Leadership is provided by Michael Lofton, Founder|CEO, who founded the organization after identifying the need to help youth and their families who are in need or in crisis transition into an end goal of self-sufficiency. We have a proven success of effectively harnessing community partnerships and spearheading collaborative services initiatives, since inception in 2006. Within the community we serve we have more nonprofits per capita than another other major metro area in Texas and the Southwest US, with nearly 6,000 nonprofits in Austin metro area. Uniquely,the African American Youth Harvest Foundation confidently engages mission aligned service partners to effectively leverage the community investments for the greatest community impact. The Harvest Foundation's collaborative initiatives ensure low barrier access to vital resources intended to transition youth and families toward self-sufficiency and effectually address the disparities of health, educational success and economic stability throughout the most vulnerable neighborhoods. Vulnerabilities of racial and socioeconomic origin, impacting the lives of our children and community members across Austin | Travis County. Without racial exclusion, we work to ensure that no child or family is without opportunities that promote self-betterment, expansion of life experiences and ambitions beyond neighborhood regularities. We promote Equity through low barrier access to vital resources that Enrich, Educate, and Employ at-risk youth and families, promoting self-sufficiency and enhancing their opportunities to flourish and reach their potential through Community based, Culturally competent, and Collaborative initiatives. Through our initiatives we support and strengthen family and provide a platform that debunks many inflexible notions of what at risk and impoverished youth and families are capable of. The demographics of our current clients are as follows: African-American (65%), Hispanic (35%), and White/Caucasian (5%) Since inception, we have served more than 9,000 low-income, at-risk youth and their family members through our Enrichment| Education| Employment initiatives, which include mentoring and case management, individual and family physical|behavioral|and mental health and substance abuse, workforce development, digital inclusion\STEM education, restorative justice focused community alternatives to school suspensions and truancy prevention, and community entrepreneurial and employment opportunities.Additionally, more than 2,000 youth and adults have attended our community conferences, where we help improve our community by focusing on supporting and strengthening the family unit and addressing preconceived notions of minority youth.