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Built for Good
Technology
Solve a real digital problem for a nonprofit, community group, or social-purpose business.
New World Kids · Seattle
We turn interests into opportunities.
Young people already have things they care about. We connect those interests to real projects, paid experiences, mentors, and a next step forward.
In 2027, we're starting in Seattle with the First 12: 12 paid opportunities with one-on-one mentorship and ongoing support.
The problem
Talent is everywhere. Opportunity is not.
A young person may know what they care about and still have no clear way to turn it into experience, income, training, or work. That is the gap we are trying to close.
How it works
Interest → Project → Mentor → Next Step
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Find the interest
Start with something the participant already cares about.
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Put it to work
Connect that interest to a real project with useful responsibility.
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Learn beside someone
Work alongside an experienced mentor who knows the field.
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Build the next step
Finish with proof of work, follow-up, and a concrete path forward.
The First 12
The First 12
We're starting with 12 participants in Seattle over the first year. Each will enter a real project, work with a mentor, earn through meaningful work, and leave with something they can point to.
Starting small lets us pay attention to the question that matters most: did they actually move forward?
Four pathways
Four ways to start. One model underneath.
These are four entry points into the same youth-development model: paid opportunities, an experienced mentor, and a next step.
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Beyond the Game
Sports
Use existing sports environments to expose participants to the work and economy around the game.
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Ground Up
Urban Gardening + Food Systems
Build practical experience through food systems, sustainability, stewardship, and hands-on community projects.
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Make Your Mark
Art
Turn restoration, design, public art, and documentation into paid work and visible community improvement.
Mentorship + follow-through
The project gets them in the door. The relationship helps them move forward.
Projects are the vehicle. Mentorship and follow-through are the intervention. New World Kids stays involved through the work, helps remove practical barriers, documents what was completed, and follows the participant into the next step.
What we measure
Did they actually move forward?
We keep the measurement simple and useful. The point is not activity for activity's sake; it is movement toward a stronger next step.
Showed up
Completed something
Learned something useful
Earned income where applicable
A next step exists
Moved into work, training, education, or another opportunity
Where we started
We saw what happens when the work is real.
Our Indigo Azul Project in Puerto Vallarta showed us the potential of place-based learning: people taking responsibility for real work, contributing to a place, and learning through doing.
Seattle will look different. The principle stays the same.
See the Indigo Azul field archive →For partners
We're looking for projects, mentors, spaces, and partners.
New World Kids operates the opportunity layer: participant and project matching, mentor support, project structure, participant experience, documentation, measurement, and follow-up. Partners can bring the real environments and opportunities.
Do you have a real project, mentor, space, or opportunity that one of our First 12 could contribute to?
Bring us an opportunity →Support the pilot
Help us prove the First 12.
Funding covers the practical costs that make participation possible: participant wages, mentors, transportation, materials, equipment, coordination, and follow-up. The first-year goal is simple: give 12 participants real opportunities and measure whether they actually move forward.