In response to a drive-by shooting in 1997 that left two Harrison School District students dead and two others imprisoned, our co-founders, Dr. H. Dalton Connor, a periodontal surgeon, and attorney Steven U. Mullens began to design a program to empower students in southeastern Colorado Springs to reach their potential. Through a collaborative effort with Rick Price, the principal of Carmel Middle School, Peak Education was founded with the mission of preventing talent from being wasted. Initially conceived as a scholarship-based incentive program, over more than two decades Peak Education has evolved into a mentoring and college access organization that provides long-term engagement with students and families focused on four strategies for success: developing college and career readiness, building students’ capacity for leadership, fostering full family engagement in their students’ journeys, and creating broad-based community connections. Today, Peak Education is on the move building new partnerships with school districts around the city of Colorado Springs and beyond. We are working to increase access to mentoring and college counseling to ensure that more students are applying to well matched schools and equipped with knowledge about how to navigate the admission and financial aid application processes, as well as how to successfully transition to and through college.