In support of Mayor Andre Dickens’s Year of the Youth initiative, Invest Atlanta is prioritizing investments that encourage young people and reveal the positive pathways and opportunities before them.
Youth initiatives highlights
Supporting Those Who Support Youth
Atlanta Emerging Markets, Inc. (AEMI)
Created by Invest Atlanta as a certified Community Development Entity, AEMI supports community organizations that advance economic development, job creation and neighborhood revitalization. In 2023, AEMI invested $272,000 in four youth-focused organizations.
Hopeful Change: Encourages and empowers youth with the services, skills, knowledge and motivation that support healthy growth and development.
Having lost more than two dozen of his friends to violence, Derrick Townsend needed a way to channel his grief and frustration. Together with his wife, Dawn, they opened Hopeful Change, a mental health organization dedicated to counteracting teenagers’ exposure to violence.
BestFit: Removes non-academic barriers for students at risk of dropping out because they cannot afford to meet basic needs like, tech, housing and food and empowers them to build their own support systems by connecting them with resources.
Raising Expectations: Supports Atlanta’s economically and academically challenged youth and inspires them to work hard, attend college and pursue dreams.
HYPE: Empowers and prepares girls of color to become future leaders in the tech industry.
Atlanta Open for Business
The Open for Business Fund Commercial Property Improvement Grant and the Atlanta Recovery Loan Program funded five daycare and enrichment programs, totaling $348,833, to support business owners who have a youth impact.
Jobs Program for Vulnerable Populations
With funding from the American Rescue Plan, Invest Atlanta created the Hiring & Jobs Program for Vulnerable Populations (JPVP), which offers short- and long-term job training services for those experiencing homelessness, unemployment and underemployment. In 2023, JPVP enrolled 1788 individuals, including 503 youths in job training programs.
“Atlanta’s young people are our future. Continuing to invest in future generations puts them on pathways to success that will help us Move Atlanta Forward, together. As Mayor, I’m committed to making Atlanta the best place in the country to raise a family.”
