A Decade of Impact, and the Year That Changed What Comes Next

As I look back at an impact-filled year, two key milestones stand out: we fully evolved into a tech nonprofit, and our growth is focused on strategic regional ecosystems. 

The transition to a tech nonprofit is significant not because of the technology itself, but because as the Seekr platform evolved to include an assessment, learning platform, and intuitive job board, we've also preserved what matters: that human connection is foundational to economic mobility. 

Since adding the job board, we’ve seen a 10x increase in job seeker participation: more than 80,000 students have joined Basta's Seekr platform since September 2025. Students are attending sessions, applying to jobs, and connecting with volunteers and mentors from our employer partners. What's emerged is a vibrant national community driving towards a singular goal: increasing economic mobility for underrepresented job seekers.

That growth has created more than 8 million data points from first-generation career journeys, a rich dataset built over a decade that enables us to reach the right students, at the right time, with the right supports. Since we’ve launched our job board, 14,800 students have submitted more than 41,000 applications to career pathways jobs. Paired with what we know about each student through Seekr, those insights allow us to help more job seekers land high-fit opportunities at a scale we could not have reached before.

Building Where Opportunity Lives
Regional ecosystems as the next chapter of impact

Because the majority of early career hiring happens in local markets, we made the important decision to focus on regionalized growth this year; embedding in ecosystems of colleges, employers, community organizations, and philanthropic partners already doing great work on behalf of first-generation students.

We’re grateful to The Leon Levine Foundation for enabling our expansion across North and South Carolina, and to Carnegie Corporation of New York for supporting our growth across four regions nationally. We’re also seeing similar momentum in Philadelphia through our partnership with GreenLight Fund.

Central to all of this is the depth of our partnerships. Bloomberg LP, Google, BNY, and Blackstone LaunchPad are not just strategic partners, they are the connective tissue between our platform and the real-world opportunities that change a young person’s trajectory. As we expand into new regions, we remain grounded in what matters most: strong job and internship outcomes, and a clear-eyed understanding of Basta’s role in helping students achieve them.

Looking Ahead to 10 Years
Celebrating what's been built, and what comes next

As Basta approaches our 10-year anniversary, it's an opportunity to celebrate this extraordinary community and galvanize the next set of leaders and changemakers who will carry this work forward.

We're marking this milestone with our Once-in-a-Decade Gala on October 20th at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Save the date. We would love to have you in the room.

With gratitude,

Sheila