One day, when Josh Fields was eating lunch with his friends at Central Bucks South High School in Warrington, Pa., he made a startling discovery. Fields was college-bound; his best friend, Meghan Kensil, who has Down syndrome, had no idea where she was headed after high school. Neither did the other kids with developmental disabilities sitting at the table.

That made Fields mad. “I couldn’t understand,” he says, “why I was going to this amazing school system with access to the best teachers and being prepared for a career, and my friends with disabilities weren’t.”

The realization inspired Fields ’20 Lib to do something. In 2015, while he was still in high school, he co-founded The Next Step Program, a nonprofit organization that paves a post-high school path for young adults with disabilities, helping them access college, jobs, independent living, and social networks. His friend and Next Step co-founder, Ricky Price, was in graduate school at the time and signed the paperwork necessary for Fields to launch the organization. Fields spent the following years fundraising for the organization while working toward a degree in labor and employment management.

After graduation, he worked as director of communications for a disability advocacy group, then became executive director of Next Step in 2021. Each year, the organization serves 150 participants and their families in the Bucks County region, helping participants find jobs with businesses ranging from mom-and-pops to Walmart and organizing extracurricular activities—rock climbing, bowling, dinners out—as well as overnight trips. Fields’ next goal is to find innovative housing solutions for participants.

Last year, for his efforts in support of people with disabilities, Fields was honored on Forbes magazine’s 30 under 30 list. As for his friend, Kensil—she’s Next Step’s office manager. “She’s my employee but also a colleague, a friend, a partner,” he says. —Cristina Rouvalis