The Challenge Project is building a counter-narrative for Alabama's young people—turning the state from a place to escape into a place where Builders make what's next.
We're equipping 18-29 year olds with AI fluency, connecting them to mentors who hold them to high standards, and proving that what gets built here can matter anywhere.
Backed by $300K from Innovate Alabama and grounded in research on what actually motivates young people, we're hiring our founding team now and looking for corporate partners, advisors, and collaborators who want to help change what's possible in this state.
The Problem
Every year, Alabama loses its young people.
Not to tragedy. To narrative.
The story goes like this: If you're talented, if you're ambitious, if you want to build something that matters—you leave. You go to Atlanta, Austin, Nashville, anywhere but here. The people who "make it" are the ones who got out. The people who stay are the ones who couldn't.
This story is a lie. But it's a lie that has become true by repetition.
I've watched it happen. I lived it. I left Alabama for Morehouse because what I needed didn't exist here. And I've spent years watching the same pattern repeat: young people with vision, with capability, with hunger—concluding that their only options are to escape or to settle.
The data confirms what we feel. Alabama faces simultaneous crises that seem contradictory but aren't: brain drain AND worker shortage. Young people ages 18-29 leave because they believe there's nothing here for them. Meanwhile, companies moving into the state—Airbus, Amazon, the growing aerospace and manufacturing corridor—struggle to find talent and recruit from out of state. We're exporting our future while importing our workforce.
But the brain drain numbers only capture one part of the story—the people who leave. They don't capture the full range of young people still here.
Some are thriving. Some are genuinely content with lives they've built. That's real, and it matters.
But many others are carrying a weight they didn't choose. The high school graduate working retail who doesn't see a path forward. The college student planning to move back home and "figure it out." The grad student who doesn't want academia and is DoorDashing until something better appears. The warehouse worker trying get-rich-quick schemes because they see no legitimate path to their dreams. The young family stressed about how they'll afford a good life, living paycheck to paycheck. The young founder wondering if they made a mistake.
These aren't failures. These are people who've internalized a story about what's possible for people like them, in places like this. And that story has become a ceiling they didn't build and don't deserve.
The Mission
Our mission is to turn Alabama from a place young people escape into a place where Builders make what's next—through AI fluency, real mentorship, and work that matters.
This isn't a workforce development program. It's not a tech bootcamp. It's not a networking initiative.
It's a counter-narrative.
We're not here to "help" young people. We're here to recognize what they already carry—resilience, resourcefulness, knowledge of their communities—and give them tools, mentorship, and recognition that let them build something real.
The Identity: Builders
The people who will change Alabama's story aren't exceptional. They're not the "talented tenth." They're not the ones who were always going to make it.
They're the ones who were counted out.
A Builder is someone who people gave up on and counted out. They weren't given what they needed or wanted, but instead of giving up, they made what they needed. Working with other Builders, they leaned on each other and made something greater than any of them—or anyone—expected. They don't stop once they've made it either. They refused to believe they are an exception or special. They are the new standard, and they are ready to help who's next go further than they did.
This identity does something important: it puts people in the same room who might otherwise never meet.
The young professional considering leaving Alabama sees people from their community who aren't leaving—and it challenges the assumption that success means escape.
The person who felt stuck sees others like them building things—and they're not in a remedial track or a charity program. They're Builders too. Same identity. Same room. Same standard.
The Method: Mentor Mindset
How we do this matters as much as what we do.
For decades, youth development has oscillated between two failed approaches:
The Enforcer approach: High standards, low support. "If you can't cut it, that's on you." This produces compliance without motivation, punishes the already-disadvantaged, and drives away exactly the people who need opportunity most.
The Protector approach: High support, low standards. "We'll make it easier for you." This feels kind but communicates low expectations. It prioritizes self-esteem over actual accomplishment. And young people see through it—they know when they're being coddled rather than respected.
The Challenge Project operates with a Mentor Mindset: high standards AND high support.
We hold Builders to real standards—because that's what respect looks like. And we provide real support—because standards without support is just exclusion with extra steps.
