Future-Kings, a Northern Virginia-based and IRS approved 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is excited to announce a grant award of $100,000 from Go Virginia (www.govirginia.org). This award is to provide partial funding for a $200,000 workforce development pilot project that provides high school graduates with the skills to be productive workers in area businesses operating in the life sciences industry. Go Virginia is a state-funded initiative administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). The initiative will strengthen and diversify Virginia’s economy and foster the creation of higher wage jobs in strategic industries. The project has also received significant funding from the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation (www.claudemoorefoundation.org).

Danny Vargas, Go Virginia Region 7 Chairman said, “In Region 7 we are excited to fund initiatives that can have a positive impact on our economy, create jobs, and help elevate key growth sectors while also addressing the needs of underserved communities. This project checks all metrics and we are proud to be a supporter.”

Prince William County Public Schools, Loudoun County Public Schools, and Manassas City Public Schools will support this project by helping to select the students to participate in the pilot. Virginia Bio (www.vabio.org) and George Mason University’s Institute for Biohealth Innovation (ibi.gmu.edu) will support this project by helping to recruit the graduate students who will serve as instructors. The project will use instructional materials from the Future Kings BioMedical Sciences curriculum. Students will earn college credit for successfully completing courses.

This pilot program will provide empirical information about the mechanics of implementing a large-scale pipeline from the greatly untapped resource of boys of color to the area’s life sciences industry.

Dr. Tshaka Cunningham, Future Kings Board Member and the architect of the Future Kings
BioMedical Sciences instructional program says, “We are very excited to start the GO Virginia funded Future Kings Life Sciences Workforce Development Pilot Program. This grant will provide key resources that will help demonstrate the efficacy of our biomedical STEM training model at multiple levels, from the K-12 students in our program to the undergraduate, graduate, and PhD level individuals who serve as our instructors. This GO Virginia Grant will also help us identify key structural resources that will allow us to scale our program statewide, and potentially nationwide.”

The goal is to create a pipeline of 1,000 students per year who can pursue STEM careers and prepare 150 young men each year to receive scholarships to HBCUs. The belief is that this support will have a significant impact on future opportunities for these young men.

If you would like to donate to Future Kings, please visit our website at www.future-kings.org/donate