The recipient entity's physical address:
           460 N 11th Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70802

The recipient entity's mailing address (if different):
           448 N 11th Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70802

Type of Entity (for instance, a nonprofit corporation):  Non-Profit Corporation

If the entity is a corporation, list the names of the incorporators:
          N/A

The last four digits of the entity's taxpayer ID number:  7597

What is the dollar amount of the request?  $233,500

What type of request is this?  General Appropriation

Is this entity in good standing with the Secretary of State?  Yes

Provide the name of each member of the recipient entity's governing board and officers:
           Board of Directors:
Lisa Gray Adamek: 6113 Chandler Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70808
Jessica Tucker Baghian: 794 Longwood Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70806
Karen R. Breaux: 732 Ross Turn Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70810
Regina Davis: 3861 Scenic Hwy, Baton Rouge, LA 70805
Jonathan Halperin Earle, PhD: 307 French House, Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Carissa Joy Vanderleest Graves: 2805 Kleinert Avenue, Baton Rouge, LA 70806
Edward “Ted” C. James: PO Box 4991, Baton Rouge, LA 70821
David Allen Luecke: 3611 Stanford Oaks Avenue, Baton Rouge, LA 70808
Mikki Ceasar Mathews: 118 S Dorgenois St, New Orleans, LA 70119
Chaunda Allen Mitchell, PhD: 13018 Quail Meadow Dr, Baton Rouge, LA 70817
Laura Claverie Poché: 2116 Woodchase Court, Baton Rouge, LA 70808
Linda Orlansky Posner: 3136 Murphy Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70809
Dr. Michael L. Rolfsen: 7373 Perkins Rd, Baton Rouge, LA 70808
Garrett Bartholomew Temple
Raedtha Aurora Vasquez: 7086 Etage Court, Baton Rouge, LA 70806
Corey Kendrick Wilson: 15903 Parkside Court, Baton Rouge, LA 70817

Executive Officer:
Lucas Andrew Spielfogel: 483 Castle Kirk Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70808

Key Personnel:
Marcus Washington: 2018 Connie Drive, Denham Springs, LA 70726

Provide a summary of the project or program:
           Proposal: The Baton Rouge Youth Coalition, Inc. (BRYC) requests an investment of $233,500 so we may provide safe, reliable transportation from 22 schools in East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, and Iberville Parishes to BRYC’s Downtown and Airline campuses four days per week during the school year, and to expand transportation operations to at least three schools in Ascension Parish. This service is vital; without it, more than 500 students would face a significant barrier to participating in BRYC’s proven college and career readiness programs.

History and Current Operations: BRYC was founded in 2009 when two Belaire Magnet High School teachers realized that even their brightest students would struggle to achieve postsecondary success due to inequitable education and resource gaps. In 2025–2026, BRYC delivers programming across two full-sized campuses and eight in-school sites, serving 900+ 8–12th-grade students who represent 48 schools, as well as 920 Alumni. BRYC graduates maintain an 84% college persistence rate — five times the national average for lower-income students — and have been awarded 376 degrees and $100 million+ in scholarships. Our Alumni cohort is on track to earn $12.2 million in increased annual wages and yield $107.4 million in additional lifetime tax value.

Challenge to be Met: BRYC serves lower-income, predominantly Black and first-generation college prospects. Most participants are under the legal driving age or do not have a driver's license, and their parents/guardians are often working, lack reliable vehicles, or are otherwise unable to provide transportation during afternoon hours. In past years, prospective families reported transportation as a key hurdle to enrolling, and inconsistent attendance among students was often transportation-related.

BRYC's mandatory programs run Monday–Thursday from 4:30–7:15pm, but we open at 2:30pm so students have a safe place immediately after school, with free snacks, homework space, tutoring, socialization, and mental health services. Providing transportation directly from schools eliminates the burden on families and removes reliance on uncertain public transit.

BRYC has operated transportation since 2019–2020, starting with small vehicles on short routes. From 2021–2023, we contracted with First Student for full-sized buses covering longer routes and more students. In 2023, BRYC purchased a 15-passenger van and bus to reduce contractor dependence. As our Fellowship has grown and become more geographically diverse, we now contract with both First Student and Transline to efficiently service as many schools as possible.

