A Door Opened: Rural Up Co-Founder Kevin Smith on the Power of Work-Based Learning

When Kevin Smith, co-founder and board chair of Rural Up, talks about why Work-Based Learning matters, he does not speak in abstractions. He speaks from lived experience, an experience that shaped the course of his life.
As a student at what was then Union College, Kevin served as president of the business club. He was focused on his studies, but like many young people, had not yet discovered the impact that networking and real-world connections could have on his future.
One day, a professor invited the business club to attend a chamber meeting where local business leaders would be present. The idea was simple: meet people, practice soft skills, and begin learning how to navigate professional spaces.
Kevin expected a good learning opportunity.He did not expect his life to change.
“At that meeting, I’ll never forget it,” Kevin recalls. “It literally changed my life.”
In the room that day was a branch manager from what was then National City Bank, now PNC. After meeting Kevin, the manager off ered him a job. Not just any job, but one that was designed to work around Kevin’s class and athletic schedule, one that provided support, mentorship, and a sense of professional trust that made a lasting impact.
“He believed in me,” Kevin said. “He gave me an opportunity, and that was something I really needed as a student.”
That opportunity gave Kevin more than just income. It gave him confi dence and taught him how to network. It showed him the power of being seen and supported by someone in his own community. Those lessons stayed with him, shaping his own commitment to creating opportunities for the next generation.
Today, that commitment is woven into the Union Commonwealth University Presidential Fellows Program, powered by Rural Up. The program aims to provide students with the same kind of transformative experience Kevin received: mentorship, real-world skills, and pathways to meaningful careers right here in Eastern Kentucky.
This new program is working to create many more of those moments that will forever shape students’ futures, open doors, build confi dence, and continue to strengthen Appalachian communities one opportunity at a time.