New Orleans Young Urban Rebuilding Professionals Initiative(NYI)

The mission of the New Orleans Young Urban Rebuilding Professionals Initiative (NYI) is to create a support network to connect, retain, and attract young professionals from diverse backgrounds for a sustainable New Orleans. While the majority of the attention in New Orleans is focused on rebuilding the infrastructure, there also needs to be a way to invest in the future human capital of the city. In order to do so, there must be an organization that finds ways of connecting those who are here, giving them the opportunities to stay in New Orleans, and attract more people. NYI provides a website where people can find jobs, connect with others, discuss important topics, and find out about events around the city. In four months, over 1500 people have joined the organization by registering for the website. Once people are connecting through the website, the role of NYI is to get the people who are interacting via the web to start communicating and working together in real life through discussion groups, education seminars, mentoring programs, job training, networking events, homeownership classes, financial literacy classes and anything else that makes it easier for young people to stay in New Orleans.