Youth Interactive, an after-school program for at-risk youth in Santa Barbara, is not your typical nonprofit, so it was quite fitting that it have an atypical fundraiser. “Pints, Pizza, and a Little Philanthropy” brought together about 25 male entrepreneurs, business leaders and other professionals for a fun, casual evening to introduce them to this remarkable organization. After enjoying a little beer and listening to short presentations, the men were so impressed that each of them donated between $500 and $5,000, for a total of $35,000.
Board Chair Ryan Muzzy, Sean Hecht, and Chris Bellamy organized the event, which started with a happy hour at Youth Interactive’s (YI) facility in the Funk Zone. Muzzy introduced CEO and founder Nathalie Gensac, who shared how after a career as an entrepreneur and a media professional, she traveled the world for two years, meeting with leaders of exceptional grassroots organizations to learn how to get people out of poverty. The result was the creation of YI, and after establishing centers in India and Jamaica, she landed in Santa Barbara six years ago to create one here.
At this after-school entrepreneurship center, which opened in 2012, students join one of four business teams: art, sewing, jewelry, or T-shirt design. Teams meet twice per week, one session for vocational instruction, the other for instruction in running a business. A fifth program, carpentry, is held at Los Prietos Boys Camp on Saturdays. Gensac explained that she focuses on vocational skills because after listening to students here, she discovered this is what most interests them. She stressed how the businesses are youth-led because when kids are disengaged from school, as YI’s students are when they come into the program, everything is coming at them. So YI reverses that by empowering the students. The results are astounding: Last year, 100 percent of the students graduated from high school and went on to college. YI serves about 80 students per term.