KANSAS CITY, MO — Each and every high school and college graduate in the Class of 2023 has a free graduation gift available to them from a national nonprofit foundation–The DeBruce Foundation.

This gift, the Graduation Toolkit, is a collection of online career tools to help graduates identify their top work skills, explore in-demand job opportunities, and make a solid plan for their future–and it’s available completely for free. 

“At The DeBruce Foundation, we care about helping people thrive in the workforce. Graduates have completed a major milestone in their career journey, and they deserve to be celebrated and supported,” said Dr. Leigh Anne Taylor Knight, Executive Director and COO of The DeBruce Foundation. “We’re sharing our career literacy resources to help equip young people to build successful careers and bright futures.” 

The Class of 2023 has completed much of their degree while navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. Time and time again, students have displayed their resilience amidst remote learning, canceled opportunities, and now entering a workforce recently marked by layoffs. The Graduation Toolkit has helped students throughout these past years and aims to reach more grads this year than ever before. 

Aubrey Hacke was a 2021 Health Science graduate of St. Louis University, and then her plans were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. She used the Graduation Toolkit to realize her strengths and transferable skills: “The Agilities resources in the Graduation Toolkit helped me determine my path to becoming a teacher during a time when I didn’t know what my next move would be,” said Hacke. Now a High School Science Teacher at GEO Next Generation High School, she said, “Now, I use these resources in my own classroom. It’s so rewarding to see students discover more about themselves and help them plan for future successful careers.”

The Graduation Toolkit features online career literacy resources developed by The DeBruce Foundation’s team of researchers, educators, entrepreneurs, and business leaders, and are based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Agile Work Profiler, an assessment in the Toolkit, has already been used more than 110,000 times. 

“As I’m looking to my next steps after graduation, these career resources have helped me identify my strengths and find avenues to follow my passions in ways I didn’t know I could in the workforce,” said Isiah Humes, Georgia State University Class of 2023. “Having this guidance inspires me even more to strive for my goals in the marketing industry.” 

To deliver this gift to high school and college graduates across the nation, The DeBruce Foundation is partnering with educational institutions and launching a public awareness campaign. They encourage nonprofit organizations, schools, parents, counselors, and YOU to share this resource to help the Class of 2023 achieve their goals. 

Send the Graduation Toolkit to a 2023 Grad

Get the Graduation Toolkit

About The DeBruce Foundation

The DeBruce Foundation is a national foundation whose mission is to expand pathways to economic growth and opportunity. The Foundation is committed to helping individuals unlock their potential and find career pathways. By developing solutions such as the Agile Work Profiler, we change how people pursue careers. By partnering strategically, we increase experiences and exposure to widen career opportunities, starting with youth and working across the lifespan. Learn more at www.DeBruce.org.