As leaders throughout the Charlotte region, our members realize that building communities goes beyond the physical built environment, including enabling community members to grow and thrive by building community leadership.  We are committed to developing a program, targeted at secondary school students, to:

• Enlighten youth to career path opportunities providing information, support and mentorship to assist them in choosing and reaching their chosen career path;
• Engage youth to help them understand their larger community and the built environment throughout the Charlotte region;
• Learn from the youth and residents about the community’s needs to help build a more cohesive community.

By creating pathways to a healthy and more connected community, youth are enabled to grow and prosper.  The Pathways Program has been created to help our next generation explore a healthy and more connected community.

A special thank you to Mr. Elijah Watson’s 7^th grade class at Ranson Middle School in the Spring of 2018. During the time in the classroom, the students learned the concepts of trade-offs, risk, public good, supply and demand, and opportunity costs that impact their lives daily.  Students get a gut level understanding of how these forces influence the decisions developers make in their proposals for design, market demand, city revenues, and investor returns.  During our time in the classroom, we engage with the students to open their minds to future career opportunities in real estate development, planning, design, engineering, finance, trades, and more.

ULI Charlotte will expanding this program into other classrooms and schools throughout the region.