Impact: If this appropriation is funded, BRYC will maintain transportation from 22 schools across EBR, WBR, and Iberville and extend service into Ascension Parish, where three schools will be added to our routes. This will provide reliable transportation to ~550 students per week, 100 of whom would be newly served through the Ascension expansion. Ascension is a strategic priority. When BRYC opened its Airline Highway campus in 2024, a central goal was reaching students south of Baton Rouge, and BRYC is now collaborating with Ascension school leaders to increase recruitment and enrollment. Since BRYC’s founding, only 15 BRYC participants have come from Ascension. This is not for lack of need or interest, but lack of access. Transportation is the missing link.

The requested $233,500 will fund operating expenses, contractor fees, and salaries and benefits for two in-house drivers and BRYC’s director of operations, who is tasked with overseeing the transportation program. We will operate van and bus routes that serve up to 10 unique schools per day during the 2026–2027 school year, at an estimated cost of $400 per rider per year. Based on BRYC's track record, these students can be expected to achieve postsecondary outcomes that generate significant returns in degree attainment, earning potential, and tax value for the state.

What is the budget relative to the project for which funding is requested?:
          Salaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . $103,500
          Professional Services. . . $0
          Contracts . . . . . . . . . . . $69,000
          Acquisitions . . . . . . . . . $0
          Major Repairs . . . . . . . $0
          Operating Services. . . . $61,000
          Other Charges. . . . . . . $0

Does your organization have any outstanding audit issues or findings?  No

If 'Yes' is your organization working with the appropriate governmental agencies to resolve those issues or findings?
          Not Applicable

What is the entity's public purpose, sought to be achieved through the use of state monies?
          When you consider that, since 1990, the cost of college has increased nearly eight times faster than median wages have, it's hard to believe a bachelor's degree remains a ticket to the middle class. But it does. Despite constant questioning of its value, a four-year degree is still worth the expense, yielding a 14% internal rate of return — a metric analysts commonly use to gauge the long-term profitability of different kinds of investments.

But this figure belies two concerning realities. First, just 15% of lower-income students in the U.S. earn a bachelor's degree by age 25. In other words, young people who most need this powerful vehicle of economic mobility have the least success attaining it. Second, affluent and lower-income students do not get the same value from their degrees. Affluent students enter college more academically prepared; with less (or no) financial burden; and better positioned, often because of their race, to navigate the bureaucracy of higher education. They are relatively unencumbered to maximize the value of college. Lower-income students, on the other hand, have less rigorous academic training; significantly more debt and family responsibility; and less cultural capital with which to self-advocate.

Since 2009, BRYC has worked to limit these inequitable gaps. BRYC's 8th–12th-grade programs prepare Fellows to succeed in postsecondary environments by training them to be self-regulated learners and self-advocates and guiding them toward strong-fit schools with responsible payment plans and networks of supportive peers. But we don't stop there. BRYC's persistence team helps Alumni not only stay in school but access academic and non-academic opportunities that will lead to long-term professional success. BRYC is not interested in college graduation for its own sake; rather, we want to help our Alumni position themselves for careers that will lead to economic mobility and different options for their children. But none of this is possible if students can't get to BRYC. Our request for an investment in transportation is an investment in access: the critical first link in a chain that leads to degree attainment, gainful employment, and measurable returns for Louisiana. Seventy-six percent of BRYC graduates remain in their home state, meaning the state directly benefits from their increased earning potential and tax contributions.

We have learned over the past 16 years that it requires an enormous investment of time and resources to help even one financially disadvantaged student navigate high school, enter college affordably, graduate, and secure employment. This path is daunting under optimal circumstances, which isn't our participants' experience. They face daily challenges that can derail even the most driven student. BRYC's intent is to be equally resourceful and persistent in our approach, because that's what's required to help young Louisianans actually attain economic mobility, shifting their generational trajectory along with their communities’.

What are the goals and objectives for achieving such purpose?
          BRYC's objective is for participants to gain acceptance to the two-year, four-year, or technical school or apprenticeship program of their choice; matriculate with an affordable payment plan; graduate; and secure a career-track job.

