Onward and Upward was founded in March 2005 in Kankakee, Illinois by Keyonn Pope.  The vision for the program came as a result of Pope being approached by two students of his church congregation (Natisha Johnson and Calvin Works) who were interested in gaining more information about college in general and Southern University and A&M College-Baton Rouge (SUBR) in particular.  Humbled by the fact that the students saught him out as a source   of information about college and furthermore excited that the students appeared interested in Southern University (his alma mater), Pope not only promised to provide them with more information, but to also personally take the two to visit the SUBR campus before the conclusion of the summer. 

Zealous about the work that he commited himself to, Pope immediately began to think through some of the details of the trip.  In doing so he realized that a trip to a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), such as SUBR, would be beneficial to some of the other youths in the community, hence the decision was made to open the trip up to other rising high school seniors.  His mindset was that even if the students decided to enroll elsewhere, the opportunity to visit a campus that is so rich in history (as is the case with all HBCUs) would be an invaluable experience to say the least.

With the additional responsibilities and expenses that come along with allowing more students to take advantage of the trip, Pope quickly realized that he could not bare the burden of facilitating things alone.  Therefore, he presented the idea to his church family, Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, and there was a unanimous theme of support in every way imaginable for the initiative.  After hearing about the effort and seeing an opportunity to assist, Mrs. Evelyn Porter and Mr. DuWarn Porter (both HBCU alums themselves) volunteered to serve as chaperones for the trip and to aid in any other capacity deemed necessary. 

Having presented the proposal to the church congregation, all parties involved with the trip spent the next few months raising funds to support the trip.  Over this course of time Pope was approached by a number of students and parents about the trip.  It was at this point he realized that a visit to a collegiate environment was merely the beginning of what people in the community needed.  He began to see the need for other programs such as ACT Prep Courses, Youth Mentoring, Local Scholarship Opportunities, etc.  Therefore, he decided to turn the effort into a year round program with the HBCU Tour being one of the featured events of the program on an annual basis.

The name Onward and Upward is a testament to the program's goal to continuously become more robust each year that it may be a brighter beacon of light in the community, the city, the state, the region, the nation, and even the world someday.  In addition, it is also a testament to the organization's efforts to instill in its participants the concept of making unremitting progress in their personal and professional endeavors.  The name Onward and Upward was inspired by a quote from scholar, author, and historian Dr. Charles H. Wesley, who dedicated one of his most noted works to, "...the youths that marched onward and upward toward the light..."