Written by, Vanessa Cole

October 7, 2025

As long time talent & creative professionals (and a former college athlete)--- now with two young-adult children chasing their own, similar dreams--- my husband, Chad and I, are the CO-FOUNDERS of the AddyPres Organization--- because WE CARE ABOUT the talent, creative, entertainment & athletic industries we built our lives around. We care about the welfare & prosperity of the people who work within these industries, the vitality of the pipeline that feeds into them, and the commerce infrastructure that supports these multi-billion dollar economic ecosystems. These are the industries which entertain, engage, dress, move and inspire all of society.

Indeed, our sincere care led me, in 2020, to author a vision. While our family was displaced from our home & all of our belongings sat in storage-- prompted by industry shut downs caused by a global pandemic. We didn't know how or when productions would open up again or what any of what was going on in the world would mean for our careers or our lives. We operated our nonprofit efforts through our own investment and my husband's career was the main source of support. A catastrophic event wiped out our livelihood almost over night and I knew there had to be a better way for creative & talented professionals to find security in their long term prosperity. At the time, I had been serving as our organization's president for about 6 years, and had led significant and influential work within education reform & career development through my devotion to make school a more engaging, warm and inspirational place for children. Through this work I produced several high level tools, programs & frameworks--- all designed from a mother's heart and passionate hope to prompt kindness, stewardship & curiosity in young people. Some of the experiences through those years helped prepare me for the years that would come, when I would author & lead the introduction of a vision of a lifetime...

The time during Covid closures allowed my focused contemplation to author the AP FUTURE CAREERS INITIATIVE-- and it's multi-sector municipal framework & smart technology user pathway. I developed the plan through insights I had gained from years of research & development and the thoughtful evaluation of mine & my husband's lived experiences as parents, education reform influencers & long time talent, design & creative professionals who followed nontraditional career paths--- a solid solution with real perspective that could evolve & shift based on societal need, relevant to rapid changes that were happening in the world. The plan could improve lives, outcomes, society and the planet--- and it became the vision that guided our organization's efforts thereafter. We were driven to support common drop points we knew well in order to open the boundless possibilities that lie within each talented, creative and athletic person...making their success and prosperity our mission, their continuously evolving growth our commitment and their impact... our legacy.

Through the work we had already accomplished over the years, Chad and I knew that society had stepped into an entirely different era defined by technology; illuminating an evolving need to align humanity in harmony with purpose and ecological & human wellness. We also realized that the creative industries we had built our lives on were experiencing great transformations and these shifts were sweeping over the full economic landscape--- driving a whole new workforce led by automation.

Through our continued exploration with our partners, we came to understand that while these shifts held opportunity, they also presented potentially catastrophic impacts on the outcomes of so many young people and professionals, especially those who chase passionate, creative and nontraditional career paths, like we had--- requiring immediate attention be paid to reinventing traditional education models, career development systems and their connection to commerce, in order to better meet the demands of the rapidly evolving technological & skills based economy... something the vision I wrote could support. So we continued to share the AP Future Careers' community system & smart technology and all it's possibilities with many leaders and community members... guided through our deep passion to participate in the vitality of the industries we cared so much about and the young people & professional's whose dreams were chased down such avenues toward what we hoped could better ensure prosperous outcomes.

Today, that vision and our years of work to share it, has served as a revolutionary approach for education-to-career lifecycle management--- a solution we were happy to share with leaders across value chains as a means to assist their objectives in integrating improved 21st century solutions. Reflecting on the challenging time when I authored the plan, and then the first meetings presenting it-- a bit wobbly from what my family was enduring, I could never have known how valuable, relevant & timely my solution would become. The vast span of its integration and ability to adapt to demand across sectors, as it was designed to do, has empowered individuals in profound and innovative ways. Today, the blueprint I contributed serves across societal boundaries, providing improved infrastructure with the space to continue adapting to demand & uplifting better lives & greater prosperity... a legacy we can be proud of.

Now, extending from our years of commitment and the impacts the AP Future Careers Initiative has accomplished,

the AP Ambassador Initiative and Campaign--- featuring our founding family--- seeks to support creative, performing and athletic ecosystems--- focused on providing SCHOLARSHIP & DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES that enable prosperous outcomes & improve the quality of life of those who entertain, dress, engage & inspire all of society!

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