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After the Future Foundation had achieved a 95 percent success rate (seeing every one of their participants graduate high school, and 99 percent move on to post-secondary education), CEO Qaadirah Abdur-Rahim was pleased – but not satisfied. Rather than let success get in the way, Abdur-Rahim set out an entirely new strategy, launching an ambitious pilot aimed at no less than nation-wide poverty disruption. The results of that pilot recently won the Atlanta-based nonprofit a $4.5 million grant, ensuring five more years of research into the community-raising approach developed by one determined young nonprofit leader and her team. In her opening address to the 2017 YNPN National Conference … [Read more...] about A ripple, a wave, a tide: Leading change from where you are now

Qaadirah Abdur-Rahim CEO Future Foundation East Point Like many people, Qaadirah Abdur-Rahim worries about the future – especially of children living in poverty. What sets her apart is her devotion to changing their life trajectory. As CEO of Future Foundation, Abdur-Rahim transformed an after-school program in College Park and East Point into comprehensive services that include a teen center, learning centers and parental support. A sign of success: For the past 10 years, 100 percent of Future Foundation participants graduated from high school. For comparison, the community’s graduation rate is about 70 percent. Under her leadership, the Future Foundation recently won a … [Read more...] about Future Foundation CEO Makes Georgia Trend’s 40 Under 40 List

At Future Foundation, we consider ourselves to be a second family; not just in the way that we interact with each other, but also in the way that we serve our students and families. But what does it actually mean to be a "second family"? We’re not out to replace the student’s family, but instead to fill in the gaps, provide stable, nurturing relationships and opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise be available to support and guide young people and their families by connecting them to critical learning resources; tutoring and mentoring in a safe, nurturing after-school environment. Isabel Woods (Banneker High School's 2017 Valedictorian) is just one example of the thousands of students … [Read more...] about How Afterschool Programs Can Serve As A Second Family To Support Student Success

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 … [Read more...] about We Are All One Ripple…

Giving back is a recurring theme in the nonprofit world. No matter what the mission of the organization may be, so much of what we do, when we do it well, is based on the idea of giving back, mentoring, and helping others learn from your own experience to succeed in their own journeys. This past Monday (August 13, 2017), I had the distinct pleasure of serving as the keynote speaker for the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN) National Conference in Atlanta, GA. The reception we received after a disruptive conversation about the way poverty needs to be addressed at YNPN Atlanta clearly shows we’re working in a sector that’s primed for disruption.   The single word I … [Read more...] about A Sector Primed for Disruption?