In 8th–12th grade, BRYC fosters this outcome through evidence-based, grade-specific programs. Underclassmen build self-regulated and socioemotional learning skills so they are able to drive their own studying and effectively self-advocate. Eleventh graders focus on ACT preparation and TOPS-eligible score achievement, honing self-regulation practices in the context of this high-stakes test. In 12th grade, BRYC advises students on a breadth of post-high school options and helps them execute the application, financial aid, and matriculation processes. One of the most important aspects of BRYC's model is that every single student across grades 8–12 goes through their BRYC experience with guidance from a volunteer mentor.

Outside of mandatory weekly programs, BRYC offers students tutoring, writing coaching, unique electives like Career Communities, summer camps, and enrichment programs. As many studetns have experienced trauma and lack access to critical resources, BRYC also provides counseling and trauma-informed instruction. Not only is BRYC free, but we offer several BRYC-exclusive scholarships and provide Senior Fellows with direct financial assistance.

None of this support is available to students on a regular basis if they cannot physically access BRYC. Therefore, the goals for this appropriation are as follows:

Goal 1: Provide safe, reliable transportation from 25 schools in East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Iberville, and Ascension Parishes to BRYC's two campuses four days per week during the 2026–2027 school year.
– Impact Measure: Number of schools served and number of students transported.

Goal 2: Enroll and serve a minimum of 550 8th–12th-grade students in weekly college and career readiness programming.
– Impact Measure: Number of students enrolled and retained through the end of the program year.

Goal 3: Enroll a minimum of 100 Ascension Parish residents in 8th–12th-grade programming.
– Impact Measure: Number of Ascension Parish students enrolled.

What is the proposed length of time estimated by the entity to accomplish the purpose?
           BRYC proposes a one-year timeline beginning July 1, 2026 and ending June 30, 2027.

If any elected or appointed state official or an immediate family member of such an official is an officer, director, trustee, or employee of the recipient entity who receives compensation or holds any ownership interest therein:
     (a) If an elected or appointed state official, the name and address of the official and the office held by such person:
                 N/A
    
     (b) If an immediate family member of an elected or appointed state official, the name and address of such person; the name, address, and office of the official to whom the person is related; and the nature of the relationship:
                 N/A

     (c) The percentage of the official's or immediate family member's ownership interest in the recipient entity, if any:
                 0

     (d) The position, if any, held by the official or immediate family member in the recipient entity:
                  N/A

If the recipient entity has a contract with any elected or appointed state official or an immediate family member of such an official or with the state or any political subdivision of the state:
(a) If the contract is with an elected or appointed state official, provide the name and address of the official and the office held by such person: 
               N/A

(b) If the contract is with an immediate family member of an elected or appointed state official:
          Provide the name and address of such person:
               N/A

          Provide the name, address, and office of the official to whom the person is related:
                N/A

          What is the nature of the relationship?  N/A

(c) If the contract is with the state or a political subdivision of the state, provide the name and address of the state entity or political subdivision of the state:
                 East Baton Rouge Parish School System
Louisiana Division of Administration
City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge Metropolitan Council

(d) The nature of the contract, including a description of the goods or services provided or to be provided pursuant to the contract:
               East Baton Rouge Parish School System: In August 2025, the East Baton Rouge Parish School System granted BRYC a contract worth $681,093.00 to provide in-school ACT Prep and postsecondary advising services at 10 high-need schools.

Louisiana Division of Administration: In July 2025, Louisiana Division of Administration granted BRYC $150,000.00, payable by July 31, 2026, to support BRYC’s 2025–2026 Persistence & Career Services Program. To date, BRYC has received $75,000.00 of the contracted amount.

City of Baton Rouge and Parish of East Baton Rouge Metropolitan Council: In November 2025, the Metropolitan Council granted BRYC $25,000.00, payable by January 31, 2027, to support calendar year 2026 operations. To date, BRYC has received $0 of the contracted amount.


Contact Information
name:  Elin Hawkinson 
                                       address:  448 N 11th Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
                                       phone:  2254565752
                                       fax:  N/A
                                       e-mail:  elin@thebryc.org
                                       relationship to entity:  Chief of Product