Professional relationships fundamentally shape career trajectories, as evidenced by extensive research from LinkedIn, MIT, and Stanford. These studies reveal that successful advancement relies on a strategic combination of strong ties (close relationships) and weak ties (broader acquaintances). The data is compelling: referred candidates are four times more likely to secure positions, with a 50% interview advancement rate compared to 12% for non-referred applicants. Most significantly, relationships with professionals from different socioeconomic backgrounds can unlock previously inaccessible opportunities, leading to sustainable career growth. This research validates what many have experienced: meaningful professional connections create ongoing access not just to job opportunities, but to industry insights, mentorship, and career guidance.
The Digital Paradox
Today’s digital landscape has paradoxically made authentic connection more challenging while making job applications more accessible. Adults spend 6-10 hours daily on smartphones, and millions engage primarily with AI companion bots rather than humans. This digital isolation, as sociologist Robert Putnam presciently warned in “Bowling Alone,” erodes the fundamental skills needed for building authentic professional relationships. The rise of AI-driven hiring processes and automated applications has created an environment where standing out becomes increasingly difficult. While technology offers powerful tools for connection, it often leads to surface-level interactions rather than the meaningful relationships that drive career advancement.
Nitzan Pelman’s Vision and Innovation
During her tenure as LinkedIn’s entrepreneur in residence, Nitzan Pelman observed a critical pattern: while over half of successful candidates secured positions through referrals, this advantage was unevenly distributed. Lower-income job seekers often lacked access to professional networks, creating a systemic barrier to economic mobility. This insight led to founding Climb Hire, combining technical training with systematic social capital development.
The program focused on teaching relationship-building skills that many candidates naturally possessed through family connections or elite education. The results were transformative: 80% of graduates doubled their income within one year, demonstrating that when provided with both technical skills and relationship-building strategies, talented job seekers could dramatically accelerate their career trajectories. This success proved that social capital development could be systematically taught and scaled.
The Evolution: Climb Together – Transforming Alumni-Jobseeker Connections
Building on Climb Hire’s success, Nitzan Pelman launched Climb Together to help education and workforce organizations develop comprehensive social capital strategies. The initiative addresses a fundamental challenge: job seekers rarely initiate contact with alumni from their institutions, missing valuable opportunities for career advancement.
The 14-module curriculum builds expertise in relationship cultivation through systematic skill development. Students begin by understanding social capital fundamentals, with research showing that 50% of jobs come through referrals. They learn sophisticated communication techniques including active listening, strategic questioning, and non-verbal cues. The curriculum teaches compelling narrative development, helping participants craft and adapt their stories for different professional contexts through “show don’t tell” techniques.
Advanced modules focus on relationship deepening through homophily – finding shared interests and experiences that build authentic connections. Students learn LinkedIn strategies for thoughtfully identifying and engaging alumni. The program covers professional code-switching, overcoming setbacks (“broken wings”), celebrating failures as growth opportunities, and mastering the “Goldilocks ask” – specific, actionable requests that take under five minutes to fulfill.
Goldi, the program’s innovative AI conversation bot, provides personalized practice in four essential scenarios: crafting impactful personal introductions, developing engaging open-ended questions, identifying common ground for authentic connections, and timing appropriate requests. This technology-enhanced approach builds confidence while providing real-time feedback on relationship-building techniques before students engage with actual alumni.
Institutions can implement this transformative program through two pathways: an asynchronous Coursera course with integrated AI practice, or a train-the-trainer model where faculty deliver the curriculum directly. Both options create systematic approaches that empower job seekers to initiate and cultivate the professional relationships that lead to referrals and career opportunities.
Building Economic Mobility Through Relationships
Research from economist Raj Chetty demonstrates that connections across socioeconomic levels are key drivers of economic advancement. Climb Together operationalizes this insight by helping educational institutions create “social capital flywheels” – sustainable systems where alumni and current students build meaningful relationships that generate career opportunities.
The program transforms how institutions approach career development by teaching systematic relationship-building skills that lead to referrals and job placements. Rather than leaving professional connections to chance, Climb Together provides structured pathways for students to connect with alumni effectively. Through its comprehensive curriculum and AI-powered practice tools, the program helps institutions scale their impact on economic mobility.
By implementing Climb Together’s approach, educational organizations create lasting value for both current students and alumni. Students gain access to career opportunities through authentic relationships, while alumni strengthen their professional networks and contribute meaningfully to their institution’s mission. This mutual benefit system creates a sustainable cycle of opportunity that continues to grow as more graduates join the alumni network.
A Vision Shaped Through Leadership Experience
As founding Executive Director of Citizen Schools New York, Nitzan Pelman pioneered programs connecting under-resourced students with learning opportunities beyond traditional classrooms. This early work revealed how relationships could transform educational outcomes, especially for middle school students.
Later, as founder of ReUp Education, Nitzan Pelman helped over 100,000 students complete their college degrees by developing innovative re-enrollment and support systems. This experience deepened her understanding of how systematic approaches could scale educational impact.
Her recognition as a Presidential Leadership Scholar and Aspen Institute Ascend Fellow validated these innovative approaches. Support from major funders including Schmidt Futures, Walmart.org, the Gates Foundation, and MacKenzie Scott has enabled her current work through Climb Together to transform how institutions develop social capital for career advancement.
Early mentors, notably Teach for America’s Cami Anderson, shaped her leadership philosophy of balancing organizational impact with sustainable practices – an approach that continues to inform Climb Together’s development.
Future Directions
In an era where AI increasingly mediates hiring processes, Nitzan Pelman is pioneering a transformative approach: using technology to strengthen rather than replace human connections. Through Climb Together, she’s creating systemic change in how institutions develop social capital. The initiative helps organizations build capacity for connecting job seekers and alumni meaningfully, unlocking referrals and opportunities through authentic relationship building.
By combining sophisticated training content, AI-powered practice tools, and flexible implementation models, Climb Together offers a scalable solution to workforce development’s enduring challenge: helping talented job seekers access opportunities through professional relationships. The initiative recognizes that while technology can facilitate connections, economic mobility ultimately depends on human relationships cultivated with intention and skill.
Climb Together’s approach demonstrates that workforce development success requires both innovation and human-centered design. As institutions adopt these systematic methods for teaching relationship-building skills, they create sustainable pathways for economic advancement that benefit both job seekers and alumni communities.
