>> Speaker 1: By 2025, America will face a shortage of over 12 million qualified workers.

But hope lies in an untapped population, the five million young adults across the country who want to improve their circumstances but feel disconnected from meaningful work.

This is a story of three people from underserved communities who set out on a road trip to find new opportunity, and learn that where you come from doesn't have to determine where you end up.

This is Roadtrip Nation.

To be Determined.

>> [MUSIC] >> Yasmine: Chicago, Chicago!

We are right outside Chicago in Indiana.

>> [MUSIC] >> Yasmine: Pretty close.

Columbia, Harvey, Illinois that's where I was born and bred.

Yeah, I've been in New York for a little minute.

But to know that we were on our way to what I call home, it was like, my god, I can't wait.

>> Taiheem: I've never been to Chicago before, so I wanna see what it's like.

I feel like Yasmine is gonna have that same experience that Denise and I had when we were in Times Square.

>> Yasmine: I ain't never been this excited to pass up these highways.

Man, I'm almost home.

>> [MUSIC] >> Yasmine: I'm from a city outside of Chicago called Harvey, Illinois.

It's a lot of crime that goes on.

It's a lot of drug addicts and a lot of drug dealers, and that's the biggest thing that tears this city down.

A lot of people in our city struggle with keeping up with bills.

Right now it looks deserted, but when I was growing up, it never looked like this.

It used to be beautiful.

Things got difficult.

My dad was incarcerated when I was six months, and he was released when I was 18.

Growing up without my dad took a toll on me.

Him not being there was kinda my excuse for certain things happening.

So as I got older, I broke down.

I fell into my community.

I started to get involved in the habits that everybody else had around me because I didn't have a positive outlet.

And then not to mention my mom got behind on bills.

It would definitely take me in a state of depression, and I tried to harm myself a few times.

So now home is falling apart.

My health is falling apart, and to top it all off, I lost my job.

I'm a poor little black girl from a poor black town, with poor access and poor people all around, but not for long.

Because I vowed to be one of the people that grow a wildflower out of a cemented ground.

>> [MUSIC] >> Yasmine: I had to find out an outlet.

Sometimes it's all you need is just the opportunity, somebody to invest in you and say, hey, I see something different in you.

So I went through a program, and they actually paid for me to go to school.

And not only did they pay for me to go full ride, they paid me to be in school.

They looked at me with love and said, okay.

I've been through something, I'm gonna help you get through what you're going through.

It gave me my true outlet to not put my mind on the bad stuff, to not just fall in to the stuff that my community was putting me in, but to put myself to work.

Because working was the only thing that's gonna keep me out of trouble, so I went for it.

Some of these people jobs end at five o'clock, and they don't leave till like eight o'clock cuz they so busy trying to make sure that we okay.

>> [MUSIC] >> Yasmine: This is our final interview, y'all, and we interview all the CEOs of our programs, and this time we get to interview the CEO of Chicago Cook.

>> Denise: These three weeks literally zoomed by, and it's just like whoa, this is the last interview.

>> Yasmine: Just being a product of what she does.

I mean somebody that gave me the opportunity and access.

Like, I know how y'all feel when y'all met the people, you know what I'm saying, the CEO of y'all company.

So it's like, the fact that we are going to my stomping grounds, where I actually I started this entire journey.

It's gonna be a little bit emotional.

>> Taiheem: Yeah, Yasmine just been going on like, listen, this is this, this is that, this is my home, this is my stomping ground- >> Yasmine: Cuz I told him, it's so many negative things said about Chicago.

You've got to come and see something outside of them.

Man, it's the first time I got emotional doing this part.

>> [SOUND] >> Yasmine: This program gave me the opportunity to shine my light and, it gave me the opportunity to invest in myself.

So, as a product of what you are doing, I'm telling you, thank you.

Because it's people like you that make me wanna get filled up and bring somebody else along that didn't know they had this access.

>> Karin Norington-Reaves: Thank you.

