Our Mission
Our mission is to empower high school students that are pressured with the weight of the future. Many students feel intimidated with choosing majors and life beyond highschool. GrowWithGuidance is designed to connect them with people who are in those fields, mentors that can provide them with information that gives them clarity and allows them to explore different fields they are interested in. We hope that students feel more confident in their decisions after every conversation.
Who we are
Shresta Chakilam
Founder & CEO
My name is Shresta Chakilam, and I am a sophomore at Natick High School. I founded GrowWithGuidance after going through a difficult time in my own journey. I felt overwhelmed by the uncertainty of my future — I didn’t know what I wanted to major in, what it really took to get into a good college, or whether not having a plan yet meant I was falling behind.
I spent hours searching for someone who could offer real, honest advice and give me some guidance. I then thought, aren’t there other high schoolers like me, facing the same difficulties? I realized that if there were a free, accessible way for students to get the information and mentorship they needed, it could make a real difference.
GrowWithGuidance was created to solve this problem. Thank you to all the mentors who volunteer their time to support the next generation — and to all the high schoolers who join us, I hope this community helps you as much as it helped me.
Elizabeth Olugemo
COO
My name is Ellie Olugemo and I am a sophomore at Natick High School. I am thankful to be a part of GrowWithGuidance - a program doing amazing work for many communities. The topics of school and careers have become such stressors for the youth today and as a high school student, I can resonate with this. One thing I’ve noticed throughout many programs that try to help this problem are the insanely high prices. I am a firm believer that everyone deserves equal access to resources such as ours, regardless of their financial standing, which is why I think GrowWithGuidance is so great. I invite you to join us as a mentor, mentee, or even just a supporter - every contribution and every voice strengthens us.