Aspire Supports 1,500+ Youth at the MAC POWER Youth Summit
Helping Nashville youth identify their strengths, build confidence, and prepare for what comes next.
Aspire partnered with the Metropolitan Action Commission to support the 2025 POWER Youth Summit, a two-day youth development experience kicking off the POWER Youth Summer Internship program in Nashville, Tennessee.
Hosted at the Sheraton Music City Hotel, the summit brought together more than 1,500 young people ages 13–22 for programming focused on youth development, workplace readiness, self-awareness, advocacy, and personal growth.
The 2025 POWER Youth Summer Internship program included 1,521 youth participants placed across 150 Metro departments, nonprofits, and community organizations in Davidson County, expanding from 1,481 youth and 130 work locations the previous summer.
Client
Metropolitan Action Commission
Program
MAC POWER Youth Summit
Audience
Middle school and high school youth, ages 13–22
Aspire Focus Areas
College and Career Readiness
Social-Emotional Learning
Strengths Identification
Personal Branding
Youth Leadership Development
Team Building
Advocacy and Communication
The Challenge
Preparing youth for work, leadership, and adulthood takes more than placement.
The POWER Youth Summer Internship program gives young people access to paid work experiences, professional environments, and community-based opportunities. But exposure alone is not enough.
To help youth succeed in those environments, students also need language for who they are, confidence in what they bring, and practical tools for how they show up.
The summit created space for youth to begin that process before stepping into summer work experiences. Aspire’s role was to help students connect their natural abilities, personal identity, and future aspirations to the opportunities ahead.
The Core Need
Youth needed development experiences that were energetic, practical, culturally relevant, and built for different age groups.
The Opportunity
MAC had already assembled one of Nashville’s most visible youth workforce development experiences. Aspire helped turn the summit into a deeper moment of preparation, reflection, and activation.
The Aspire Approach
Development designed for how young people actually learn.
Aspire led interactive sessions that combined social-emotional learning, college and career readiness, public speaking, self-awareness, and team-based activities.
Dream BLDRS is designed to help students achieve personal and professional success by translating college and career readiness into practical social-emotional learning skills, including retention, student behavior, academic growth, and key SEL skill development.
For the MAC POWER Youth Summit, Aspire adapted core Dream BLDRS concepts into summit-ready experiences for middle school and high school participants.
Day One: Middle School POWER Youth
Aspire led mid-morning and afternoon sessions focused on helping middle school youth identify their natural talents and abilities.
The experience used team-building activities and guided reflection to help students recognize what they are good at, how they contribute to a group, and how their strengths can support future goals.
Day Two: High School POWER Youth
Aspire led high school students through a two-part Personal Branding session.
Students explored how branding can positively influence the rest of their lives, including how they present themselves, communicate their value, and build a reputation rooted in strengths, character, and consistency.
Personal Branding is one of Dream BLDRS’ core development areas, helping students identify self, core values, and skills while building relationship skills and social awareness.
The Aspire Approach
Development designed for how young people actually learn.
Aspire led interactive sessions that combined social-emotional learning, college and career readiness, public speaking, self-awareness, and team-based activities.
Dream BLDRS is designed to help students achieve personal and professional success by translating college and career readiness into practical social-emotional learning skills, including retention, student behavior, academic growth, and key SEL skill development.
For the MAC POWER Youth Summit, Aspire adapted core Dream BLDRS concepts into summit-ready experiences for middle school and high school participants.
Dream BLDRS: Strengths
On Day One, Aspire led middle school POWER Youth through Dream BLDRS: Strengths, an interactive experience designed to help students identify their natural talents and abilities, understand how they contribute to a team, and begin seeing their strengths as tools for future success.
Core Outcomes
Students explored self-awareness, collaboration, confidence, team dynamics, and strengths-based thinking.
Key Development Areas
Self-awareness, confidence, conflict resolution, leadership styles, team dynamics, collaboration, and decision-making.
Related Dream BLDRS Module
Dream BLDRS: Personal Branding
High school participants engaged in a two-part session on how personal branding can shape future opportunities.
Students explored how they are seen, how they communicate, what makes them original, and how to present themselves with confidence in academic, professional, and community settings.
Core Outcomes
Students explored how to communicate who they are, what they value, and how they want to be remembered.
Key Development Areas
Self-awareness, confidence, conflict resolution, leadership styles, team dynamics, collaboration, and decision-making.
Related Dream BLDRS Module
College & Career Exposure
Local colleges, community leaders, media personalities, founders, and former professional athletes helped create a summit environment where young people could see multiple pathways for their future.
Fireside Chat with Aspire Chief Creative Officer
Channing Bailey, Chief Creative Officer of Aspire joined the “Your Voice, Your Advocacy Matters” panel alongside local founders, civic leaders, athletes, and community advocates.
The panel connected personal identity to civic voice, helping students understand that their experiences, ideas, and leadership matter.
Helping students build confidence, leadership, and real-world skills—Dream BLDRS is an award-winning SEL and career readiness program designed for lasting success.
Watch Aspire Dream BLDRS in action!
The Power of DREAM BLDRS
Why Dream BLDRS?
The Dream BLDRS™ workshops integrated interactive sessions focusing on Vision creation, character assessment, personal branding, and ideal employee/company traits.
As students transition to high school and beyond, it’s crucial for them to start considering their future goals and the steps needed to achieve them. This program aims to inspire and equip them with the tools necessary for making informed decisions about their education and career paths.
Aspire’s Dream BLDRS program focuses on equipping students with the tools and skills needed to shape their futures. This initiative aims to enhance students’ soft skills and foster their social-emotional well-being, providing a strong foundation for personal and professional growth. By helping students build confidence, resilience, and self-awareness, the program empowers them to work toward their aspirations and realize their full potential.
DREAM BLDRS EXPERIENCE HIGHLIGHTS
- Unique Incentive 1: Dream BLDRS Vision Statement Competition for Cash Prizes
- Unique Incentive 2: Patfacts 2: More Than A Dream book giveaway
- Unique Incentive 3: Pizza sponsored by Slim & Husky’s Pizzeria
- Enhanced Engagement: Dream BLDRS Closeout at NMAAM
