Family first foundation
YOUR ZIP CODE
IS NOT YOUR DESTINATION.
For more than two decades, Family First Foundation has used sports, college campuses, family experiences and access to rooms many young people would never otherwise enter to help students see a future bigger than the one immediately around them.
Sports and Education Go Hand in Hand. College Is the Goal.
LA FUTURES
12,000+ youth and families reached through LA Futures.
25+ YEARS
SPORTS + EDUCATION
12,000+
YOUTH & FAMILIES REACHED
COLLEGE-CENTERED
EVERY EXPERIENCE RETURNS TO EDUCATION
FAMILY ACCESS
OPPORTUNITIES MANY FAMILIES COULD NOT OTHERWISE AFFORD
SPORTS OPENS THE DOOR.
EDUCATION CHANGES THE TRAJECTORY.
A game can be unforgettable. Family First uses that attention for something larger.
Before the lights go down or the first pitch, tipoff or kickoff begins, students hear from people they will listen to, athletes, educators, entertainers, business leaders and community voices, about how education, preparation and perseverance shaped their lives.
Then we connect the experience to action: a Collegiate Pledge, practical academic guidance and a roadmap toward college and scholarships.
Because access without intention is entertainment.
Access with intention can become trajectory.
THE EXPERIENCE IS ONLY THE BEGINNING
ACCESS
Give students and families entry to a place, event or institution they may otherwise never experience.
EXPOSURE
Let them see college, careers, teamwork, discipline, creativity and excellence up close.
ROLE MODEL
Put someone credible in front of them who can explain what education made possible.
COMMITMENT
Students make a Collegiate Pledge and receive practical academic guidance.
FOLLOW-
THROUGH
The message returns again and again: prepare now, stay academically strong, and keep college in sight.
THE MOMENT NEEDS A NEXT STEP.
Every LA Futures experience is built around a simple belief: inspiration fades unless a young person knows what to do next.
THE COLLEGIATE PLEDGE
Students make a personal commitment to take education seriously and keep college in their future.
Family First's step-by-step academic roadmap helps students become Academic All-Stars, building study habits, setting goals, understanding scholarships and learning how academic preparation creates options
THE FUTURES PLAYBOOK
The promise and the roadmap travel home with the student after the event ends.
SEE IT → BELIEVE IT → PREPARE FOR IT → GO TO COLLEGE
FAMILY ADVENTURE NIGHTS - RESTORE THE FAMILY STORY
SOMETIMES THE OPPORTUNITY IS THE WHOLE FAMILY GETTING TO GO.
For many working and lower-income families, major sporting events, theme parks, cultural performances and other Los Angeles experiences have become financially out of reach.
LA Futures has spent years helping families share those moments together, Clippers, Dodgers, Lakers, Rams, soccer, UCLA athletics, theater, cultural events and other experiences made possible through generous partners.
The event is fun. The deeper purpose is connection: family time, aspiration, healthy role models and a repeated message to young people that education expands what becomes possible.
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MAKE COLLEGE SOMETHING THEY HAVE ALREADY SEEN.
For more than two decades, Family First has incorporated UCLA's I'm Going to College experiences into LA Futures, giving young people and families the chance to step into the college environment, attend athletic events and connect the excitement of the day to the idea of higher education.
A campus stops feeling abstract when a student has walked it. A Rose Bowl Saturday can become more than a game when the message is: you belong in places like this.
SIX PATHWAYS. ONE DIRECTION.
Mentors in the LA Futures program aren't advisors. They are proof. Proof that a student from their neighborhood, their school, their circumstances, built something. Crossed the distance. And came back to show it's possible.
COLLEGE EXPOSURE
Campuses, college athletics, fairs and experiences that make higher education visible.
PROFESSIONAL SPORTS
Major-league environments used to connect discipline, preparation, teamwork and education to real lives.
FAMILY ADVENTURE EXPERIENCES
Opportunities families may otherwise be priced out of, shared together.
Behind-the-scenes exposure to the many professions surrounding sports, media, entertainment, business and live events.
CAREER ACCESS
CULTURE + THE ARTS
Theater, performances and creative experiences that widen a young person's sense of the world.
ROLE MODELS + MENTORSHIP
Athletes, educators, entertainers and community leaders who make the connection between preparation and possibility.
THE PERSON IN THE ROOM WHO LOOKS LIKE THE FUTURE.
Sometimes one voice changes the way a young person hears the message.
That is why LA Futures places students in front of people who have already walked difficult roads: professional athletes, educators, entertainers, executives, coaches, community leaders and college graduates.
The speaker does not have to tell a child to become them. They simply have to make the future feel reachable.
"WHEN A YOUNG PERSON CAN SEE SOMEONE THEY RESPECT CONNECT SUCCESS TO EDUCATION, COLLEGE STOPS SOUNDING LIKE A LECTURE."
THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT OPENED THEIR DOORS
LA Futures has grown because professional sports organizations, universities, businesses, entertainers and community partners have helped Family First turn access into opportunity.
We are grateful to the organizations and people who have helped make these experiences possible over more than two decades.
The win is the student who starts asking different questions.
- What does it take to get into college?
- What careers exist behind the game?
- How do scholarships work?
- What should I be doing now?
LA Futures is designed to turn moments of access into ambition, and ambition into preparation.
THE WIN IS NOT
THE TICKET.
WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE
ACCESS. AMBITION. ACHIEVEMENT.
A child cannot pursue a future they have never been able to imagine.
Open the door. Put the right person in the room. Connect the moment to education. Then keep reminding them that college is possible.
