YOUTH DESIGN CENTER INC

Youth Design Center (YDC) is a Brooklyn-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that combines creative education, paid workforce experiences, and client-based projects to create career pathways into STEAM and the creative economy for young people from underinvested communities. YDC operates community-rooted spaces and programs—including a newly launched creative coworking and production lab called The Corner by YDC—while partnering with industry, public agencies, schools, and cultural institutions to provide mentorship, tools, and paid project work. In recent years the organization reports engaging more than 1,300 young people and placing alumni into paid internships and freelance opportunities. Founded by Quardean Lewis-Allen (formerly operating as Made in Brownsville), YDC positions youth as designers and producers of public projects and creative services, and has expanded its public-facing studio, programming, and partnerships to increase youth access to professional networks and income-generating opportunities.