On a Saturday morning in Southwest Houston, I had the privilege of joining 30 high school and college students at the Jim & JoAnn Fonteno Senior Education Center on Bissonnet Street for the National Forum for Black Public Administrators (NFBPA) Houston Chapter’s Public Administration Day. The energy in the room was refreshing. Young people showed up ready to learn, ready to ask questions, and ready to imagine themselves in careers they may have never considered before.
The full-day program included panel discussions, speed information sessions, and a college fair, all designed to open doors that many students didn’t even know existed.
Four Panels, Four Pathways
The program centered on four career track panels, each featuring professionals who have built meaningful careers in their respective fields.
The Academic Careers panel brought together professionals from Southern University A&M College, Texas Southern University, and San Jacinto College to shed light on how higher education institutions function as employers, researchers, and community anchors, not just as places where students go, but places where professionals build careers.
The Local & State Government panel offered perhaps the most direct window into civic power. Judge Takasha Francis of the 152nd Civil District Court shared her path to the bench, while a political consultant and the chief of staff for a Texas State Senator gave students an inside look at how policy gets made and who gets to shape it.
For students with eyes on the national stage, the Federal Careers panel was a standout. Panelists included a United States Army veteran, a former presidential appointee from the Office of Government Contracting and Business Development, a former NASA executive, and a presidential appointee commissioner from the U.S. AbilityOne Commission. The message was clear: federal careers span every industry and discipline imaginable, and they are accessible.
The Nonprofit Careers panel rounded out the day with voices from organizations including Houston Justice, Birthday Bash Box, which supports children’s literacy, and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, represented by its regional director. Together, they painted a picture of a sector that is urgent, diverse, and deeply tied to the communities it serves.
A Message Worth Carrying Forward
I had the honor of joining the nonprofit panel as a panelist, and I came with a message I hope students carried home with them. Passion alone is not enough to build a sustainable nonprofit. Before launching an organization, I urged students to first immerse themselves in the problem. Volunteer. Work inside an existing organization. Understand what is already being done and where the real gaps are. Then, and only then, investigate whether sustainable funding exists to address the need. It is a framework that treats nonprofit work not as a calling card, but as a discipline.
My fellow panelists also wanted to broaden the students’ understanding of where nonprofit careers actually live. Beyond the grassroots organizations most people picture, the nonprofit sector includes national associations, chambers of commerce, trade organizations, and advocacy groups, a vast ecosystem of mission-driven employers that rarely gets discussed in school career counseling.
The thread connecting all of it is a genuine drive to solve problems and close gaps in systems that have been leaving people behind.
Building the Pipeline Through Project Nxt
For Feed the Soul Foundation, moments like these are important. Our Project Nxt program is built specifically around connecting the next generation of talent to scholarships and experiential learning opportunities, exactly the kind of direct professional access that Public Administration Day provides.
We are currently developing the Project Nxt Culinary Career Pathway Program, a structured initiative designed to give high school culinary arts students exposure to career pathways in the hospitality industry. The program will connect students to classroom support, university campus experiences, and direct access to working entrepreneurs and industry professionals. For many of these students, it will be their first time on a four-year university campus and their first real conversation with someone building a career in the industry they are training for.
When young people sit in the same room as a federal appointee, a sitting judge, or a culinary business owner, something shifts. Careers that seemed abstract become concrete. Pathways that seemed closed become visible. That is the work Project Nxt is designed to do, not just in Houston, but across the communities where Feed the Soul Foundation operates.
A Well-Deserved Congratulations
I want to close with a personal note of congratulations to Cherrelle J. Duncan, President of the NFBPA Greater Houston Chapter, and her entire team. What they built last Saturday was not just an event. It was an intentional, purposeful space designed to give young people direct access to the professionals and information they need to see their futures clearly. That kind of work requires vision, coordination, and a deep commitment to the communities you serve. Cherrelle and the NFBPA Greater Houston Chapter demonstrated all of that and more. I was honored to be a part of it.
The Bigger Picture
The goal of days like this is simple: make sure the next generation knows the table exists, and that there is a seat with their name on it. I left the Fonteno Senior Education Center, reminded of why this work matters and energized to keep doing it.
If you are interested in learning more about the Project Nxt Culinary Career Pathway Program, we would love to connect. Reach out to us at info@feedthesoulfou.org or visit feedthesoulfou.org to learn more.