>> Yasmine: So, I wanna tell you thank you.

[LAUGH] >> Karin Norington-Reaves: I'm just thrilled for you.

I'm thrilled for you.

>> Yasmine: [LAUGH] Man.

>> Karin Norington-Reaves: I'm thrilled for your life and for the possibilities that exist for you.

You know, I say this all the time.

The need is infinite, but the amount of money that we have, the capacity that we have to serve everybody, is finite.

And my regret is that we can't help more.

>> Yasmine: Amen.

>> Karin Norington-Reaves: Okay, so.

>> Yasmine: So I- >> Karin Norington-Reaves: Now how am I gonna tell my story?

[LAUGH] >> Yasmine: I got you.

I'm gonna kick it to you.

>> Speaker 1: [LAUGH] >> Yasmine: Okay, let's get our stuff together, I got this.

>> Karin Norington-Reaves: All right, all right.

>> Yasmine: All right, so as a product of what you do, I just wanna know, how did this great woman I'm sitting in front of began?

>> Karin Norington-Reaves: Wow.

My parents divorced by the time I was two.

So I was raised by my mom as a single parent.

We moved 19 times by the time I was 18.

>> Yasmine: Wow.

>> Karin Norington-Reaves: And many of those were due to evictions.

And you know, we didn't have anything.

So I started working by the time I was 14, 15 years old.

And I wanted to go to Northwestern, that was the school I wanted to go to cuz that's where the smart kids from my high school had gone.

And I was like, I wanna be just like them.

So mom always told me I could do anything I wanted to do.

She said, you can do anything you want.

I wasn't allowed to say the word can't in my home.

She said, you can do anything you put your mind to, even eat an elephant, as long as you do one bite at a time.

And so I wound up going to Northwestern, my dream school.

>> Yasmine: Wow.

>> Karin Norington-Reaves: And I wound up becoming the second African American student government president there.

And so I graduated from college in 1991.

Well, in 1990, this great new program sprang up for young adults called Teach for America.

And I was selected to go teach in Compton, California, between the years of 1991 and 1993.

So do you know what happened then?

Y'all know anything about your history then?

>> Yasmine: Is that when they had the riot?

>> Karin Norington-Reaves: That it was in the midst of the riots.

We had three drive-by shootings on our campus in the first five weeks of teaching.

>> Yasmine: Wow.

>> Denise: Wow.

>> Karin Norington-Reaves: There were bullet holes in my classroom.

It helped me have a different perspective on what happens in this country when you are poor, when you are African American, when you are Latino.

It was life changing for me.

>> Yasmine: Man.

What's the biggest thing that you learned from being a teacher?

>> Karin Norington-Reaves: Hm.

Wow.

[LAUGH] >> Taiheem: There's so many.

>> Karin Norington-Reaves: Yeah, so many so many lessons, right?

I really learned about potential.

And about how we tamp down the fire within kids if we don't listen and believe and encourage, but I've seen so many kids just discounted.

I had a young man in my class, kind of a daydreamer.

And when I looked at his File.

It was all this negative stuff about him.

Yeah, he was gifted.

He was not engaged.

His potential had not been tapped, right?

And so I gave him extra work and did other things for him.

And he just thrive, he was brilliant.

So we just have to take the time to invest in someone's potential, and give them the tools they need to live up to it.

And when I was teaching, I remember saying to myself that I wanted to change systems, that I wanted to have systemic impact.

And fast forward 20 or some years and here I am leading the nation's largest workforce system, right?

It's crazy like, this was not what I envisioned for myself, but when I our parents for us to have access to it and to get it, right?

look back, every single thing I've done in my life prepared me to do what I do now.

>> Denise: Growing up, you definitely were set on going to Northwestern.

I wanna go to this university because all the smarter kids in my class are going there.

So did you ever for a moment think no, the college route isn't the only route?

>> Karin Norington-Reaves: Yeah, it's the same message that has been drilled in all of us.

