Next Now
Helping students feel ready for the future, starting now
Next Now is a Little But Tall youth program designed to build confidence, expand exposure, and help students see themselves as capable participants in a changing world shaped by innovation, technology, and opportunity.
Program overview
A future-readiness experience rooted in confidence and access
As artificial intelligence, automation, and digital innovation continue to reshape how people learn, work, and communicate, many young people are being left out of the conversation before they ever get a chance to see where they belong. Next Now was created to help close that gap.
This is not a technical training program. It is an exposure and belief-building program that helps students understand that opportunity is not reserved for others. Through age-appropriate, facilitator-led experiences, students are encouraged to imagine what is possible, explore future-focused ideas, and recognize that the future includes them too.
Why it matters
Many students are growing up in a world shaped by AI, automation, and rapid digital change without enough exposure to what those shifts mean for their future.
Next Now helps close that gap by focusing on confidence, belonging, and opportunity, especially for students in underserved communities.
The program reminds young people that they do not need personal devices, prior experience, or a technical background to imagine themselves in tomorrow’s world.
What the program looks like
Designed for schools, communities, and accessible participation
Next Now is intentionally designed so students do not need laptops, tablets, or personal accounts to participate. Sessions can be led with one shared screen, discussion, paper and markers, movement, and role-play. That makes the program practical, low-barrier, and ready for real-world school and community settings.
By removing technology access barriers and keeping the format flexible, Next Now helps students focus on curiosity, confidence, and future awareness without feeling excluded by what they do not have.
Program design
Facilitator-led and discussion-based
No individual student devices required
Works with one shared screen, paper, movement, role-play, and conversation
Age-appropriate and school-friendly
Focused on confidence, exposure, and future awareness rather than technical training
Grade-banded approach
Age-appropriate experiences that grow with students
Each version of Next Now is designed to meet students where they are developmentally while helping them build confidence, curiosity, and awareness about the future.
Curiosity, confidence, imagination, and basic awareness
Early Elementary (K–2)
Students are introduced to the idea that technology can help people solve problems and that their own ideas matter. Activities focus on imagination, simple instruction-following, and future-oriented drawing and discussion.
Awareness, critical thinking, and creativity
Upper Elementary (Grades 3–5)
Students explore how technology learns from patterns, supports creativity, and can be used as a tool for learning. Sessions encourage students to ask questions, think critically, and imagine future careers and possibilities.
Identity, relevance, and opportunity awareness
Middle School (Grades 6–8)
Students examine how technology already appears in everyday life while discussing human strengths, fairness, personal skills, and the importance of understanding how tools influence the world around them.
Agency, ethics, pathways, and real-world relevance
High School (Grades 9–12)
Students engage more directly with communication, digital responsibility, ethics, future careers, and how technology can support, but never replace, human value and decision-making.
For partners and schools
A school-friendly, low-risk way to open doors early
Next Now is built to help Little But Tall pilot thoughtfully, learn from students and partners, and grow only when ready. It offers schools and community partners a practical way to introduce future-focused ideas without requiring a full technology lab or specialized equipment.
The goal is not scale for its own sake. The goal is meaningful exposure, stronger confidence, and early opportunity awareness that can help students see new possibilities for themselves.
Program strengths
Flexible enough for real schools and communities
Next Now is designed to meet students where they are. Sessions can be adapted for different ages, group sizes, and available resources while keeping confidence, exposure, and future awareness at the center.
Bring Next Now to your students
Open a conversation about future readiness
Schools, community organizations, mentors, and guest speakers can help students explore new possibilities and see themselves as part of the future.