See what happened at our 2025 Draft Day, Take a look →

Not every path runs through college. Ours proves it.

Jumpstart connects youth and employers across Colorado Springs through Draft Day, where students meet the people who are hiring, and take a real first step toward a trade or a career.

A student shakes hands with a hiring employer at the Phil Long table during a Jumpstart Draft Day.A student smiles during an interview with a local employer at Draft Day.
Students at our 2025 automotive Draft Day
Local business partners across the region
Average student rating of the experience

From our October 2025 automotive Draft Day.

Reilly Crisler2003 to 2021 · Our namesake

Named for a young man who believed in a different path

Jumpstart is named for Reilly Crisler, who believed that not every future runs through a college classroom. Founded in 2022 by his parents, Steve and Renee Crisler, the fund carries that belief forward, opening real paths to real careers for the next generation of Colorado Springs youth.

Read Reilly’s story

Draft Day: where students meet real jobs

Our signature event sits local students down for real interviews with the employers who are hiring, for real jobs and apprenticeships. No pamphlets, no browsing. It is the whole idea, made real in one room.

See how Draft Day works
A wide view of the Draft Day room, students and local employers at tables.

Real people, real impact

Every story here is proof of what Reilly believed, that talent just needs a door held open.

A student talks with an employer during a Draft Day interview.A student waits at a partner table during Draft Day interviews.A student interviews at a hospitality partner table during Draft Day.

It was just fun, and it went better than I expected. I have an opportunity for a part-time job this summer at Corwin Toyota.

A Draft Day interview to a summer job opportunity
Peyton, 15
2025 Draft Day participant

I ate up those interviews, and I was told opportunities were available for me at the dealerships I interviewed with.

Interviewed with three local dealerships
Emma, 17
2025 Draft Day participant

I feel very prepared to enter the automotive industry. It gave me a lot of new opportunities.

Left ready to pursue automotive work
Gavin, 19
2025 Draft Day participant
See more from Draft Day

Colorado Springs needs Jumpstart now more than ever

  • The trades gap is real

    Local shops, dealerships, and job sites across the Pikes Peak region are working hard to find their next generation of skilled hands. Jumpstart helps build that local pipeline.

  • Youth deserve more than one path

    Not every future runs through a college classroom. A skilled trade can mean a real wage, a real craft, and a future to be proud of, and Jumpstart helps young people find their way in.

  • Employers want to meet local talent

    Our business partners tell us the same thing: they want to meet motivated young people early. Jumpstart events put students and employers face to face, before the resume ever changes hands.

The impact of doing nothing is too high

When young people lack direction and opportunity, we all pay for it: fewer skilled workers, shops that cannot staff up, and kids whose talent never gets used.

See what Draft Day proves

Built with Colorado Springs

Jumpstart’s work is made possible by local employers across automotive, hospitality, and the trades who show up to Draft Day and hire.

Give a kid a real shot

Every dollar puts a young person in the Pikes Peak region on a paid path to a trade or a career. Give today in Reilly’s memory.

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