This isn't theory. It's backed by over a decade of research from Dr. David Yeager at UT Austin and colleagues, showing that young people thrive when they're treated as capable of meeting high standards—and given real support to get there.
The practical application:
- Transparency: We tell Builders why we're pushing them hard. We make our belief in their potential explicit, not implied.
- Questioning: We ask before we tell. We treat their perspectives as legitimate.
- Stress as signal: We reframe struggle as evidence they're doing something meaningful, not evidence something is wrong.
- Purpose: We connect their work to contribution beyond themselves. Alabama needs what they're building.
- Belonging: We prove that people like them, from places like this, build things that matter.
The Proof: Something Public
Every Builder makes something real.
Not a certificate. Not a credential. Not a line on a resume.
Something they can point to and say: "I made that."
A website that's live on the internet. A prototype they can hold. A solution for a local business. Something public, built with modern tools—AI, automation, no-code platforms—that proves they can create value.
This matters because status can't be given. It has to be earned. And the artifact is the proof of transformation.
When a Builder shows their work to an industry professional who takes it seriously, gives real feedback, and treats them as someone worth investing in—that's when the identity becomes real. That's when the internal narrative starts to shift.
The Scope
Target population: Approximately 910,000 young adults ages 18-29 across Alabama.
They're everywhere. The welder in Cullman who's good with his hands and wonders if he could run his own shop. The barista in Tuscaloosa surrounded by students, smart as anyone but without the credential to prove it. The young mother in Selma weighing whether to stay near family or leave for opportunity. The photographer in Birmingham with clients but no system, trading time for money with no path to scale. The veteran in Huntsville transitioning out and unsure what's next.
They're not a "target demographic." They're Alabama.
Core programming:
- Events designed to create multiple recognition moments with industry professionals
- Mentorship connections with Alabama companies who need talent and can offer real feedback
- Hands-on building with AI tools, resulting in public artifacts
- Community that reinforces the Builder identity beyond any single event
Partnerships:
- Alabama-based corporations (providing mentor-professionals and sponsorship)
- Universities and community colleges (reaching students at transition points)
- National advisors with expertise in youth motivation, AI implementation, and community building
Funding: $300,000 from Innovate Alabama (2025-26 grant cycle)
The Values
Four principles govern how we operate:
1. Builders are made by building.
Anyone who commits is in. The work is the proof. No credentials required, no gatekeeping allowed.
2. The challenge is the gift.
High standards mean someone believes in you. Struggle means you're doing something real. Both are signs you're on the path.
3. Build here. Build each other.
Alabama needs you. You need mentors. You become one. The cycle continues.
4. Build the help you need.
Don't wait to be chosen. Seek out mentors. Shape how they help you. Teach them to teach you.
Why This Matters Now
We're at an inflection point.
AI is reshaping what's possible. Tools that required engineering teams two years ago can now be operated by anyone with curiosity and persistence. The barriers to building have collapsed. A young person in Selma with the right skills and mindset can create software, automate processes, prototype products, and launch businesses that compete with anyone, anywhere.
But this moment won't wait. The gap between those who can use these tools and those who can't is widening fast. If Alabama's young people aren't equipped to build with AI—not just use it, but build with it—they'll be left behind again. And this time, the narrative won't just be "leave to succeed." It'll be "you're obsolete."
The Challenge Project is how we make sure that doesn't happen.
We're not just teaching AI skills. We're building Builders—people who see problems and build solutions, who bring their communities along, who think independently about these tools and adopt them ethically.
That's what Alabama needs. That's what's possible. And that's what we're building.
The Ask
I'm looking for:
Corporate partners who are tired of recruiting from out of state and want to invest in homegrown talent—through sponsorship, mentorship, and real engagement with Builders.
Advisors who have done this work elsewhere and can help us avoid mistakes, accelerate learning, and connect to national networks.
Collaborators at universities, workforce programs, and community organizations who want to align efforts rather than duplicate them.
Believers who see what Alabama could become and want to help make it real.
This is the beginning. I have funding, a framework, and a deep conviction that this matters. What I need now are partners who see it too.
The Challenge Project is an initiative of Innovation Portal, a nonprofit incubator and innovation hub accelerating startup growth in the Gulf Coast region.