Play Cousins Collective is a Black family collective focused on building a village around Louisville’s Black youth. Through family and children’s programming, community building and resource sharing Play Cousins is creating extended kin and wrapping a network of support around Black Families. PCC’s network of over 500 families, mainly living in West Louisville, will assist in finding families who believe their youth can benefit from a Rites of Passage program.

Bernheim’s mission is to connect people with nature. Bernheim is the largest privately held contiguous forest block in the eastern United States dedicated to conservation and education. Bourbon maker Isaac Wolfe Bernheim established the arboretum and forest in 1929 as a gift to the people of Kentucky. A 2018 land acquisition brought the total acreage of land that Bernheim protects to 16,137.

Bridge Kids International (BKI) uses the power of African heritage and culture to support the well-being of young people and help them develop solutions to community challenges, and to strengthen relationships between Africans and African Americans. BKI programs support positive racial/ethnic/cultural and gender identity, empower young families, nurture creative confidence, and promote self-determination. BKI will provide the cultural framework for the project.

Clemson University’s REYSE Collaboratory for Race, Ethnicity, Youth and Social Justice will serve as evaluator for the program. The mission of the Collaboratory is to improve the lives of racialized and ethnicized youth through innovation, community engagement and knowledge exchange. REYSE works with researchers, students, educators, community members, scholars, policymakers and organizations and the media to ensure its resources are available to all in order to make practical, usable connections between research, outcomes, policies and best practices.