2009

Mark and Becky Levin meet with what will become the founding leadership and board of The Possible Zone to ideate about how to leverage their collective insights, networks, and resources to help to bridge the opportunity divide in the greater Boston metropolitan area.

2010

Early iterations on ideas for what will become The Possible Zone are explored, pressure-tested, and refined.

2011

The Possible Zone—then “The Possible Project”—becomes operational and welcomes the first cohort of students from Cambridge high schools.

TPZ receives its first donation and its founders conduct an extensive national listening tour with academic, industry, and nonprofit experts to inform the development of an entrepreneurship curriculum.

2012

TPZ makes its first home at 955 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge (1,000 square feet).

2013

TPZ holds its first gala, Powering Possibilities. Hosted by the Museum of Science, this event celebrated the accomplishments of TPZ students, attracted over 250 people, and raised over $350,000. Guests were invited to meet TPZ student entrepreneurs, participate in live tech demos, and learn about their partnerships with local startups.

TPZ launches two in-house enterprises, Made Possible and We Sell Possible.

• Through Made Possible, students partner with local businesses to create promotional items.
• Through We Sell Possible, young people gain work-based learning experiences, building skills in electronics refurbishment, data sanitization, and e-commerce operations.

2014

TPZ creates Project Fabulous, an event to celebrate women’s leadership and provide networking opportunities for women throughout the year.

2015

TPZ acquires its first makerspace at 107 Portland Street in Cambridge, courtesy of the Cambridge Housing Authority and a transformational gift of $500,000 from Biogen, allowing students to expand the kinds of products they can create.

TPZ establishes its first corporate partnership with the hand-crafted paper greeting card company, LovePop, which became foundational in the development of TPZ’s makerspace programming.

2016

TPZ adds an additional 7,500 square feet of space to the program as it moves from 955 Massachusetts Avenue to 17 Sellers Street in Cambridge (9,000 sq ft).

TPZ establishes its first Boston Public Schools partnership with Madison Park Technical Vocational High School, the only technical vocational high school located within the city of Boston. TPZ offers its programming in the school and adds an additional makerspace.

2017

TPZ incorporates design-thinking STEM concepts into its entrepreneurship curriculum. With STEM embedded in the curriculum, all students learn how to design, test, and improve prototypes that will become their ventures’ products or services, while building their critical thinking skills.

2018

TPZ receives the Champions in Action Award from Citizens Bank, in recognition of TPZ’s contributions to enhancing the quality of life and economic viability in local communities

2019

TPZ becomes a member of the BPS Partnership Opportunity Portfolio. Members undergo a comprehensive vetting and assessment process to ensure they provide high-quality learning opportunities for Boston Public Schools.

TPZ forms a DEI Task Force to help guide the organization’s vision and mission for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the short- and long-term.

2020

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, TPZ transitions all programming to a virtual platform while continuing to offer a rich and engaging learning experience for students. Virtual consultancies allow students to continue to access work-based learning opportunities.

TPZ establishes the first college credit partnership with the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology. Soon after, TPZ also offers college credit for students from Cambridge College and Bay Path University.

2022

January – The Possible Project rebrands to become The Possible Zone.

April – TPZ opens its new Innovation Center (36,000 square feet), providing space to meet our goal to expand our youth entrepreneurship program to over 1,000 students a year by 2025. The Innovation Center features state-of-the-art technology, including a professional makerspace and multi-media studios available to students and the community. In-person programming resumes.

May – TPZ completes our four-year strategic plan, outlining our aspirations for growth and impact in the next phase of our evolution.

September – Ribbon cutting celebration marks the official opening of the Innovation Center and the start of the Fall Term with TPZ’s next-gen Entrepreneurship (Eship) programming emphasizing key durable skill development, and the launch of the Venture Fellows program where alumni tackle manufacturing challenges, strengthened their financial and marketing practices, and built out their businesses over ten months.

TPZ hosts the inaugural Girls Entrepreneurship Summit at the Innovation Center, in collaboration with community agencies. The annual program evolves to become a Youth Entrepreneurship Summit in 2024.

2023

May-August – TPZ conducts a Program Review, with input from external experts, parents, staff, and student feedback. Findings inform an enhanced Eship Program that incorporates more STEAM activities throughout and expanded core competencies.

May – TPZ Venture Fellows Art & Fashion Show spotlights the talents of three TPZ alumni whose entrepreneurial mindset and creative skills led to launching of their respective businesses, Jaleel “Draws” Davis, founder of a custom portrait business; Joshua Elysee, co-founder with Leonardo Paul of JefeByJefe, a high-end streetwear clothing brand; and Sean Hargrove, founder of Dorsey Atelier, a cut-and-sew fashion brand.

2024

January – The Venture Fellows program evolves to become Ventures Launch, a consumer product incubator where TPZ Alumni and other young adult associates from the community to step into the role of co-founders. In this half-year cohort program, each Founding Associate researches, ideates, and brings to life one new consumer product in a competitive, collaborative, all-out sprint to $1,000,000.

TPZ begins incorporating more STEAM skills experiential learning associated with emerging careers of the future into Deep Dives and Eship programming.

September – Intentional efforts bring new and diverse perspectives and opportunities to TPZ as the Board of Directors and program partnerships expand to meet growing demands and future goals. The TPZ Team has nearly doubled in two years.

2025

February – Boston high school students gain a competitive edge in the STEM fields through Beyond Possible, a dual enrollment collaborative pilot between TPZ, Boston Public Schools, and Wentworth Institute of Technology, that fuses science, technology, engineering, and mathematics with essential skill building so that enrolled high school students not only build their critical thinking and problem-solving skills, but also cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit of innovation and resilience, essential for future success. The first cohort begins earning college credit during Fall 2025.

March – Ventures brings its first product to market – Bible Clock – which generated $1.785MM in net sales (Shopify) in 2025, with more than 8,500 Bible Clocks delivered by December 31.

September – TPZ introduces the LaunchLab, a two-year program where high school students cultivate future-ready skills through project-based learning aligned with research-identified careers of the future. Through this next-gen core program, students develop essential competencies and an entrepreneurial spirit while exploring their passions and building real-world expertise.

TPZ designs and delivers Health Assisting, its inaugural Career & Technical Education (CTE) school-day program at Lawrence High School that incorporates traditional CTE coursework with experiential and competency-based instruction, as scaling in Gateway cities begins.

2026

January – Afterschool LaunchLabs are introduced at Lawrence High School while school-day, healthcare-focused CTE programming continues.