Ashanti Branch is the founder and executive director of the Ever Forward Club, an Oakland, CA-based program that supports young Latinx and African-American men to stay engaged with high school and reach their potential.
Since its founding in 2004, the Ever Forward Club has helped 100% of its members graduate high school, and 93% go on to attend college—a powerful testament to what’s possible when young people are seen, supported, and invited to grow.
In 2015–2016, Ashanti studied life design through a Stanford fellowship at the d.school. That experience reshaped not only how he leads, but how he helps young people imagine and build lives that truly fit them.
From Rowboat to Motorboat: How Design Thinking Changed the Work
Before his time at the d.school, Ever Forward Club was a passion project that Ashanti ran while teaching math full-time.
He describes it like this:
It was like I was rowing a boat—always rowing and rowing.
The dream was there. The impact was real. But there wasn’t a clear roadmap for how to grow the work beyond evenings, weekends, and holidays.
Design school helped him:
- Clarify who their “users” really are—the young men they serve, their families, and communities
- Learn how to tell the story of what Ever Forward is trying to change
- Discover how small, easy experiments could elevate their work without needing massive resources right away
After integrating design thinking, that rowboat feeling shifted:
Now that rowboat is more like a motorboat, with a perpetual energy of its own.
The work didn’t suddenly become easy, but it became more focused, more aligned, and more sustainable.
Life Design Lessons for Young Men
Ashanti brings life design into the heart of Ever Forward’s work with students.
At its core is a simple but powerful message:
If you decide there’s something in your life that’s not working, you can change it.
If you can’t change it right now, you can name it and start preparing for the day when you can.
With young people, that looks like:
- Helping them notice where life doesn’t feel right or fair
- Naming what’s within their control now, and what will be in their control in a few years
- Asking:
- What can you do to prepare yourself for those bigger choices?
- What small steps can you take today to make things a little better?
This approach invites students to see themselves not as stuck with a fixed story, but as designers of their own paths.
And something special happens when they realize they can support others, too:
When they recognize that they can help other young people going through similar stuff, it kind of pulls them out of their own problems.
Through empathy, they begin investing in others—and in the process, they discover more creative, compassionate solutions for themselves.
Building an “Emotional Toolbox”
One of Ashanti’s most powerful metaphors is the idea of an emotional toolbox.
As a former dean, he saw many students sent to the office for acting out in class. Often, it wasn’t that they were “bad kids”—they simply didn’t have the emotional tools to handle what they were feeling.
To help them visualize this, he’d say:
“In your toolbox right now, you’ve only got a feather and a hammer.
Sometimes you need a little sandpaper or a screwdriver.”
In other words:
- A hammer might be anger or lashing out
- A feather might be shutting down or trying to disappear
But there are many more options:
- Taking a breath
- Asking for help
- Using kind but firm words
- Taking a short break
- Naming what you’re feeling instead of acting it out
Students learn that if they only ever reach for the hammer, they’ll keep getting the same painful results. Expanding their emotional toolbox means learning to:
- Choose words and attitudes that move things forward
- Use thought processes that create the outcome they actually want
This is life design on the inside: consciously choosing how to show up, not just what to do.
Mindfulness in the Classroom: Pause, Breathe, Choose
There’s a quiet mindfulness woven through Ashanti’s approach.
It’s always about pausing when you’re worked up, taking a breath, and asking:
How can I do this in the best possible way?
In a classroom—or any relationship—how we react in those heated moments can:
- Deepen trust and respect
- Or slowly erode the connection
Ashanti doesn’t just tell students to be mindful; he models it:
- He pauses when he’s frustrated
- He takes a breath before responding
- He explains why he’s doing it, so students can see the practice in real time
This gives young people something invaluable:
a living example of how to stay present with strong emotions, and how to choose responses that honor both themselves and others.
Designing Lives with Care and Creativity
The work of the Ever Forward Club shows what can happen when:
- Young people are given space to reflect on what isn’t working
- They’re trusted to name what they want to change
- They’re offered tools—emotional, practical, and creative—to design new possibilities
It’s not about having a perfect plan.
It’s about pausing, noticing, and taking the next kind, intentional step.
When we give students emotional tools, mindful examples, and permission to imagine different futures, we’re not just helping them get through school—we’re helping them design lives that feel more true to who they are.
This interview originally appeared in the February 2018 issue of Mindful in the feature “Is Your Life Designed for You?” by Hugh Delahanty. To learn more about the work of the Ever Forward Club, you can explore their ongoing programs and impact through their organization’s resources.
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