows, to help students continue their education and take their next steps after high school.
Beyond the Cap: Workforce Development
Our support continues beyond high school through Beyond the Cap, Scholar CC’s workforce development initiative. Students gain career coaching, professional development, networking, and paid work-based experiences that help them build professional skills and prepare for the transition from college to career.
Before Scholar Career Coaching was an organization, it was a lived experience.
At 14 years old, Lynne W. Gassant immigrated to the United States from Haiti with her family and settled in Delray Beach, Florida. She entered Palm Beach County schools learning English while also learning how to navigate a new country, a new culture, and an unfamiliar education system.
As an English Language Learner and future first-generation college student, there was no roadmap for what came next.
How do I prepare for college? What opportunities are available to me? How will I pay for it? Who can help me figure all of this out?
Then, people stepped in.
Teachers, mentors, and professionals offered guidance, encouragement, and exposure to opportunities Lynne did not always know existed. They answered questions. They opened doors. Most importantly, they helped her see possibilities for her future that she could not yet see for herself.
Those relationships changed the course of her life.
Years later, they would become the inspiration for Scholar Career Coaching.
Inspired by the African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child,” Lynne founded Scholar Career Coaching in December 2012 at the age of 23 while completing her undergraduate studies.
The idea was simple: students should not have to figure out their futures alone.
What began as a virtual mentoring initiative grew into school based programming and a community of people committed to helping students navigate some of the most important decisions of their young lives.
The final years of high school can come with big questions about college, financial aid, scholarships, careers, and what happens after graduation. For students without access to the right guidance or networks, those decisions can feel even bigger.
Scholar CC was created to help close that gap.
Today, Scholar Career Coaching partners with Title I high schools in Palm Beach County and has expanded its reach to Broward County.
What started with mentoring has grown into a broader model of support that includes college readiness, career readiness, scholarships, and workforce development.
Students gain more than information. They gain people in their corner. They build confidence, explore possibilities, develop skills, and gain access to experiences that can help shape their next steps.
And our commitment does not end at high school graduation. Through Beyond the Cap, Scholar CC’s workforce development initiative, we continue helping young people connect their education to career pathways and meaningful professional experiences.
Since 2012, Scholar CC has served more than 1,000 scholars, awarded more than 80k in scholarships, and brought together hundreds of mentors, volunteers, educators, employers, and community partners.
The village continues to grow.
Lynne W. Gassant is a human resources leader, education advocate, and nonprofit founder with more than a decade of experience advancing opportunities for students and strengthening organizations and communities.
Lynne holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Management from Florida Atlantic University and a Master’s degree in Human Resources Management from Florida International University. Her professional experience spans human resources leadership, nonprofit management, workforce development, education, organizational development, and community engagement.
For Lynne, the work remains personal. The village that once helped a 14 year old girl find her way has grown into a village helping the next generation find theirs.
That is the story of Scholar Career Coaching.