The impact on business in America has been undeniable with innovations from companies such as Uber, Netflix and Air B&B, but what makes the staff at Future Foundation truly excited, is thinking about what impact disruptive thinking can have on the non-profit world. What opportunities we have to create a ripple that affects another person’s life for the better.

How that ripple can inspire another, and another and another until it becomes a wave—a tide of energy creating change. Making the world a better place.

The Future Foundation all started as just a glimmer of an idea that, maybe, we could give something back to the communities that needed it most. Soon this idea became a commitment; we started to see our vision as a real possibility. 

Then the first generation of 15 kids from our very first cohort in 2004 graduate. They go on to earn their Associates, then their Bachelors degrees. Get accepted into the National Honor Society. One comes back for Career Day and talks about the business she started.

Shawanda Edwards (shown below) is one of those kids. A native of East Point, GA , she started with Future Foundation in the 5th grade. A first-generation college graduate, she has gone on to earn her Associates from Atlanta Metropolitan College and is on track to graduate from Georgia State University with a Bachelors degree in Social Work. Shawanda is on the Dean’s List at GSU and was recently accepted into The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS).

She continues to play an integral role as a member of our second family by speaking at Future Foundation events and mentoring other youth currently enrolled in our program.

And that’s the opportunity. One ripple builds on another. That’s how extraordinary change happens. Being part of something—a second family—what does that do for the world?