The only way forward for us, the only way that we get economic advancement is that we go to school and get an education.

And have a piece of paper that demonstrates our worth in the world.

>> Taiheem: Mm-hm.

>> Karin Norington-Reaves: I understand where that comes from.

The fact that our forebearers were denied access to education, then made it all the more important for our parents for us to to have access to it and to get it, right?

But the reality is that college, law school, all that is not for everybody, and it shouldn't have to be in order for you to be successful.

And in order for you to be able to contribute to society, and in order for society to see you as having value.

But it's also about that employer paying attention to the fact that maybe they don't need somebody with a bachelor's degree to operate this machine.

They need to be willing to teach and train because maybe you were a tinkerer all your life you were, right?

You were putting parts together, but they wouldn't take a chance on you because you didn't have this piece of paper.

>> Taiheem: Yeah.

>> Karin Norington-Reaves: Right, that was there proof positive that you could do anything.

And the reality is the proof is in your ability to build your own computer.

To me, that makes you more valuable because it's showing me that you are independent.

You take initiative, you're creative, you're persistent, despite whatever barriers and challenges there are.

And so from my perspective, that's who employers need to be paying attention to.

But the thing is, we act as though being a skilled trades person means you're an educated, you're not.

You have a unique skill, you have a highly technical skill.

You have a highly specialized education, right?

And so part of our responsibility is to help the employers understand that our communities are filled with untapped potential.

And part of that is, how do you shift your practices so that you give Atahi or a Denise or a Yasmine a chance, right?

>> Denise: Yeah.

>> Karin Norington-Reaves: What do you do to change your practices so that it's not all about some standardized test or an applicant tracking system that is designed to keep you out and not let you in?

What do you do to shift your practices that allow you to see the actual potential and aptitude and capacity that you all represent?

And recognize how that translates into economic growth for your company.

But from my perspective, economic empowerment for you.

>> [MUSIC] >> Yasmine: This is our crib.

>> [MUSIC] >> Yasmine: Man, she is amazing.

Let's start there, this whole trip I've been hearing about people making it sound so selfless.

I've met somebody who made her so selfless to me.

Every single day, you will literally go into work and you're making sure that every day counts for somebody that can do it on it.

It just brought tears to my eyes because I feel so overwhelmed.

So tomorrow is literally our last Stay together.

What is one piece of information that we can use to get to everybody that's willing to listen when we get home after this road trip?

>> Karin Norington-Reaves: So your trip is ending, but your journey isn't over.

>> Yasmine: Exactly.

>> Karin Norington-Reaves: Right?

So you still have so much potential and so many other opportunities that await you.

So the one thing I'm gonna say to you is the same thing my mother said to me all my life.

You can do anything you put your mind to even eat an elephant, as long as you do it one bite at a time.

If you don't remember anything, remember that.

Okay, I don't wanna leave you guys [LAUGH].

>> Yasmine: I met somebody great that actually impacts me with they greatness.

It gave me at me so much [INAUDIBLE].

I wouldn't be sitting in his chair has she not made this program accessible for me.

>> [MUSIC] >> Yasmine: Completing the workforce volume program was such a huge stepping stone for me.

>> Taiheem: I'm like, man, I wanna talk to everybody, I want everybody to know about these workforce development programs.

I want everybody to find their passion.

>> Denise: Before, I was working 80 hours a week trying to make ends meet.

But after completing this program, I feel like I am headed in the right direction and I have so much more potential for what my life can be.

Speaking to all these people makes me think that not everybody has to go down the traditional route.

>> Steve Seon: I was constantly told that college was the route that everyone should take to be successful.

I went there for about a year, did not do very well.

So after I came home, I was working my old high school job at Ben & Jerry's, an ice cream shop can only pay you so much.

So there's a couple times I've gone without eating for like three to four days.

And that's when a friend of mine offered me this opportunity at a manufacturing career internship program.

