Handshake America: A NEW ERA IS HERE.
The first chapter has ended. The movement has not.
WHAT HAPPEND
Fifteen years, one honest limit.
Since 2011, more than 1,000 people built Handshake America: 604 students, 187 coaches, 105 high schools in three states, and hundreds of donors that help fund the $700K in scholarships that went to tuitions at 140 colleges in 30 states. Our last two years were our largest.
So why stop? Because no organization survives an undisciplined pursuit of growth. Trees don't grow to the sky. We grew past our ability to fill every seat with the right people, and the conditions around us changed. We've never pretended the road was smooth, and we won't start now. The mission didn't fail. The structure hit its natural limit. So we changed the structure.
1,000+
People Involved
604
Students
187
Coaches
105
High Schools
$700K
Scholarships
THE STARFISH
Cut a starfish in half, and you get two starfish.
Most organizations are built with a head: staff, a board, a center; everything flows through. Remove the center and the whole thing stops. A starfish is built differently. There is no head to lose. The power lives in every part.
For fifteen years, Handshake America ran with a center. The new Handshake America doesn't have one. It lives wherever someone opens the Playbook and gathers a team. An organization like that can't be shut down, because there's nothing to shut. It only stops when people stop practicing. And the practicing hasn't stopped.
WHAT CARRIES FORWARD
Two things. everything that mattered.
01. THE PLAYBOOK
Open to everyone.
Fifteen years of curriculum, refreshed and free. No gate, no application, no permission needed. Run it in your business, your community, your alma mater. Gather a handful of coachable young adults and go. The Five Practices are taught, modeled, and practiced, same as always. The only difference is who runs the session. Now it's you.
02. THE NETWORK
connected FOR LIFE.
The team stays connected: this website and a private LinkedIn group linking teammates across the country. Alumni from the early years are already running their own teams, finding kids who could use exactly what they got. Coaches' experience didn't retire. Anyone who needs advice in their industry has somewhere to turn. Every alum, coach, and teammate can apply to join on LinkedIn.
YOUR MOVE
THE PEOPLE ARE THE ORG NOW
Handshake America isn't run by a board anymore. It's supported by the team. So here it is, plainly:
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You know the reps. Run them with someone who needs them.
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Keep coaching. High standards, human delivery, the kid in the spotlight.
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The Playbook is yours. You don't need our permission, take it and run the reps.
Every outstanding scholarship is funded. Nothing was left unfinished.
The structure stays. You run the reps.
THE QUESTION THAT STARTED IT
In 2012, Isaiah Turner, our third student, asked founder Doug Probst:
“What does it take to be successful?”
The answer hasn't changed in fifteen years.
“We practice. We do our best to do things right.”
Five words can change a life. Practice them. Influence others.
— Doug Probst