Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Derek Robison. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Derek thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

Pushing Ahead is a 501(c)(3) non profit and charity that strives to empower vulnerable youth through skateboarding.

Derek, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was working at the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Salt Lake. I saw youth wearing shirts with skateboard logos on them. I asked if they skateboarded and they said they only did when they had a chance. I realized that there were several others in the same situations. I started looking into resources to get the kids skateboards. I realized that growing up I always had parts of the skateboard that were still usable after buying new ones. I put a donation box at a local skate shop and gathered donations. I was able to collect enough donations to provide 10 kids skateboards. I realized that there may be more youth that would like to do. I started looking into starting an organization that could do that. I looked around Utah and there wasn’t anything like it. I looked around to other states and there were some other ones. I started asking around to see if others would like to be involved. We were doing a bunch of research to determine what to do. I reached out to people who I know had done similar things. We went through the process of becoming a 501(c)(3) non profit and charity in the state of Utah. As we started we wanted to get the input from the local skateboard community to see what they’d like to share with new skateboarders. We sent out a survey and decided to teach the youth about skateboard history, pro skateboarders, parts of the skateboard, and shapes of the skateboard. We wanted to continue to provide skateboards for our participants. We continue to collect donations and give them out at the conclusion of the program. Most skateboard programs don’t do that. Most introduce them and it’s up to them to get a skateboard. Recently we’ve started exploring the various aspects of skateboarding when it comes to ones mental health. We believe that skateboarding teaches so many life skills that benefit oneself.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think one of the biggest things that help build our reputation is staying in touch with the market. We are always talking with skateshops and getting their input. We are showing them where their donations are going. We talk with them and develop that relationship with them. As we have done that they have been willing to help us out as well. We are talking with organizations we work with to find out what worked and what didn’t. We ask participants different questions and get their input as well. I think something that helped as well was time. We didn’t push or rush anything.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

In the beginning stages we would reach out to organizations to see if they’d be interested. Some of them were interested, but we got a lot of people that never responded. Word of mouth and referrals have been the most impactful for us. They get to hear from other people the benefits they have seen by us coming and interacting with their participants. It helps because skateboarding can have a negative image associated with it. When people hear these stories it allows them to see another side that isn’t shown very much.

Contact Info:

• Website: Pushingahead.org
• Instagram: @pushingahead2017
• Facebook: @pushingahead2017

Image Credits
@wmaxyoung @awimaging @trevorjessemoses