Career Launch

— A Social Enterprise —

 OUR STORY

Although Career Launch was founded in 2018, the substance and origins of our programs were founded in the lived experiences of Sean, Marieli, Johnny, and Lori. Sean attended Diablo Valley Community College and transferred to University of California, Santa Barbara. With the help from an career advisor, he began using the “Student Card” to proactively and thoughtfully create social capital from scratch with employers of interest. These efforts enabled him to tap into the hidden job and internship market and earn three highly competitive internships and then a job upon graduation — despite not having pre-existing connections in his desired industry nor having the best grades. 
Feeling fortunate and grateful, in 2010, Sean began paying it forward by teaching at Santa Clara University. In 2016, Sean was asked to design and teach a class for students in the university’s first-generation student program. The results were significant and Dr. Erin Kimura-Walsh, Director of the First-Generation Student Program, urged the creation of Career Launch.
In 2018, the Career Launch social enterprise was born. Marieli, who as a sophomore Civil Engineering first-generation student, followed the Career Launch Method to create relationships with professionals from scratch, and earned a paid civil engineering internship after her sophomore year. The internship was never posted online; she accessed it by proactively tapping into the hidden job and internship market. The internship was a great experience that boosted Marieli's self-confidence and propelled her to receive multiple internship offers and then multiple job offers prior to graduation. 

Beginning in Spring of 2019, Sean and Marieli were invited to speak at conferences and provide keynotes to share about their methods, frameworks, programs, partnerships and success stories. Then, in summer 2019, Career Launch received encouragement and funding from Santa Clara University to scale impact.  In late 2020, The Career Leadership Collective teamed up with Career Launch to help more colleges amplify their efforts and impact more students.  

Lori and Johnny were early adopters of Career Launch. Lori was the Director of the Career Center at Seattle Pacific University and Johnny was the Director of Student Equity at Moorpark Community College. After implementing Career Launch over multi-years and then reflecting the impact the partnership had on staff, faculty, and students, Lori and Johnny decided to join the Career Launch leadership team to scale impact beyond their institutions. 

In 2022, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities asked Career Launch to be a strategic partner because of the results Hispanic Serving Institutions have produced from partnering with Career Launch. 

In 2023, the Pell Institute asked Career Launch to be a research partner because of Career Launch's experience in data collection and evidence-based research related to career readiness and strategic social capital. 

Career Launch is proud to have partnerships with 4-year public and private colleges, 2-year colleges, non-profit organizations, high schools, high school districts, county offices of education, and workforce agencies. 
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Schedule an exploratory call to learn more about partnering with Career Launch

Schedule an exploratory call to learn more about partnering with Career Launch

Our Story

Sean O'Keefe is the Founder and Chief Impact Officer of Launch Your Career. He is an Award-winning Professor and Career Coach.

What began as a personal strategy to land a job with the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland A’s, evolved over the years during his time as a Jesuit university professor into the official Career Launch Method. This method teaches students the power of cold networking for career success.

Many students have expressed immense gratitude for the career readiness accountability and empowerment that led to life-enhancing internships and jobs. Since 2018, we’ve paid it forward by providing coaching to thousands of students, of all ages, backgrounds, and programs of study. Our students have landed with companies and organizations across the globe in countless industries.