Amazon Employees will have access to Beyond 12’s expert coaches to help them navigate their personal, college, and career journeys.

Oakland, CA—The Amazon Career Choice program and Beyond 12 have launched a partnership to provide coaching support to Amazon’s hourly employees interested in pursuing college degrees to advance their careers. Beyond 12 coaches are providing the academic, social, and emotional support employees need to succeed and thrive in their careers.

Since launching, Beyond 12 coaches have supported close to 1,700 employees. “My [Beyond 12] coach is assisting me in being able to clarify what challenges I have had in the past…and helping me see the value of continuing to pursue an education through the career choice options,” said Joshua, one Amazon employee based out of Tempe, AZ When commenting on what they found most meaningful about connecting with a Beyond 12 coach, Joshua shared, “…clarification and the ability to reflect, allowing me to ask questions that would guide me in my next steps.”

By partnering with Amazon, Beyond 12 is proving that it is possible to offer coaching support at scale. “We recognize there are times when adults need one-on-one support to navigate the challenges of going to school while working, and Amazon’s partnership with Beyond 12 puts that support front and center,” said Tammy Thieman, global lead for Career Choice at Amazon. “Amazon has a deep commitment to funding education, but we are just as dedicated in supporting employees in completing their education and achieving long-term career success.”

In addition to providing employees with virtual coaches, Beyond 12’s platform includes a customized mobile app called MyCoach that uses evidence-based nudges to remind students of the activities, deadlines, and behaviors that lead to success. MyCoach leverages a predictive and prescriptive analytics engine that identifies actionable insights about students and the interventions that coaches can use to ensure their success. Machine learning combined with personalized coaching puts Beyond 12 on track to coach one million students per year by 2030.

Beyond 12 also is pursuing equitable outcomes through its programs. Only 16% of students from low-income families earn bachelor’s degrees by their mid-20s vs. 62% of their wealthier counterparts. However, 85% of the students Beyond 12 coaches for four years either graduate or remain enrolled by their sixth year of college, compared to 44%, which is the national 6-year average for similar students who enroll in college.

“Our mission is to increase the number of students from under-resourced communities who graduate from college and who feel empowered to translate their degrees into choice-filled lives,” says Alex Bernadotte, the founder and CEO of Beyond 12. “This work is personal to Beyond 12 because so many of us are the first in our families to earn a college degree or have family members whose life experiences are similar to those of the employees we are honored to serve. We are excited to match Amazon employees with our expert coaches who understand first-hand the challenges that diverse learners experience on their road to earning a college degree.”

About Beyond 12
Beyond 12 is a high-tech, high-touch nonprofit that helps institutions provide their students with the academic, social, and emotional support they need to succeed in higher education. Founded by Alexandra Bernadotte in 2009, Beyond 12 works to dramatically increase the number of students from under-resourced communities who graduate from college and who translate their degrees into meaningful employment and choice-filled lives. For more information about Beyond 12, visit www.beyond12.org.