Celebrating 30 Years of Project Success: A Recap of Our 10th Dreams to Action Breakfast

On April 25, Project Success celebrated a major milestone of 30 years of connecting students to their purpose at our 10th annual Dreams to Action Breakfast! It was a wonderful morning where more than 500 individuals, including alumni, partners, supporters, and people new to Project Success, came together to hear more about our exciting vision for the future and our work with young people.

Shana Moses, Board of Directors Chair, began the morning beautifully with her opening remarks, radiating enthusiasm and dedication to the work that Project Success does with young people. Each year the breakfast includes music performed by current Project Success middle school musical students. This year, there was a special guest with John Jamison II joining Northeast and Sanford middle school students, Clover, Grace, Ian, Jayden, Lucia, Lucinda, and Riena, on stage for a performance of Here’s Where I Stand from the film Camp. John first sang Here’s Where I Stand as part of a student-created Project Success musical about life in middle school more than a decade ago. John is a talented writer, actor, singer, dancer, and more.

Project Success is built on community, collaboration, and partnerships with our school communities. We partner with teachers in each of our schools to connect their students to meaningful programming that our partners help us provide. As we celebrate 30 years in 2024, one of our partner teachers reached out to us this spring to share about his experience with Project Success at Patrick Henry. See below for a letter from Patrick Pelini, Patrick Henry (soon to be renamed to be Camden High School) English teacher and long-time Project Success partner teacher. Thank you to the Guthrie Theater for your partnership in hosting our 5th all-school field trip for Patrick Henry students and teachers this year!

“Welcome into this space as we continue to connect students to their purpose, that purpose that has always been within them and only needs this collective group of people to help carry them forward even more.” — Shana Moses, Board Chair

Adrienne Diercks, Founder and Executive Director, reflected on the incredible journey of Project Success over the past 30 years, reminding us all of the importance of investing in our students. Adrienne shared an exciting vision for the future including deep investment and innovation for Minneapolis students, alongside working with students in new communities including Mankato and in new ways with venture and pathway programs and the launch of a Best Buy Teen Tech Center.

“Project Success has been built one little moment, one piece at a time.  It’s been built by our community and for our community, and side by side with our students and families. I can’t wait for the next 30 years.”– Adrienne Diercks, Founder and Executive Director

Angelica Baldwin, a seven-year participant of Project Success at the beginning of the program nearly 30 years ago, shared the impact that the organization played on her young life. She talked about being given the space to dream about what she wanted her future to look like, the unwavering support from PS staff, and the life changing trip she took with Project Success to New York City.

“What Adrienne and Project Success began with that first trip to New York city was the foundation to my adventures around the globe…they made the impossible, possible.” – Angelica Baldwin, PS Alum

Marc Bromagham-Oropeza, Senior Program Manager and PS Alum shared his story about his 21 year journey with Project Success. Marc talked about the impact workshops and musicals made on his life as a student, his time as a volunteer with the organization, and more recently his experience working at Project Success for the last 11 years. Marc is helping to lead the expansion into Mankato middle schools as their first ever facilitator launching workshop programs. He shared how special it has been to bring PS programming to a new community – our first additional site.

The support and partnership of our community over the last 30 years has helped our team to meet students where they are and provide experiences of excellence for young people to prepare and plan for their futures. With the continued support of our community, we are ready to connect more students to their purpose and to the lives they have envisioned for themselves.

A special thanks to our sponsors who made the day possible: