Preparing Youth For Jobs Aligned With The Future

BATON ROUGE - The Futures Fund is an initiative spun out of The Walls Project to catalyze economic development and neighborhood revitalization in high-need communities. It is a new program designed with the mission to create digital, literary, visual, and performing arts-based entrepreneurial opportunities for youth 14-18 years old. After youth complete each level of the Saturday training programs they will be directed to paid opportunities to demonstrate mastery of their arts and technology disciplines. A diverse team of industry experts, community leaders, and educators have partnered together to the launch The Futures Fund mission. See a complete list of partners below who are all collaborating in order to better position youth from North BR and Mid City for revenue-generating opportunities that display mastery of their arts discipline. “The persistence of the digital divide along socio-economic and racial lines threatens the competitiveness of Baton Rouge, the state of Louisiana, and the U.S. in general. The Futures Fund directly addresses the threat posed by this divide by empowering young people with a skill set to compete and thrive in the 21st century.” – Dr. Carlos Thomas (Chief Information Officer, Southern University)

For more information: The Futures Fund

Media Requests : Casey Phillips | casey@theforceagency.com The Force Agency | 451 Florida St. Ste.102 Baton Rouge, La 70801

"According to Google Diversity, women make up just 18% of computer science degrees, down from 37% twenty years ago. Today, fewer than <1% of high school girls are interested in pursuing computer science as a college major. Everywhere you look people’s lives are being transformed by technology and I cannot imagine a future where girls aren’t a big part of this innovation."

- Shermaine Haymer (IT Applications Programmer, Futures Fund Digital Instructor)

"I am extremely grateful to have a partnership with Future Funds! Our students have an opportunity to work and learn from a group of talented teachers and leaders. The students are learning about digital and visual arts every Saturday and they are always buzzing with excitement throughout the day.

I know the skills our students are learning will benefit them in the future. I am pleased with the research-driven best practices the teachers are using every Saturday. I would like to personally thank Future Funds for agreeing to be a partner with Southern Lab and exposing our students to the wonderful world of digital and visual arts!"

Dr. Ronnie Harrison Director - Southern University Lab School