This summer, hundreds of students participated in a program led by The Greater Des Moines Partnership. This program was called The Legacy Project: Career Ready Collective. It centered around career readiness skills and an advancement for students into the workforce. 

Students from several different schools across Iowa gathered every Friday at Principal Financial in downtown Des Moines to hear from inspiring speakers, attend educational sessions, and learn from their peers. 

“On a typical day we got there for lunch, then went into the Keynote speaker, and then we split into three sections. One session usually had a career fair or college fair,” Lilly Bresson ‘27 said. 

The Legacy Project provided a place for Iowa metro students to gather and learn skills from professional individuals. This program invited adults across several careers and colleges to participate in networking events. Students learned through the sessions skills they’ll need post high school and making meaningful connections. 

“My favorite thing we did was the keynote speakers. They all had great things to say,” Bresson said. 

This program allowed students to grow significantly in their professionalism and gain networking skills to last a lifetime. It took hundreds of hours for the adults involved to make this program one that was very successful. Students walked away each Friday with the knowledge that they could use in their day to day lives. 

“I learned a lot of interviewing skills. I’ve used those interview skills to do real interviews,” Bresson said. 

The Legacy Project: Career Ready Collective was a successful program that helped many students in the metro become confident in their professionalism. 

“I wanted to [join] because I wanted to learn skills that I could use for my future and I could develop those there,” Bresson said.