Our Story

In 1965, Congress passed Title I, a public education Act, with funds of $600 - $1,000 per pupil in subsidy for poorly performing, marginalized students. The published intent was to inspire innovation. Best practices could break the syndrome of perpetual low academic achievement of chronically poor public school communities.

In 1968 we asserted a new purpose for public education:

“Purpose of publication is student guidance to discovery”

• a sense of self - Who am I
• a purposeful focus - In what direction am I headed
• Goals - what measurable targets ensure purposefulness 
• Foundation Skills that enable me to navigate the culture with confidence, power, dignity. 

In 1970, the Los Angeles Unified School Districts Board of Education granted Williams the first Charter for Innovative Program School (IPS).

Five decades and $1 trillion later, no publication of a successful innovation exists to be nationally imitated.

Transitions create an opportunity for growth and transformation.

Middle School is the crucial time for students. This is a time to strengthen foundations skills. Failure to successfully navigate this transition dooms the child to a tragic life trajectory.  

GoalTenders had its genesis in slavery. Slavery is ultimate exclusion. The exclusion of slavery inflicts invisible injury upon every excluded person that can last life-long even generations long: Fractured integrity, destroyed confidence, self-loathing, diminished aspirations, depression, fits of rage, and more. In the 1800s, resilient slaves came together in mutual support as a church congregation. Even a field hand could be Deacon in the church.

The preponderance of U.S. immigrants of any ethnicity, confined to Balkanized tribal ghettos, suffered exclusion’s invisible, undiagnosed, untreated injuries. Their unexpressed and untreated rage still finds expression in vulnerability to insurrectionist conspiracy peddlers – slowing our nation’s aspiration for ‘a more perfect union’.Our founder, Caldwell Williams, an 90-year-old, UCLA ’57 Grad”, grandson of slaves, looked for the opportunity presented by racial exclusion. He observed three skillsets – foundation skills – crucial to self-reliant inclusion. 

In 1970, Williams was granted California’s first public school Charter. Innovative Program School (IPS) elevated mindfulness to co-equal focus with conventional cognitive learning. Williams was excoriated by central administration for introducing ‘un-American concepts’ to West Los Angeles Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard-bound youth. Meditation, Yoga, Thai Chi were still three decades from conventional cultural embrace.  After eight successful years of innovation, IPS seemed worthy of Title I consideration to be explored as a ‘best practice’ model to be replicated. Instead, IPS was excoriated. 

Eight IPS years were followed by 20 years of corporate consultation/trainings. Xerox, Hughes, TRW, Pac Bell UCLA’s Men’s Basketball Team, and Nestle were clients who embraced the new skills-based training curriculum. When others across the broad American demographic of race, age, gender class and region showed measurable benefits.  

Williams refined focus to create a skilled-based curriculum that features the following skillsets:

1) Achievement - A Road Map with a hands-on Daily Guide;  2) Empowering Dialogue, with a focus upon Listening; and, 3) Assertive Management of Change, a choice to not feeling victimized. 

This curriculum has been proven successful with K12 families, corporate executives & employees, veterans of military, sports, and law enforcement. And that’s how this highly acclaimed and in-demand program, GoalTenders was developed.