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We are a charitable non-profit organization that provides marketable life skills through media arts, STEM, and youth entrepreneurship.

To date, we‘ve touched the lives of more than 5,000 families across the US & abroad.

Our story began in 1999 with a group of concerned parent volunteers in Burlington County, New Jersey who decided to tap into our networks to help schools provide early exposure to a college education. We started by hosting our very first community event inviting middle and high school youth to hear directly from a panel of college students. To our surprise, hundreds of families showed up and packed the school gymnasium!

We knew that we were onto something...

2003. We continued hosting educational events then integrated family college visits and campus tours. We incorporated as a 501(c)3 and officially formed Beyond Expectations as a charitable organization. Students from our programs were accepted to more than 25 different colleges across the country. As technology started to change, so did we — to ensure young people didn’t get left behind.

2007. We introduced a new Media Arts program as we continued to grow. Through our popular hands-on media production & arts training workshops, students from across the state of New Jersey — including often overlooked teens in the foster care system, worked together as a crew to produce their own short films. We rented out movie theatres, invited youth and families with complimentary popcorn and snacks to watch our original projects on the big screen. The young filmakers hosted a panel following each screening to talk about their experience and answer questions from the audience.

2009. Following the success of our film program, we expanded into broadcast television through partnerships with Riverview Studios in Bordentown and Princeton Community Television - New Jersey’s largest public tv station. Through our Speedcrewing program, students created production schedules, operated camera equipment, and taped original shows that aired across Comcast, Verizon Fios, Apple, and Roku TV. The increased visibility sparked our Young Entrepreneurship Academy to enhance their business savvy, service leadership, and communication skills as new doors began to open.

Introduction to drone technology sessions led by CEO DroneTech UAS Tony Reid who graciously joined us to share his expertise with students at two elementary and middle school STEM Clubs

2018. We continued to grow across the region securing viable public/private partnerships which provided access to STEM through drone technology, then ultimately Esports & Gaming as we had to rethink how to keep students engaged virtually during the isolation of the pandemic. Our focus wasn’t on how to ‘play’ the game but how to ‘run’ the game from a business perspective as Tournament Organizers. In 2021, with fully immersive training from Metafy, we hosted our first ever online Beyond the Hype® charitable Esports tournament. We’ve since partnered with NBA 2K League with exciting projects to come!

2023. As we celebrate 20 years since incorporation, we’ve touched the lives of more than 5,000 families across the US & abroad. We’re still virtual today allowing us to expand our reach to even more young people eager for something new to meet, connect, have fun, and learn together … right where they are.

[check Speakers below then view our Media Interns who helped lead the production this year]