Get Future Ready, San Diego

Your college is part of San Diego. Your future can be, too.

We connect first-generation business students from colleges and universities across the region with each other, people doing interesting work, and real challenges shaping the place we call home.

Along the way, you'll learn more about yourself, build skills and relationships you can take wherever you go, and get better at moving forward when you're not sure exactly what comes next.

Because we want more San Diego students to see a future for themselves right here.

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A group of diverse people smiling and laughing at an indoor event, with some clapping and others joyfully dancing.

Five days. One real challenge. A different way to think about what's next.

A custom-built five-day career and business challenge experience for first-gen business students across San Diego who want to explore what's next and get better at figuring it out.

Meet other students. Learn from people doing interesting work across San Diego. Take on a real challenge. And leave with new connections, new experience, and a better idea of how to keep moving forward.

We're designing this so cost isn't what stands between a student and being here.

Whether you're figuring out what you want to study, getting ready to apply for internships, or wondering how to get experience when you don't have much yet, this was built with you in mind.

  • Start with you. Explore the experiences, interests and questions that keep pulling at your attention and choose something you want to understand better.

  • You don't need to “know the right people.” Learn how to find people who know something you want to learn, reach out, ask better questions and start building relationships that can take you somewhere new.

  • Put it into practice. You'll take on a real business challenge from the San Diego community, talk to people affected by it, generate ideas, build and test something, and share what you learned all using design thinking.

“I hadn’t done anything like this before. It reminded me of sorority recruitment, I felt the same way: it was fun, stressful, but exciting.”

 UCSD Designathon Student
Group of diverse students working together around a table in a modern classroom with laptops, whiteboard, and glass walls.

Work on something real.

This isn't a case study with an answer in the back of the book.

You'll work with your team on a real challenge facing a San Diego business or community organization.

You'll meet people connected to the challenge, ask questions, look for what others might be missing, and use design to turn what you learn into ideas you can actually test.

By the end, you'll have more than something to put on a resume. You'll have a real experience you can talk about: the problem you explored, the people you learned from, what your team tried, what worked, what didn't and what you'd do next.

Sign up for updates about our next career and business challenge experience

(coming soon to a campus near you)

Be the first to know when we announce dates, locations, cost, and applications for the next launch with first-gen business students from across San Diego.

And know that keeping this within reach for every student, regardless of financial background, is part of how we're building it.

Six diverse young people standing together in front of a whiteboard covered with colorful sticky notes, smiling at the camera.

Designed by someone who gets you

I'm a first-generation college grad myself, so I know what it's like to figure out “career stuff” without a map. That's a big part of why I created Future Ready SD: to help more students get better at finding their own way forward.

After creating career growth programs at Intuit here in San Diego and traveling the country to help career centers and business schools set students up for success, I knew it was time to invest in my community and help local students better prepare for their future.

More About Brian
A man speaking on a stage during a TEDx event at UC San Diego, with large red and white letters spelling 'TEDxUC San Diego' behind him.

A Preview of What to Expect

  • When we finished I feel a lot of achievement (I can do something actually). There are times that I’ve wanted to pursue an idea, but sometimes life or other priorities get in the way. This built the confidence of if I want I can go out there and do it.”

    UCSD Designathon Student

  • Brian was amazing to communicate with throughout the semester, he gave great advice and our talks flowed and never felt awkward.

    CSUSM College of Business Student

  • Brian did a fantastic job really getting to know me and my goals before trying to give me any advice. At first, I assumed coaching sessions would be the generic career advice I’ve been hearing my whole student life, but it wasn’t that at all. I feel like Brian really understood my goals, thus giving me specific advice to reach those specific goals

    CSUSM College of Business Student