Your future is yours to imagine. And yours to build.
An interactive educational experience helping students discover who they are, explore what's possible, and build the confidence to take intentional action toward the futures they envision.
For high schools and colleges. Led live, on your campus, by founder Tiana Rae Burnett.
Speaking engagements · Pilot opportunities · School partnerships
What happens when
we show up?
Not a lecture. Not a brochure. A room full of students challenging their assumptions, hearing honest stories, and starting to see new possibilities for themselves.
Honest, engaging discussions about identity, ambition, uncertainty, outside expectations, and creating opportunities where they don't yet exist.
Thought-provoking prompts and interactive exercises help students name their strengths, interests, values, and the expectations shaping their decisions.
Students translate what they discover into a personalized roadmap of possibilities, people to connect with, and practical next steps.
Tiana Rae Burnett.
The auntie with a plan.
Entrepreneur, experiential educator, creative developer, and founder of Alignment Auntie. Tiana has built physical spaces for people to explore their potential, mentored emerging entrepreneurs, and facilitated learning experiences at universities and with civic and cultural organizations.
She knows what it means to pursue a vision, create opportunities where they don't exist, change direction, and keep building. That's why students connect with her, and why every session starts with honest conversation instead of a script.
The gap between graduation and
what comes next.
Postsecondary gaps are rarely a motivation problem. Students move through high school without structured identity development, without guided planning, and without anyone connecting who they are to where they could go.
A college fair. A single workshop. A brochure. Without consistent support and a framework students can return to, the momentum disappears long before an application is submitted.
Identity first. Clarity second. Action third. Sustained mentorship throughout. The Expansion Experience™ builds the self-knowledge that makes every next step feel deliberate, not assigned.
A generation that doesn't just get accepted somewhere. They choose their path, pursue it, and follow through, because they know exactly why it matters and what they're building toward.
Workshops delivered with the City of Boston's Office of Youth Employment & Career Development, and at Harvard University for the W.E.B. Du Bois Research Fellows serving students from HBCUs across the country. The full high school implementation is now being offered to pilot school partners.
Student Confidence. Future Readiness.
Meaningful Action.
Schools, colleges, and community leaders are under real pressure to show student progress. The Expansion Experience™ is designed to work upstream, at the source of student confidence and follow-through. Measurable outcomes like FAFSA completion, applications, scholarships, and enrollment become practical expressions of that growth, not the whole story.
Counselor caseloads well above recommended ratios, uneven FAFSA completion, and postsecondary enrollment gaps that persist despite strong classroom instruction. Existing supports rarely reach students consistently enough to change the outcome.
Workforce alignment, credential attainment, and equitable access across zip codes. Leaders need programming that supports measurable progress across those indicators, not another one-off event.
Our belief: when students build real self-knowledge and a plan they own, they're better positioned to finish applications, submit FAFSA, and follow through. The work is designed to support those metrics by supporting the student first.
"Bright futures and lasting self-trust don't come from single interventions. They come from stable, sustained support that stays with students through every transition."
One connected journey.
From self-discovery to aligned action.
The Expansion Experience™ is a carefully designed developmental journey that begins with self-discovery and ends with aligned action.
Students move through the framework as a single, connected experience. They begin with the Foundation Workshop, build the first version of their Personal Pathway Plan, deepen it across three pillars of focus, and carry it forward into whatever comes next.
The result is a student who doesn't just know what's expected of them, but who they are, what they want to build, and how to move toward it with alignment and confidence.
The Foundation Workshop.
The starting line for every student.
"Before we ask students where they're going, we ask them who they are. Everything else comes from that."
- 01Grounding
A settled arrival. Students land in the room fully before the work begins.
- 02Story-Opening
Facilitators share their own path, an invitation, not a lecture.
- 03Personal Pathway Plan
Students build the first version of the Personal Pathway Plan.
- 04What They Leave With
Their plan, guided reflection prompts, and access to what comes next.
Every campus is different. So is every path in.
The Foundation is an interactive educational experience helping students explore who they are, recognize what's possible, and develop the confidence to take intentional steps toward their futures. Available through professional speaking engagements and institutional partnerships, with a limited number of complimentary or sponsored pilot experiences reserved for qualifying school partners.
A 60 to 90 minute interactive educational experience facilitated by Tiana Rae Burnett. Designed for institutions with budgets for guest speakers, student development, enrichment, or educational programming.
Starting engagement fee: $1,500. Final pricing depends on scope, audience, travel, and customization.
A limited number of complimentary or sponsored introductory experiences for qualifying schools and educational partners, intended to expand access, build new school relationships, and gather feedback as The Expansion Experience™ grows.
Availability is limited and reviewed individually through the inquiry process.
Customized multi-session experiences built around Roots, Reach, and Rise, with deeper student exploration, personalized planning, and intentional follow-through. For cohorts, schoolwide initiatives, colleges, and districts.
Pricing provided through a customized proposal.
Organizations, businesses, foundations, and community partners can help make The Expansion Experience™ accessible to schools with limited programming budgets by sponsoring campus experiences. Sponsorship creates opportunities for students to explore their potential while supporting meaningful educational programming.
