Vision

Charting Careers envisions an Annapolis community where all youth and families have the resources and support they need to thrive and reach their full potential.

Mission

Charting Careers inspires youth to discover their power and reach their goals through transformative mentoring, life-enriching opportunities, and family partnership and by serving as champions for equity.

Values

While our programs will evolve and our strategies may change, our shared commitment to these values will guide our organizational path:

  • Equity: We believe in building a more just and equitable community by affirming the dignity and worth of each member of our community while recognizing and working to combat the structural forces that have harmed some groups while benefiting others.

  • Relationships: We believe in investing in relationships and building community through connections that are authentic, respectful, and meaningful. Collaborative relationships are built over time with trust, empathy and healthy communication.

  • Assuming the Best: We believe in seeking to understand and assuming the best intentions. This is achieved by compassionate listening and withholding judgment.

  • Integrity: We believe in acting with integrity. We are responsible to ourselves, each other, and our community.

  • Learning: We believe in the importance of continuing to learn, grow, and innovate.

  • Hope: We believe in finding joy, remembering gratitude, and inspiring hope!

Theory of Change

At Charting Careers, we believe in supporting the whole child, in their context. We meet each young scholar where they are and work with them to help them build their power to increase their wellness, foster positive relationships (with trusted adults, family, and peers), improve their community, and eventually make positive societal change.

This approach is grounded in a proven approach, called the social-ecological model of health, which emphasizes the importance of simultaneously addressing individual, family, school and community factors to promote strengths, prevent problems, and improve wellness.

Our programming addresses these components in the following ways:

  • Individual - Our education programs foster scholars’ individual wellness

  • Relationships - Through all aspects of our programming, but especially through mentoring and family support, we support scholars with continuing to build healthy relationships with trusted adults and peers

  • Community - Our Community Impact Team works within scholars’ neighborhoods and schools to further build positive community

  • Societal - Through our Coalition and Collaboration work, we provide opportunities for scholars to build their leadership skills to make systemic, societal change