And at the time, I thought I might as well just give it a shot and see where it takes me.

And it was one of the most life changing things I've ever gone through.

This program, it didn't just give me a job, it gave me a career opportunity.

It gave me a life long passion that can sustain me for the rest of my life.

>> Kamillya Little: I always said to myself, I don't wanna be that old lady that's saying, gosh, I wish I would have did this or that different.

I don't wanna have any regrets in life.

So here I am, 40 years old.

I don't have a bachelor's degree, but it's not the end of the road.

There is hope.

There are a lot of programs that will give you the education and the training to achieve the same goals that you would if you were to go to a traditional four year college.

So Per Scholas being one of those that gave me an opportunity to have the training and the education to get a job in IT.

So you have to really dig deep and figure out, what can I do to make it better?

Everybody's so quick to just look at the traditional way of doing things, but there's always a way around.

You gotta get creative.

You have to wanna enough for yourself to say, you know what?

I'm gonna get through the odds.

I'm not gonna be a statistic.

>> [MUSIC] >> Yasmine: It's the final day of our trip.

And it's bittersweet, you know.

Taiheem and Denise, they hold a different place in my heart, seriously.

Now, it's not just friends, they're family.

>> Elevator: And now we're here.

103 stories up.

>> Denise: It's gonna be crazy.

Like, my gosh, I'm not gonna see these people again for a very long time and there won't be any other experience like this.

>> Yasmine: My God.

>> Denise: I think Skydeck was the perfect finale, in a way, to our trip.

>> Taiheem: I't's crazy, I never was up that high.

Just looking down, people were so small.

I felt a little ignorant at first because I was like, man, the ocean is so large and [LAUGH] they're like, no, that's the lake.

And it's like, wow, this is why they call it the Great Lakes.

>> Yasmine: I lived in this city for over 24 years and I've never seen my city like this.

It is mind-blowing when you see it.

>> [MUSIC] >> Denise: I feel like out of nowhere all my problems seem so small.

Cuz I was always scared about doing things that were out of my comfort zone, and I was always scared about how people would perceive me if I did one thing or the other.

So going on this trip is like really breaking that barrier for me.

It's like I took the road trip to really find myself and discover my potential.

The problems that I've encountered, they seem so small out of nowhere.

So I wish I had stepped on that ledge sooner and realized that I can totally conquer everything that comes my way.

>> Yasmine: I don't take this as we just went up 103 floors.

It's a life learned lesson, you can literally rise above everything that you thought was blocking you.

And I feel so emotional because it's like, man, I learned so much through this whole trip and this whole experience.

But to end it in the area that I'm literally sometimes scared to go through, because everything that happens is different, seeing a city that has so much going on in a different light, a positive light.

>> [MUSIC] >> Yasmine: So it's only up from here cuz there's literally nothing is stopping me.

>> [MUSIC] >> Yasmine: You know that saying, started from the bottom, now we here?

That's what it was.

It was just showing me that you can start in one place at one moment, give it some go and keep trying and you can literally rise above all of that.

It's nothing stopping you.

>> [MUSIC] >> Taiheem: I never thought I would be going on a road trip for three weeks.

And the fact that I'll be able to show my daughters, this is a legacy.

This is something I can show them one day and have them know that I'm doing this for them, myself, but to become a better me to help you become a better you.

We interviewed 12 people from Atlanta to Chicago, DC to Maryland, Philly, New York, New Jersey, and each one of them had something that I can pull from them.

From striving for their child to being raised by a single parent to being someone who's unmotivated in school, someone who didn't wanna do the normal school route to finding a trade, to being in a trade that they never thought they would be in.

>> Joy King: It's a real benefit that I think you guys have, is you are representative of the communities you came from and you go back to those same communities and say, look at me, I did it.

And now through your example, people that have grown up in the same community see that they have options.

And they have to hear from the people that have walked in those shoes.

>> Andre Carroll: That's why it's really important for people to share their stories, and it's not easy.

