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A Letter from Our CEO: You Leaned In When It Got Hard


2025 was a year of questions—questions I know you were asking too.


Will there be entry-level jobs for students with AI taking over?


How will companies train the future workforce if entry-level jobs are going away—and are they even thinking about this?


Should students put "proficient in AI" on their resumes, or is that frowned upon?


How do we grade work created with AI? How do we teach it?


What happens to higher education as we know it, if fewer students are applying for college?


I heard from university leaders that it would take over a year just to get AI-relevant curriculum to students. Federal funding cuts put partnerships on pause and pushed timelines years out—even when you wanted solutions now.


You had every reason to hit pause. To wait it out. To play it safe.


But you didn't.


The higher ed, K-12, and EdTech community showed up anyway—resilient, positive, creative—finding ways to navigate the AI wave and serve students through the uncertainty. Because you know what I know: education is powerful. It's the one thing no one can take away from someone. It's critically important for people to thrive in life, which is why I’m so passionate about this space.


When things get hard, it's not time to quit. It's time to lean in.


And you did exactly that in 2025.



What You Built This Year

You brought Advize into your classrooms, career centers, coaching sessions, and advising appointments. What started with 4 university partners in 2024 grew to 20 universities in 2025 — because you believed students deserved better tools to explore careers.


900+ professionals answered the call to share their virtual coffee chat stories, creating nearly 12,000 videos so students could see themselves in real careers.


Students watched 36,800+ minutes of content this year across 33,300+ video views. And here's what mattered most: they reported an average 45% increase in career confidence and understanding after using the platform you brought them.


We employed 9 paid student interns this year, with many landing a job or internship offers while networking live with alumni and Advizer professionals through our interview process—proof that when you invest in young people, they rise.


What Your Students Were Searching For

The students you serve told us exactly what they needed.


They Were Looking for People Like Them:

Your students' top 5 searched professional traits:

  1. First-Generation College Student

  2. Transfer Student

  3. Worked 20+ Hours in School

  4. Veteran

  5. Took Out Loans


They weren't just looking for success stories—they were looking for their story. For proof that people like them make it.


Top Industries They Explored:

  1. Finance (Banking, Fintech, Investing)

  2. Advertising, Communications & Marketing

  3. Apparel, Beauty, Retail & Fashion

  4. Sports & Fitness

  5. Healthcare, Medical & Wellness / Consulting & Professional Services


Top Job Functions:

  1. Human Resources (HR)

  2. Business Strategy

  3. Data and Analytics

  4. Entrepreneurship and Business Owner

  5. Finance


The Professionals Who Made the Biggest Impact:

These 5 Advizers had the most-watched videos this year!



#2: Katharine Melzer, Managing Director at Compass Diversified and University of Michigan / UCLA Anderson School of Management alumna - "What's the day in the life of a Managing Director?"




To every Advizer who shared their story—you changed lives this year. Thank you.


The Tools You Asked For

You told us what would make Advize more powerful in your hands, and we listened:


✅ Digital Assignment Tool - You can now seamlessly integrate Advize into coursework with trackable assignments 

✅ AI Content Recommendations - Your students get personalized video suggestions that help them discover careers they didn't know existed

✅ Upgraded Analytics & Reporting - You have better insights to measure student engagement and outcomes


What Happened When Students Used It

The results you drove with our new digital assignment feature:


  • ~30% of students reported decreased anxiety around career decisions

  • ~40% explored a new industry or career of interest

  • ~33% gained clarity on day-to-day responsibilities and skills needed for careers

  • ~28% learned that non-linear career paths are normal and success takes many routes


This is the impact you create when you give students the right tools.


The Recognition You Helped Us Earn

Your partnership gave us credibility:

🏆 $10,000 Winner - UCLA Knapp Venture Competition

🏆 Finalist - Tools Competition (15 / ~1,000)

🏆 Finalist - EdTech Week Shark Tank in NYC


Every pitch, every investor conversation, every award—it all came back to one thing: the results you're driving with students.


At Columbia University for EdTech Week NYC 2025
At Columbia University for EdTech Week NYC 2025

What's Possible in 2026

Here's what we're building for you next.


🎓 A Free Career Course for Millions of Students

We've partnered with one of the world's largest online learning platforms to launch a free career exploration course. We can't share the name yet, but this partnership will help you reach students at scale—even those you can't serve directly yet.


🔍 A Smarter Way to Explore Careers—Aligned with NACE Standards

The big idea about what we're building next: why can we go online today and see thousands of video reviews to find a pair of jeans that fits, but not about carers that are a fit?


Here's what makes this powerful: it will directly support NACE Career Readiness Competencies—specifically the Career & Self-Development competency that career services offices are measured against.

Our new system will help students:


  • Show self awareness of their own strengths and areas for development by comparing their interests, skills, and values against real career requirements they hear directly from professionals

  • Develop plans and goals for their future career by evaluating multiple career paths side-by-side, understanding day-to-day responsibilities, and seeing which paths align with who they are and who they want to become


This isn't just engagement for engagement's sake. It's helping you deliver on the NACE competencies that define career readiness—with measurable outcomes you can report on.


🚀 Try It Free Before You Commit

Want to test a modern career exploration tool in your classroom or programming before planning for 2026-2027? We're offering free pilot options in early 2026 so you can see the impact firsthand—and how it maps to your goals, existing programming, and NACE outcomes. (📩 Ready to pilot Advize? Email Emily at emily@advizehub.com)


What's At Stake in 2026

Here's the truth: students are making career decisions right now—with or without the right tools.


They're Googling. They’re Chat-GPT-ing. They’re Tik-Toking. They're scrolling LinkedIn and reading job descriptions they don’t really understand. They're asking friends who don't know any better than they do. They're feeling anxious, overwhelmed, and unsure if they're on the right path.


Or—they could be watching someone like them explain what their job actually looks like. Learning that non-linear paths are normal. Gaining clarity. Feeling confident.


The difference is whether they have access to tools like Advize.


You've Already Proven It Works

You leaned in when it was hard. You brought new tools into your classrooms and career centers. You championed students who needed to see themselves reflected in real career stories.


And because you did, 614 hours of career clarity happened. 33,300 moments of discovery. A 45% boost in confidence.


That's not our success. That's yours.


We're just here to keep building the tools that help you do it.


Here's to 2026—and to the students whose lives you'll change next.


Emily McSherry

Founder & CEO, Advize

 
 
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