Ferguson Youth Initiative

The Ferguson Youth Initiative (FYI) is a non profit 501c3 based in Ferguson, MO. FYI was founded in 2010 to give teens a voice. We work to empower teens in Ferguson and the surrounding communities to become productive, positive and contributing members of their communities. 

Thirteen years later we are still empowering teens with programs designed to keep them at center. Our key component is the Ferguson Youth Advisory Board (FYAB), is a group 10 (ten) teens that works with the City Council of Ferguson to plan events and activities for the community. These events and activities are designed to keep the youth at the center. The FYAB also assists us with creating our program and workshop schedules. 

In addition to the FYAB we also offer several other programs Drop In, E-Sports, Next Steps and SLAM. Drop In is an after school program that meets every Friday in our Drop In space. Teens are invited to attend and receive tutoring, mentoring, financial literacy, snacks, food and refreshments. We also offer access to Wi-Fi, gaming, television and youth enrichment workshops. Drop In is vital to our programming because its the opportunity for our staff and volunteers to listen and observe the teens and hear the things they want to achieve. 

E-Sports, is a newly growing college and career pathway for teens. Teens are able parlay their love for playing video games into college scholarships and potentially a lucrative career. Our teens partner with local E-Sport and gaming organizations to plan gaming tournaments for interested teens throughout the entire metropolitan area. We have hosted Madden, Mortal Kombat, NBA 2K and Smash Bros tournaments. For the Mortal Kombat tournament we had a custom designed championship belt created for the winner. The teens enjoy this programming because it allows them to showcase their skills and befriend new teens from different communities.

Next Steps, is our College and Career Readiness Program that works to put the teens on a career pathway. The college component of Next Steps provides teens access to ACT Prep, FAFSA assistance, Scholarship assistance and access to College and Career recruiters. Our Job Readiness program offers teens the skills necessary to obtain and maintain employment. Over the course of five days we help the teens with completing an application and resume, an elevator pitch and completing a mock interview. Through our Next Steps program we invite professionals from the community to attend and complete the mock interviews with the students. 

SLAM (Style, Literature, Arts and Music) is an opportunity for teens to come by and express themselves artistically. Through SLAM teens are invited to come in and perform different types of performative arts singing, rapping, dancing, poetry or even performing a skit. We also provide access to visual arts allowing the teens to complete light art and painting.