After college, Elizabeth Gutiérrez felt something that a lot of young adults can relate to: loneliness.

Her friends had moved away. She was navigating a new career. And while she had been heavily involved in student-run organizations at the University of Denver, she didn’t have people around her who understood what was happening in her day-to-day life.

She wanted community, quality relationships, and a sense of belonging.

That’s exactly what she found at Ednium.

“We’re social humans, and I think the pandemic has really changed things for a lot of us,” Elizabeth said. “We’re so lonely, and we’re just looking for a space to be together.”

For Elizabeth, quality relationships are rooted in trust, shared experiences, and safety. You feel like you can rely on someone, confide in them, ask questions, or that they understand where you’re coming from. Those relationships are supportive without feeling transactional, she says. They’re not just about networking or getting ahead.

At Ednium, Elizabeth found those relationships through Leadership Launchpad, the Advocacy Accelerator, Denver Deep Dive, a new Alumni Coaching Program pilot, and through her role as vice chair of Ednium’s Alumni Council.

In those spaces, she found opportunities to grow personally and professionally, while building a strong community with other Denver Public Schools alumni.

“I'm very thankful I found Ednium,” Elizabeth said. “I've built a good community, and I've learned to practice professional growth. Ednium has been a safe space for me to do that.”

Finding Quality Relationships

Quality relationships are one of Ednium’s five agency domains, all critical to young adults’ sense of agency. And in our newest research, many young adults in the Denver metro area indicated they may be receiving substantially less frequent social and emotional support than people nationwide.

Overall, just 43% of Ednium survey respondents reported that they “usually” or “always” get the social and emotional support they need. By comparison, 80% of respondents in the National Health Interview Survey reported “usually” or “always” receiving the social and emotional support they need.

Ednium survey respondents also reported low confidence in finding someone to talk to when they need support, and low confidence in finding someone in their community who understands their problems.

These findings emphasize the importance of the quality—versus quantity—of relationships.

Young adults may know a lot of people and still not know who to call when they need support. They may have classmates, coworkers or online connections and still feel alone when they’re navigating difficult situations at work, school, or home.

That’s why meaningful one-on-one connections and ties to community matter. Young adults need spaces where they can connect with others, ask questions, and nurture quality relationships that support their well-being and long-term success.

They also need opportunities to build relationships that support their professional development, including access to mentors, employers, alumni networks, and community leaders who can help them explore careers and discover what’s possible.

Through our programs, including the pilot Alumni Career Coaching Program, this is the work Ednium is doing every day.

An Infrastructure for Career Coaching and Building Community

Elizabeth loved learning, and she excelled at South High School and the University of Denver. But, she says, something was missing from her education: a deeper understanding of how important relationships are to navigating life after school.

“School focuses so much on technical skills, but when we’re in the workplace, the skills that matter are our ability to build relationships with people,” she said.

In college, Elizabeth was active in student organizations, including 1GenU, Volunteers in Partnership, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers. She valued the relationships she built in those spaces, but also struggled to find a clear career path. She switched majors twice before graduating with a degree in marketing, and she wishes she had received more career coaching, work experience, and guidance as she explored career pathways.

That experience is common.

Through our work with local alumni, we have learned that young adults often lack formal, structured pathways to explore careers, build professional networks, and successfully navigate their professional journeys with the ultimate goal of achieving long-term agency and stability.

This gap is especially significant because not all alumni pursue post-secondary education immediately after high school. Some take gap years. Some enter the workforce directly. And others, like Elizabeth, start college, change direction, and still find themselves asking important questions about their purpose.

In many cases, alumni finish their K-12 journey with limited access to career coaching, professional mentors, or resources that would be helpful when they later decide to upskill, reskill, or earn new credentials.

Ednium’s Alumni Coaching Program is designed to meet that need.

Through one-on-one coaching, small group sessions and workshops, alumni at all stages of life receive support tailored to their goals, whether they are exploring career options for the first time, transitioning industries, or pursuing certifications and credentials.

The program also centers quality relationships and creates an infrastructure for alumni to connect and expand access to real-world opportunities.

In Elizabeth’s cohort, participants identified their strengths, practiced new skills, and explored ways to navigate the workforce. But one of the most meaningful parts of the program, Elizabeth says, focused on community building and networking.

Sessions made networking feel less scary and less transactional. Alumni were encouraged to reach out to people, ask questions, be vulnerable, and build relationships because they wanted to learn—not meet an immediate need.

For many young adults, professional networking can feel intimidating, but career coaching helps alumni practice skills that are rarely taught: how to ask for guidance, talk about their goals, connect with people outside their immediate circles, and how to build agency in their own career journeys.

That has helped Elizabeth grow in her own leadership roles. As vice chair of Ednium’s Alumni Council, she has stepped outside of her comfort zone. She describes herself as more introverted, but in her role she leads meetings, collaborates with other council members, communicates with Ednium’s staff, and helps create spaces where other alumni feel welcome.

It has challenged her, she says, and it has also helped her grow.

That’s why Ednium continues to do this work, and why we invite you to learn more about Ednium’s programs and get involved.

Young alumni need technical skills, financial literacy education, and career pathways. But they also need each other—quality relationships and spaces where they can practice leadership, ask for help, and feel like they belong.

“When I think about quality relationships, Ednium already has the space,” Elizabeth said. “It’s just a matter of reaching out to people who might be afraid to step outside their comfort zones and join us.”