The Personal Pathway Plan.
Built the first day. Refined for years. Not a worksheet completed once, a living roadmap the student owns and returns to as clarity grows.
- ✓Identity + values01Who I am at the core.
- ✓Strengths + edge02What I bring that no one else does.
- ✓Vision + impact03The change I want to be part of.
- ✓Program shortlist04The real programs pointed at my vision.
- ✓Mentors + network05The people already in my corner.
- ✓Funding + resources06How this actually gets paid for.
- ✓Application plan07Deadlines, drafts, decisions.
- ✓Next 90 days08The move I make on Monday.
Roots · Reach · Rise. The foundation of the experience.
Three pillars structure every student's journey through the Expansion Experience™, from the first question of self-discovery to the measurable action plan they walk away with.
- Strengths
- Values
- Interests
- Confidence
- Identity
- Personal reflection
Self-awareness, the ground everything else stands on.
- Careers
- Community colleges & universities
- Certifications & apprenticeships
- Mentors & networking
- Scholarships & community resources
- Impact
A vision of contribution, pointed at real programs and real paths.
- Action plans
- Networking strategies
- Mentorship
- Accountability
- Financial planning
- Applications & measurable next steps
A funded, mentored, actioned plan the student owns.
How it all fits.
One journey, start to next step.
Your introductory experience.
Our educational methodology.
Ways institutions implement the program.
- 01Foundation
The introductory experience and a first Personal Pathway Plan.
- 02Roots
Self-discovery: values, strengths, identity.
- 03Reach
Exploring careers, programs, mentors, resources.
- 04Rise
Action planning with real, measurable next steps.
- 05Pathway Plan
A living roadmap the student owns.
- 06Continued Support
Mentorship and accountability through what comes next.
Same framework. A bigger campus.
For college students, The Expansion Experience™ helps students make intentional use of the opportunities around them, from academic programs and mentorship to internships, professional networks, creative projects, and entrepreneurship. Students explore how their interests connect with their ambitions and develop actionable plans for making the most of their campus experience.
Designed to continue beyond graduation.
As the program grows, our vision is for students to keep access to mentorship, opportunities, accountability, and resources as they navigate what comes next. Community college, a four-year university, a technical program, entrepreneurship, an apprenticeship, service, or a path they build in real time.
This is where the self-trust students build gets tested and strengthened, and where the Personal Pathway Plan becomes lived experience. Long-term support is in development and scoped with each partner.
"She had the grades. She had the offers. Financial aid didn't cover it. With a plan she owned, community college became a strategic first step, not a fallback. She is not behind. She is forward."
A composite example of the kind of pathway this work supports.
Four levels of intended student growth.
The Expansion Experience™ is designed to strengthen student confidence, self-awareness, and intentional decision-making while supporting measurable progress toward educational and professional goals. Expanded partnerships are designed to track these four levels.
Session attendance, lab participation, family engagement, canvas completion, program touchpoints.
FAFSA started and submitted, applications submitted, share of students applying to a postsecondary path, scholarships applied.
Pre- and post-program growth in student confidence, clarity, and self-trust. Family and staff confidence in student trajectory.
Continued mentorship engagement, mentor connections made, credits and credentials earned, internships accessed, funding secured after graduation.
Every implementation is customized.
Choose the pathway that matches your community's readiness. Every proposal is designed around your students, your calendar, and your goals.
Ideal for pilot programs, small cohorts, or summer bridge implementations. A focused window to introduce the framework, deliver the Foundation Workshop, and prove the model with a first group of students.
The flagship program delivered across one academic semester. The full Roots · Reach · Rise journey, Personal Pathway Plan development, mentor touchpoints, and outcomes reporting.
Deep integration across the school year, with expanded mentorship, family engagement, cross-cohort continuity, and long-term student development woven into your existing college and career infrastructure.
Every partnership may include a combination of the following. The final scope is designed with your team.
Pricing is never public. Every partnership is scoped around the factors that make your community distinct.
Every partnership begins with a discovery conversation.
Discuss a Partnership →The Forward Fund.
When the plan is ready, the resources should be too.
Removing the financial barriers between a student's plan and their next step.
The Forward Fund is the philanthropic initiative of The Expansion Experience™ currently in development, envisioned to resource students directly after they've moved through the program. When a student's Personal Pathway Plan calls for a specific next step, the Fund is being designed to help make it possible.
As it is built, the Fund will be supported through partnerships with individual donors, corporations, foundations, and public grants. Its nonprofit structure is under exploration, and the Fund is not yet accepting contributions.
Real needs. Real students. Real momentum.
Tell us about your students. We'll shape the rest.
Every campus has different needs and resources. Let's explore how we can bring this experience to your students.
- High schools and school districts
- Colleges and universities
- City and municipal youth offices
- Nonprofits and community-based organizations
- Businesses, foundations, and sponsors aligned with youth access
Not sure which pathway fits? Choose "Not Sure Yet" and we'll figure it out together.