Promise Team- Max Offerman
In November of 2021, The Kalamazoo Promise added a few new friendly faces to the team to further support the mission and growth of the organization. Over the next month or two, we’ll be introducing you to these individuals by sharing the work they will be engaged in, as well as how they found their way to The Promise.
To kick things off, let’s meet Max Offerman, Promise Pathway Coach at Loy Norrix High School.
Max Offerman joined The Kalamazoo Promise Team as a Promise Pathway Coach in November 2021. Max is a 2016 graduate of Loy Norrix High School and 2020 graduate of Michigan State University.
A 2016 graduate of Loy Norrix High School, Max utilized his Promise at Michigan State University where he earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Studies and Sustainability.
Discovering an academic and career pathway of interest to him didn’t come naturally, so Max sought out external resources to help him decide on the next step.
“I took one of those ‘What’s your major’ quizzes online and the answer it gave me was environmental engineering,” he shared. “I had really strong feelings against math and wasn’t very good at it, so I kind of threw the engineering part out early on. But the environmental part really stuck with me.”
“Growing up, my mom took me to a lot of different national parks and spent a lot of time in nature with me, so it made a lot of sense.”
It was Max’s time spent in East Lansing where he would fully immerse himself in his love and desire for learning all things environmentalism and sustainability, but it wasn’t necessarily the coursework that had the greatest impact.
“Outside of my classes is where I found much of my passion and where I felt the most engaged,” he shared. “I was in a living learning program for environmental related majors. It was called RISE- the Residential Initiative for the Study of the Environment.”
Max credits MSU’s Spartan Sierra Club for the positive impact they had on his time in college.
Through RISE, Max joined the Spartan Sierra Club, MSU’s chapter of the most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States.
“That ended up being one of the best decisions I had ever made. I remember the day after the 2016 election, we petitioned to get our student government to take a stand against the Line 5 pipeline in the Great Lakes. Joining that club gave me an avenue for my passions outside of my classes.”
After graduating from MSU’s College of Agriculture & Natural Resources in 2020, Max landed a job working remotely with a UK-based environmental start-up company.
“I graduated during the midst of the pandemic when things were still really looking kind of bleak.”
It was around this time when Max began to take a deep interest in researching anxiety and depression as it relates to climate change, a niche topic that isn’t widely-discussed amongst professionals working in environmentalism and sustainability.
“I went through those four years in an environmental program without a teacher ever saying, here's what to do if this makes you feel depressed, or here's what to do if this makes you feel anxious. Even though many of us were feeling those emotions, we didn't really have an outlet for it.”
Through his research, Max discovered climate activist, Clover Hogan. After a series of back-and-forth DM’s on Instagram, Max landed a role as social media director and facilitator for Force of Nature.
“We were so aligned on our visions, values, goals, and just being young people facing the climate crisis, as well as the mental health crisis, and wanting to do something about it.”
While working with FON, Max relocated to Los Angeles, California. During his time in the Golden State, Max realized he wanted to change things up just a bit.
“I was ready to switch gears, so I jumped into the freelance gig economy."
Max soon took on roles such as skateboard coach, research assistant for a best-selling author, and personal assistant to Isaias Hernandez. However, he soon found the need for a change.
“At that point, I was balancing four different jobs and it was kind of the first crossroads in my life since graduating college and having to decide which direction I wanted to take my career,” he shared. “I needed to get myself a little more solid footing in order to make those decisions.”
Max would move back to Michigan and begin his search for the next step on his path.
“I don't know what kind of got into me, but I was on Indeed searching for positions as a skateboard coach. Then I thought, let me just type in ‘coach’ and see what comes up. And it just so happened that The Promise was hiring for a Pathway Coach.”
Working with youth and helping them access the wealth of resources available to them through The Promise were just some of the reasons Max was drawn to the position, but it was the opportunity to be the mentor that his younger self could have benefitted from that sealed the deal.
“When I was a senior in high school, nobody ever really told me I could actually build a career path out my interests,” he said. “So when I saw the job posting, I was like sign me up! That sounds like a pretty good way to spend my time.”
As a Promise Pathway Coach, Max works with seniors at Loy Norrix High School to help prepare them to utilize their Promise Scholarship. This includes helping students fill out their Promise Application, Scholarship Acceptance Form, applying to FAFSA, finding additional financial aid opportunities, and helping match student’s interests and skills to an academic and career pathway.
“That senior year is a really critical time where we can provide a lot of hands-on support. Making sure everyone who's eligible for The Promise has the information and support they need to use the scholarship at any point during the 10 years they are eligible.”
Max has quickly established himself in our organization’s culture and takes pride in being part of a team committed to student success.
“When you unite people around a shared mission, and it’s clear how the work that they do contributes to that mission, you make magic happen. Everyone that I see in the office shows up because they genuinely love it here and are genuinely obsessed with this work.”
Outside of the office, Max enjoys designing clothes, reading, skateboarding, snowboarding, making music, and picking up new skills and hobbies, the most recent being rock climbing. Although he keeps a busy schedule, Max still finds the time to create spaces for individuals to talk about eco-anxiety.
“I'm also starting to run these climate cafes at Western Michigan University. They're discussion-based facilitated group sessions meant to unpack different climate emotions. It's really a thinking and feeling space where you can just let it all out and have the chance to unpack some of those more difficult emotions.”
It’s a pleasure to welcome Max Offerman to The Kalamazoo Promise Team!
To connect with Max about questions regarding your scholarship eligibility, applying to college, or about climate sustainability and how to become involved in the conversation, email him today at mofferman@kalamazoopromise.com.