And when you come from these kind of backgrounds you understand that these are not traditional backgrounds, but you have to rise above it.

I was one of those opportunity youth that just needed a opportunity.

I just needed a chance to change my projected outcome.

>> Gerald Chertavian: You came to us as planes with the engines and the wings intact, but every plane needs a runway to take off.

And each one of you has what it takes and you just needed that path.

All we do is provide opportunity, you do the changing.

You make the decision.

>> Plinio Ayala: Don't forget where you came from, and if you have a chance to pull somebody along, it's your responsibility to do that.

>> Yasmine: I was talking to people I couldn't even imagine talking to.

I went places and seen things I see on TV, on my phone, in books.

And I went there, I touched it, I did it.

We went up the Rocky steps.

We went to the Lincoln Memorial.

We went in a cave.

We've seen a waterfall.

We've seen trees that I never imagined seeing.

It happened in a matter of 21 days.

And just in those 21 days I really see myself transformed, something I couldn't do in 24 years.

So I want to take this information back to my community cuz it's time to shake things up.

I wanna show all my friends and my family back home that it's possible for them to succeed too.

>> [MUSIC] >> Yasmine: One bag done.

>> [MUSIC] >> Denise: This is like a tamale.

Guys i'm not a Professional packer.

>> [MUSIC] >> Denise: I look back at myself at 18 and I'm just like, wow, I was so foolish.

How could I think that I would have everything perfect by 25?

No one has their life perfect at 25.

I think it does more harm than good by setting those expectation of yourself that might not be attainable.

So I wrote, don't stress.

There's no such thing as perfection to make your life a masterpiece.

Life, I made a mistake, not perfect, see, should be lived the way you want, be you because [SPANISH], because life continues on anyway.

>> Taiheem: The Taiheem three and four months ago, I was afraid to take risks, had a huge fear of failing, and I was too ashamed before to open up about my struggles with people.

But going on this trip made me step back.

Hearing other people's journeys made me appreciate not only their story but my own story and how hard I worked to get to where I'm at.

>> [MUSIC] >> Taiheem: Never be ashamed to fail.

Never be ashamed of your story.

You should only be ashamed if you never tell someone, Taiheem.

>> Yasmine: All right.

>> Denise: I like that one.

>> Yasmine: Okay, that was deep.

>> Denise: That's good.

>> Yasmine: The old me was dealing with a lot and she didn't know how to sort that stuff out to get through.

The girl I am now, [LAUGH] I feel so phenomenal.

But it was because I literally felt like I was on my rock bottom, my last limb, that I reached out and I tried to find another outlet.

Now, my God, now I'm more courageous.

I'm gonna be a force to be reckoned with.

All right, so it says life is a lesson to be learned, not a problem to be solved, let that sink in.

The Yasmine Tolbert, but you can call me Snug, that's it.

I found my voice on this trip.

I found the stern voice that I knew before, but I lost sight of it.

And I heard it loud and clear, and she's screaming louder than anybody else, I love it.

Because this pressure that i'm applying to this woman that I've always knew that I can become, but now I became.

Man, all that pressure made a diamond and I just unlocked it.

Now, man, it's all gas, no breaks.

>> [MUSIC] >> Yasmine: That was our road trip.

>> Taiheem: One thing I've learned was to take risks.

I just feel like I'm not afraid to fail like I was.

I felt like such a failure because I wasn't at where the rest of my peers were, seeing them surpass me and go to college, but I didn't give up.

The one thing we all didn't do was give up when we were met with a wall.

>> [MUSIC] >> Denise: I'm still a work in progress because I am young.

[LAUGH] This was a three week trip.

you know, don't expect me to have everything figured out because I still haven't, but this trip has given me more than enough fuel to keep going.

Wondering what to do with your life?

Well we've been there and we're here to help Our website has some awesome tools to help you find your path And you can check out all our documentaries, interviews and more Start exploring at roadtripnation.com