Austin Buchan on Democratizing Access to College and Helping Students Cope with Failure

Austin Buchan is the CEO of College Forward, which is a nonprofit that coaches students from underserved backgrounds to achieve the benefits of higher education and a college degree.  One of the central tenants of College Forward is the belief that everyone who wants to go to college can go to college. College Forward helps universities build and implement student coaching programs that increase retention, persistence, and graduation. Connect with Austin on Twitter and learn more about College Forward at this link. In the episode, Austin and I discuss: How Austin got started in education by building a program for high school students on a rural island in Nicaragua The one practice that all university presidents should institute and the one practice they should eliminate Why the students that College Forward serves have more grit and perseverance than most of the population The notable failures that Austin experienced as the CEO for College Forward How to create an environment where employees are willing to raise their hands and challenge the leadership How to know when to kill a project that you started. - Get your FREE copy of my e-book. Text OZAN to 345345 or navigate to weeklycontrarian.com to download a free copy of my e-book, The Contrarian Handbook: 8 Principles for Innovating Your Thinking. Along with your free e-book, you’ll get the Weekly Contrarian — a newsletter that challenges conventional wisdom and changes the way we look at the world (plus access to exclusive content for subscribers only). Don’t want to miss future episodes? Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review on iTunes or Google Play. As always, thanks for listening.