Set a New Direction Competitors

Founded in 2004, the Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) is a New Orleans-based non-profit organization that annually serves over 900 young people and their families. Since our inception, we have grown from a small organization focused on supporting formerly incarcerated youth to the most comprehensive nonprofit in Greater New Orleans providing services to underserved young people and their families. YEP now has locations in five neighborhoods in the Greater New Orleans region and operates four core programs: YEP Educates, YEP Enriches, YEP Mentors, and YEP Works. YEP’s mission is to engage underserved young people through community-based education, mentoring, enrichment, and employment readiness programs to help them develop skills and strengthen ties to family and community. Through YEP’s core programs, we address key barriers that impede young people from succeeding. Specifically, YEP addresses overarching challenges that include illiteracy, poverty and crime. YEP’s continuum of effective services attacks the root causes of these social ills and provides young people with the supports and skills they need to succeed in school and in their communities. For more information visit our website: www.youthempowermentproject.org and follow us on social media: @yepnola

Youth Action Project was founded in 1998 as a youth-driven project that allowed young adults to identify and address issues that matter to young people. YAP incorporated in 2003 and received its 501(c) (3) tax-exempt status in 2006 and hire it first fulltime employees. In 2007 YAP was awarded $900,000 to administer AmeriCorps resources in communities’ through-out San Bernardino County and specifically targeting services in the cities of Rialto, Highland and San Bernardino.

Ingrid is a Counselling Psychologist with 15 years experience both in private practice and in the public sector. She has worked with multi-disciplinary teams at various schools, focusing on educational assessments, concessions and enhancing the resilience of children with learning barriers. Hilton Calder (BA Communications, MA Clin Psy) is a Clinical Psychologist who works independently in the Counselling, Human Resources and Sport/Health Psychology fields. He focuses on psychotherapy, executive coaching, psychometric assessments and business consulting. He has also owned and run his own franchise enterprise in the service industry. Marius Oosthuizen(B.Comm, LL.B, LL.M) is a practising attorney since 2003 and has extensive civil litigation experience. He also has a special interest in wills and estates, trusts, business risk and contracts. Andrew Wium (B Com, B Compt Hons, CA SA, H Dip Tax) is a practising Chartered Accountant specializing in Tax, especially tax investigations and tax planning. He serves as Trustee on numerous trusts. David OBrien has worked in financial services for over 25 years, including 20 years at Old Mutual in product design. He is a qualified actuary and has a special interest in financial wellness. David currently heads up an innovative organization which harnesses digital technology to foster a culture of saving. Dr. Teresa Swart (MBChB,Mphill Pall Med) is a GP with 30 years of experience in general practice. She has a keen interest in early childhood development and palliative care. The founders of The Learning Initiative, Dr Ingrid Ahlert and Welma Wehmeyer have both been extensively involved in supporting learners experiencing barriers to learning for the past ten years both in private practice and at schools. During this time they have been inundated with requests by parents and educators to assess and support learners who are struggling to cope with academic demands placed on them due to learning barriers. The majority of the referrals are unable to afford private rates. These ...