About YPE
The Founding of YPE
Young People Empowered was founded by three passionate and motivated thought-leaders—Marlaina Spivey, Kate Forman, and Marchesa Schroeder. Driven by their shared desire to create a solution for the glaring gaps that left young people unprepared and ill-equipped for their futures, Spivey, Forman, and Schroeder began exploring ways to use alternative methods and powerful coaching concepts to help young people build the skills necessary to achieve success.
A Mission to Transform Education
As high school teachers, with a combined 25+ years of experience in education, Spivey and Forman identified dramatic gaps within the western education system that left students in what YPE defines as a “gray area.” This area isn’t under the jurisdiction of schools to address nor is it within the wheelhouse of most parents. As such, Spivey and Forman recognized this as a sizable problem that resulted in the younger generations not receiving the tools necessary to thrive later in life.
After years of creating curriculum that had been touted, supported, and implemented by numerous faculties, including the California State Board of Education, Spivey and Forman decided to take matters further into their own hands by teaming up with certified Life Coach and entrepreneur, Schroeder. Together, they created an institution that transformed education, stimulated community, and built emotional intelligence, drive, and confidence within the younger generations.
Empowering Individuals: The YPE Approach to Success
One of the anchoring concepts of the YPE approach to success is comprehensivity. In other words, viewing each student as the unique and complex human they are in totality. Not by what type of student they are. Not by what type of athlete they are. Not by their skill level in one hyperspecific arena. But by putting it all together and taking an assessment of the whole student.
Early on in their respective journies, Spivey, Forman, and Schroeder realized that by seeking to understand an individual’s behaviors, rituals, goals, and areas of strength and weakness, they could create a space for long-term, positive growth. Through programs that help individuals build the tools they need for success (whether that be to craft a 4-year high school plan, prep for college, explore internships, or simply build a strong network of relationships and life-enhancing experiences), YPE prides itself on providing resources, experiences, relationships, and opportunities that students can’t access elsewhere.
“When we take the time and energy to see students, to really see them from all angles, that allows us the ability to understand them. And when we understand them? Well, that’s when we get to do what we love: help them develop a path towards what they regard as success. Each student has their own fears and pressures that we can use to help understand their unique blueprint to create a path forward. Each student also has their own natural abilities, strengths, and proclivities. And when we tap into these, we tap into the greatness that leads to their success.”
— Kate Forman, YPE Co-Founder
YPE Programs: Unique Seminars, Workshops, and Individual Coaching
YPE pairs science-backed and curriculum-based programs with highly skilled and experienced educators, mentors, and coaches in order to offer young people the best resources and opportunities for success. Through each of their programs, YPE focuses on the strength of the relationships and experiences:
The relationship to (and experience with) self
The relationships and experiences with peers, coaches, family, and educators
The relationship to (and experience with) the world
The relationships to (and experiences with) work, tasks, and personal growth
“At the end of the day, all we have in life are a series of relationships and experiences. And if we are fortunate enough, lucky enough, then we are born into a network of meaningful relationships. But if we aren’t, then we are also fortunate enough to have the ability to seek out and create those networks of meaningful relationships.
Before founding YPE, Marlaina, Kate, and I saw this unrecognized opportunity to link people together not only with each other—creating a symbiotic relationship—but also, with the tools and resources they wanted and, in many cases, needed. Most of the time, even now, the parents and students don’t know what they need. They simply see a lacking, a perceived weakness, or have feelings of uncertainty or confusion about the path forward. This is where we step in. This is our area of expertise. We work with both students and parents to ameliorate concerns, craft strategies, build confidence, and empower them with all of the resources and knowledge that’s within our network to give them the best opportunity to create what they deem to be a successful life.”
— Marchesa Schroeder, YPE Co-Founder
