Building Futures Through Mentorship and Opportunity with Brandon & Ryan Schenck

What starts as a single opportunity can create impact for a lifetime.

In this episode of A Better Way, Leah Barr sits down with brothers Brandon and Ryan Schenck to explore how an early experience through the nonprofit organization For Us shaped not only their futures, but their understanding of mentorship, leadership, and the responsibility to create opportunity for others.

What began as a summer job caddying at a local golf course became a pathway to the Evans Scholarship, higher education, professional careers, and ultimately a return to the very organization that helped launch their journeys.

Together, Brandon and Ryan share how small investments in young people can create ripple effects far beyond what we initially imagine. Through the encouragement of family, mentors, and community members who believed in them, they gained access to opportunities that changed the trajectory of their lives. Today, they are committed to ensuring those same opportunities exist for the next generation.

This conversation explores:

• How mentorship can create lasting impact across generations
• The power of opportunity to change the trajectory of a life
• Why consistency, perseverance, and showing up matter
• The role community plays in helping people reach their potential
• What it means to receive an opportunity—and return it to others
• How impact often begins with a single person willing to invest their time, knowledge, or belief in someone else

At its core, this episode is a story about the ripple effect of impact. It's a reminder that generosity isn't always financial, and that sometimes the most meaningful investments are the ones we make in people.

Whether you're a parent, mentor, nonprofit leader, educator, or someone looking for ways to make a difference, this conversation offers a powerful perspective on how opportunity, when paired with support and intention, can shape lives for decades.

Brandon and Ryan Schenck are brothers and leaders of ForeUs, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing young people through mentorship, opportunity, and golf caddie training. Both are Evans Scholars whose lives were transformed through the program at an early age. Today, Brandon serves as Chairman of the Board and Ryan serves as Chief Operating Officer, helping create pathways for young people to access the same life-changing opportunities that shaped their own futures.