The JJ Initiative

At risk youth are the forgotten children of our society. Cast off by their parents and society, they are left to fend for themselves in the world and are ill equipped to do so leading them to a life of drugs, violence and worse. My partner and I, Brad Williams started the JJ Initiative. A program to help at risk youth to live to their full potential. Classes are held after school and kids are taught basic life skills along with skills that they can monetize such as computer programming, app development, recording studio techniques and other skills that can lift them out of poverty.

The initiative is entirely privately funded with endowments from IGM, KoolbSoft, Schumer-Nerr, Orebton Partners and others. Currently, we have the initiative up and running in five cities: Los Angeles, Cupertino, Oakland, Chicago, and San Francisco.

The JJ Initiative Has seen its first graduation class go on to do great things with over 70% of participants going on to higher education at either two year or four schools. Along with an almost 100% high school graduation rate, we cosider our fir st two years to be a resounding success and we are looking forward to many more years of success to come.

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