Emanuel Jackson Senior (EJS) Project is a 501(c)(3) supporting Delray Beach teens since 2014. OUR MISSION: The mission of the EJS Project is to build and empower tomorrow leaders. CORE VALUES: Our teen’s success in school and in life is the priority. Our teens and community deserve equity of opportunity. Our strong relationships promote change in individuals, organizations, and systems. EQUITY STATEMENT: The EJS Project acknowledges racial discrimination and the barriers it has created in communities of color. EJS is dedicated to teaching the truth, challenging systems, and fighting for its youth’s access to opportunity. NEIGHBORHOOD: The SET, home of the EJS Project, is positioned between Swinton Avenue and Congress, Lake Ida Road and Linton, and considered Delray Beach’s “vulnerable footprint” (Community Commons, 2017). Rather than- low-income… minority…underserved…unsafe- EJS focuses on community history, talent, pride, and collective interest and concern for one another. EJS also focuses on systemic racism that causes these conditions and allows them to flourish. PARTICIPANTS: EJS participants and their families reflect neighborhood data. Students are between the ages of 12-19, low-income and primarily African American and Haitian, reside in the Set (with a few students traveling from Boca or Boynton), and attend a local middle or high school. Students may be excelling in school or struggling academically/behaviorally. All display a desire to grow, to evolve as a young change agent, and to be a future leader. Because of the grassroots nature of the organization, the program receives referrals through walk-ins, emails, social media messages, and phone calls from parents, teachers, students, and partner agencies.