Fast Forward: Helping Students Accelerate Their Careers
Pichon Duplan ’10 is the co-founder of Fast Forward, a social impact organization to help students accelerate their careers. Duplan and his co-founder Tucker Matheson founded the organization in November 2016, while they were working as management consultants at a global professional services firm.
The Idea
“The idea for Fast Forward originally came from our attempt to address the problem that four out of five college students today are graduating without full-time jobs,” says Duplan.
To begin their journey, Duplan and Matheson co-authored and self-published their first book, Fast Forward: What Is Your College Degree Worth? and then went on to create multiple platforms to help young leaders make intentional decisions to maximize their time and investment in school. They are currently partnering with several colleges and universities as well as the Boston Chamber of Commerce and top Boston organizations to design unique programs and initiatives aligned with their mission.
“My favorite Fast Forward experience is being able to interact directly with students, our future leaders of the world,” says Duplan. “Being able to help students develop and achieve their life long goals has always been a passion of mine and to be able to do that through multiple platforms in a unique and exciting way is a dream come true and the story continues with Fast Forward.”
Fast Forward
Fast Forward’s business model is creating a win-win ecosystem of companies, schools, students and the city. This is where deeper relationships are formed and content evolves based on current and future trends making the educational and career system more relevant to each student’s career journey. Fast Forward has a number of offerings that create a high energy and interactive environment and make the career process fun again for everyone! Fast Forward’s service offerings include:
Book: Fast Forward: What is your college degree worth?
Launched in November 2016 and is now available on Amazon in print and ebook. In addition to three key concepts that help students maximize their time and investment in school, the book also spotlights the stories of several game changers, innovators, and disruptors who are following their career passions and making an impact on their communities. These individuals serve as living proof that students can make their dreams and aspirations a reality after college.
YouTube: Day In The Life Video Series
The Fast Forward YouTube channel was created to spotlight different careers and career trends through short and engaging videos so students can be aware of what is out there to start taking their steps towards their own careers.
The X Boston event is an immersive experience for college student leaders to get exposure to a variety of careers, companies, trends, and thought leadership. Students will be able to connect with their peers and community leaders to share the experience and accelerate their careers. This is Boston’s orientation for the future leaders of the community!
Workshops: Start Your Hustle Program
The Start Your Hustle program is a high impact one-day accelerator program for undergrad and graduate students to turn their career plans into actions by working with top young professionals and community leaders. Workshops are held multiple times throughout the year. Students will walk away with everything they need to immediately start outreach for job experience – including:
- High quality resume, cover letter, brand and online presence
- Differentiated sales pitch
- Understanding of how to interview to get results
- Defined career plan and next steps including potential leads and connections to pursue
“Since launching in November 2016, Fast Forward has helped over 1,000 students through our X Boston events, Start Your Hustle programs, A Day In The Life video series, speeches and workshops in the Boston community. They have also distributed over 2,000 copies of our book,” says Duplan.
The Babson Community
Duplan credits Babson for his, “entrepreneurial mindset,” teaching him how to think like an entrepreneur. “If you have a strong desire to execute on an idea that solves a challenge, start it and refine it along the way,” says Duplan. This is the mindset Duplan and Matheson used to start Fast Forward. They found a challenge, came up with an idea, and executed to create a solution.
The Future
For 2018, Fast Forward has a goal of getting 1,000 students job experience (internships, full-time opportunities, etc.) at Boston’s top organizations. To accomplish that, they are leveraging their ecosystem of relationships with the top 20+ Boston area colleges/universities; top organizations and the city itself, to take the noise out of the recruiting process and help companies connect with the right students with the right skill sets.
Fast Forward partners with top organizations in Boston to help their talent teams create a diverse campus recruiting pipeline of students that matches their business needs and talent profile. Corporate partners are also plugged into the Fast Forward programing for the community’s top student leaders such as the X Boston events, held each Fall and Spring semester in Boston and their Start Your Hustle workshops throughout the year.
About the Team
While at Babson, Duplan cofounded a nonprofit organization called iStandAbove (iSA) which equips students with leadership tools and resources to become the best version of themselves. He was nominated to serve on his company’s National Staff Council and to lead the Northeast Staff Advisory Council, working with senior leadership to create a true and unique development experience for the company’s staff. In addition, he was elected to lead an Advisory Board of the Managing Market Partner for the Northeast region of his company to provide their perspective and potential solutions to business and diversity and inclusion issues and topics. Duplan is a Green Belt in Six Sigma. His leadership and entrepreneurial endeavors fueled his passion for helping students achieve their life long goals.
Outside of management consulting, Matheson previously taught for three years as an adjunct professor at his alma mater, Suffolk University, and is now a member of Suffolk’s Young Alumni Advisory Board. Matheson was also nominated to lead a thirty-eight-member National Staff Council, providing recommendations on pressing topics and company initiatives to his company’s senior leadership team. Matheson is a Certified Public Accountant in MA. His experience teaching and coaching students and his leadership roles within the company he works for inspired his eagerness to give back and help other college students jump-start their careers.
To learn more about Fast Forward, visit https://www.pressff.com/or reach out to info@pressff.com to join the movement.