A Message from Our CEO – June 2025

“Not all those who wander are lost.”

— J.R.R. Tolkien

Over the weekend I bit into a homemade chocolate chip cookie that was exquisite. Chewy, crumbly, molten. Bliss. Hello cookie. 

Small comforts like this that make you forget that the world is teetering on the edge, hurling toward the abyss: political violence, culture wars, actual global wars, climate crisis, debt load, uncertain job market.

Boomers and GenXers like me can use history and experience to put this crisis carousel into perspective. As George Harrison muses, “All Things Must Pass”. 

But for Gen Z, it is a storm without a center. They are burnt out and they haven’t started their life. Imagine you are a younger Gen Z-- in high school. How do you prepare for the apocalypse? Apparently, you don’t. 70% are unsure about their future path, whether it is a job, degree, military service, or certificate program.  (Gallup/Walton Family Foundation). Maybe “aren’t sure” is prescient. The CEO of Anthropic stated that AI could replace 50% of entry-level white-collar jobs. So, maybe they are in “standby” mode. 

We’re getting to know Gen Z and starting to see their superpowers: Morally aware, emotionally intelligent, and digitally intuitive. The ongoing uncertainty has made them adaptive and resourceful. 

If you are a leader, educator, policy maker or employer, give them that cookie. Do these things:

• Retire the binary. Replace “college or career” with a constellation of real-world paths.

• Talk to young people. Not at them, not about them—with them.

• Design with Gen Z, not for them. They want to take a role in shaping their future

They sit—on the edge of burnout, on the sidelines of broken systems, and at the crossroads of adulthood with a map of mayhem.

Gen Z is already doing the hard work of rethinking identity, success, and sanity. The least we can do is meet them halfway—with honesty, options, and a better roadmap.

Get. Your. Cookie.

—Warren