YCL Founders

Gaylynne Mack

Big Buddy

Mrs. Gay, as the many children she has worked with call her, has been involved in the youth development field for over 40 years. She began her career volunteering with the Big Buddy Program as a mentor and that experience changed her life. She is a life-long advocate for mentoring as a solution to the challenges faced by our communities today.  

Dustin LaFont

Front Yard Bikes

When he was a public school teacher, Dustin began repairing bikes with a few neighborhood kids on his front yard in the summer of 2010. Demand grew and people rallied behind the project. Since then, FYB has served more than 2,000 children, who have fixed bikes to earn one of their own. With two after school sites and a full-service bike shop in Mid City, the nonprofit has become the largest community bike shop in the state and hopes to do even more with the amazing teens that champion the good work. 

Dr. Anna West

Humanities Amped

For over 22 years, Anna has co-created multiple community youth organizations that focus on the intersection of humanities and social change. Humanities Amped is among them. She earned a PhD in English Education from Louisiana State University and a master’s in education from Harvard Graduate School of Education.

O’Neil Curtis

Line4Line

O’Neil Curtis owns O’Neil’s Barber & Beauty Salon. He founded the Line4Line Barbershop Literacy Program after meeting Lucy Perera in 2014. At 12, Curtis moved in with his father, who he had just met, and decided that he would one day cut hair and open his own shop. He has trained many barbers, and he gives free haircuts to the aged and disabled, and children who can’t afford them.

Lucy Perera

Line4Line

Lucy has worked in arts education since 1998. She’s effective at developing outreach programs that inspire people from diverse backgrounds to think and act more creatively. She grew up in Boston and received her M.A from the University of Denver. Perera joined the LSU Museum of Art in 2013 as coordinator of school and community programs, where she founded Artworks, Stories in Art, Neighborhood Arts Project and Line4Line. She worked for Knock Knock Children’s Museum from 2017 to 2021, when she moved to Line4Line.