Erin Lewellen, Oakland-based CEO of an immersive learning program, says she’s in the business of tilting futures. Lewellen refers to generating what she calls “tilt moments,” which she defines as “when a young person has an experience that fundamentally makes them think about themselves differently but also think about the world and their place in that world differently. And that unlocks where they go next.”
Headquartered in Oakland, nonprofit Tilting Futures provides those transformative experiences through immersive, global learning programs that connect students with hands-on projects and peers from more than 140 countries. Rather than relying solely on traditional classroom instruction, the organization places students in real-world environments where they collaborate across cultures, develop leadership skills, and tackle issues like civic innovation and environmental stability.
Since its founding, the organization has served more than 3,000 students and is working to make experiential learning a more accessible part of higher education.
For today’s students, those opportunities may be more valuable than ever. As young people are growing up in an increasingly interconnected world while navigating rapid technological advancement and political polarization, Lewellen believes that learning to understand and interact with perspectives beyond one’s own is a crucial skill for up-and-coming leaders—one that cannot be purely taught in a textbook.
“I think reading is important,” says Lewellen, “but there are these opportunities in our lives where we recognize maybe our perspective wasn’t fully informed. We recognize that our perspective is really coming from our lived experience. But another person over there has a different lived experience and therefore a different perspective. My perspective isn’t a fact.”
The Tilting Futures program is designed for students ages 17-21 who are eager to adventure beyond their comfort zones and or simply learn new ideas in a fully engaging way. Whether before college, during a gap year or as part of their undergraduate education, often for credit, Lewellen suggests students participate as early as possible.
“I would encourage any parent to try to get their young person to do this early in their college trajectory,” she explains. “As they gain these skills early on, they’re also gaining a better understanding of what they might want to study and how they might want to utilize their degree.”
Furthering their belief in “tilt moments” as intrinsically formative, making programs accessible is also central to Tilting Futures’ mission. Through philanthropic support and partnerships with universities, the organization offers need-based financial aid and is implementing its programs into higher education to make immersive learning more available to more students.
The fact that it’s integrated into higher ed, says Lewellen, is “what creates access at a whole new level.” And with thanks to their philanthropic supporters, she explains, “Some of our tilters pay the entire tuition, and some of them have partial or full financial aid.”
Lewellen makes it clear that Tilting Futures’ programs are for everyone, with a low barrier to entry.
For more info, visit tiltingfutures.org.
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