BATON ROUGE & SURROUNDING AREAS
Strong programs are not enough. Young people need a system that moves together
Across Baton Rouge and surrounding areas, youth-serving organizations, schools, funders, public partners, and community institutions invest in young people every day. But services, information, funding, and partnerships do not automatically align. BRAYN is the regional intermediary that builds the coordination infrastructure between them: connecting partners, strengthening organizations, aligning efforts, and sustaining shared systems so young people have more consistent access to high-quality opportunities.
WHY AN INTERMEDIARY
The coordination gap BRAYN is designed to solve
Services, information, funding and partnerships do not automatically align. Each part of the system feels the gap differently.
01
Families and young people
Available programs and services are spread across separate organizations and systems, making it difficult to know what exists, what is current, and what fits.
02
Schools and referral partners
Schools and other referral partners often carry the burden of finding, vetting, and coordinating community resources without shared infrastructure.
03
Youth-serving organizations
Providers can duplicate efforts, compete for the same resources, or miss partnership and funding opportunities when information and coordination remain fragmented.
04
Funders and public partners
Decision-makers need a clearer system-level view of provider readiness, service availability, geographic gaps, duplication, and where investment can strengthen the ecosystem.
OUR STRATEGY
Connect. Strengthen. Align. Sustain
BRAYN connects partners, strengthens organizations, aligns efforts, and sustains coordinated systems so young people have consistent access to high-quality opportunities.
01
Connect
BRAYN brings together youth-serving organizations, schools, public partners, funders, employers, and other stakeholders to build relationships, share information, and coordinate support.
For members: access to network relationships, convenings, peer connections, collaboration opportunities, and warm connections when appropriate.
02
Strengthen
BRAYN brings together youth-serving organizations, schools, public partners, funders, employers, and other stakeholders to build relationships, share information, and coordinate support.
For members: professional learning, practical tools, readiness and credentialing support, shared resources, and opportunities to strengthen staff and organizational practice.
03
Align
BRAYN brings together youth-serving organizations, schools, public partners, funders, employers, and other stakeholders to build relationships, share information, and coordinate support.
For members: visibility into needs, partnership matching, and curated funding information. We expand access to funding by aligning organizations to opportunities, not competing with them.
04
Sustain
BRAYN brings together youth-serving organizations, schools, public partners, funders, employers, and other stakeholders to build relationships, share information, and coordinate support.
For members: shared infrastructure, member resources, sustainability-focused learning, field and policy information, leadership opportunities, and access to coordinated systems.
School-community partnership coordination
Cross-sector convening and shared planning
Provider readiness and credentialing
Capacity strengthening and professional learning
Youth Programs & Services Locator development
Resource and funding alignment
Shared quality, data, and accountability infrastructure
START HERE
Where do you fit?
Choose the path that matches why you're here.
THE INVESTMENT CASE
Why this infrastructure is worth funding
Louisiana does not simply need more youth programs. It needs enough high-quality programs, a way to know what exists and where the gaps are, standards that help partners distinguish readiness and effectiveness, and coordination that connects resources to actual needs.
4 in 5
Louisiana children whose families want afterschool are missing out: 447,639 wanted vs. 84,419 enrolled
BRAYN is building the infrastructure between resources and results: mapping what is available, strengthening and credentialing providers, coordinating school-community partnerships, aligning resources with identified needs, and creating shared systems that individual organizations cannot efficiently build alone. Funding BRAYN is an investment in how the entire youth-serving ecosystem performs.
90%
of Louisiana parents with a child in afterschool say the program provides a safe environment
~12
percentile-point achievement difference for programs using all four evidence-based SAFE practices
15.7%
of Louisiana youth ages 16-24 (85,325 young people) were disconnected from school & work in 2023, vs. 10.6% nationally
Coordination changes outcomes: A RAND evaluation of New York City's Community Schools Initiative, which integrated academics, health and wellness, youth development, and family engagement, found positive attendance effects in elementary, middle, and high schools in each of the three years studied. It also found positive high-school graduation effects in two of three years and positive credit accumulation effects in all three years.
GET INVOLVED
Volunteer with BRAYN
BRAYN connects individuals, professionals, and corporate teams with meaningful opportunities to strengthen the youth-serving ecosystem, from contributing expertise to supporting shared infrastructure and events.
Capacity Clinics
Locator Support
Volunteer Connection Pathway
Convening & Event Support
2027 Conference Support
Energy, Safety & Resilience
Skills-Based Project Teams
Ongoing Partnerships
SYSTEMS ALIGNMENT
Aligned with Louisiana Act 555
BRAYN's work aligns with several systems functions identified in Louisiana's Children and Youth Planning Board framework established through Act 555 of 2004. The law calls for communities to identify available youth resources, assess needs, coordinate across sectors, select evidence-based strategies, and strengthen effective service delivery through training, technical assistance, monitoring, and evaluation. BRAYN has already developed or begun several complementary functions, including cross-sector convening, provider readiness and credentialing, school-community partnership coordination, capacity building, and development of a regional Youth Programs & Services Locator. This work has been developed independently; BRAYN has not received funding or formal designation under Act 555.