Alumni Profile: Chase Coley, Project Success Program Coordinator

Chase Coley, a Washburn High School Project Success alumna, looks back on her high school experience with Project Success fondly.

“Project Success always reminded me that someone cared about me… Project Success made me feel supported in my journey through high school,” she says.

After finishing high school and graduating from the University of Iowa with a degree in International Business Studies and Development and Human Rights in 2018, Chase played professional basketball in Kinna, Sweden for a year. After returning to Minneapolis, Chase returned to Project Success as a staff member.

The switch from professional athlete to Project Success Program Coordinator was intentional. After remembering her inspiring experiences during Washburn workshops with her facilitators, Harley and Naheeda, she wanted to make a similar impact in the world working in the nonprofit sector, particularly with youth. Having experienced the genuine “Kids First” methodology of Project Success first hand, she applied for the program coordinator position and has been a part of the PS team since December 2019!

“I remember being at Washburn in 10th grade in Mr. Schmidt’s classroom and having those conversations with [Harley and Naheeda] and telling them, ‘Oh yeah, I definitely want to work for Project Success when I’m older’.”

Because Chase and her family lived in the suburbs during middle school, her involvement with PS didn’t begin until she moved to Minneapolis during her freshman year of high school. In just three years with PS, she gained insight on herself and expanded her perspective of the world around her.

“Project Success helped me with my confidence in trying new things and talking to new people. It was a comfortable [and] safe community for me to make to friends, try new experiences, and learn about myself.”

Chase attended numerous memorable theater productions with her friends and family through Project Success. She highly regarded seeing shows because of the fantastic performances and the lively familial interactions afterwards. “I remember going to a really good show with great music and lots of dancing with my dad, my friend Dakotah, and her mom, Ana…[we had] an absolute blast at the show.

Now Chase is keen to fulfill inspiring and engaging experiences for our 16,000 students. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Chase, along with all of the PS staff, are hard at work to reach students in as many ways as possible. Most notably, our online cooking show via Instagram Live and our adapted virtual workshops.

Chase has long-term ambitions of eventually moving to Washington D.C to work in education and fulfill her goals to break down barriers for students and ensure that regardless of background or financial status, everyone will have access to opportunities for success.

We’re lucky to have her making a difference here in the Twin Cities as a member of the Project Success team.