#DPPGivesBack: Project Optimism 🌟

There’s power in recognizing a child’s potential and supporting their growth — and Project Optimism is an organization that seeks to do exactly that. 

The nonprofit, which serves youth communities in both Northern and Southern California, started from the vision of two young men who found their calling: to inspire and give back. 

In 2015, founders Ishmael Pruitt and Armoni Easley met while working as counselors for foster youth at the Children’s Receiving Home of Sacramento. Ishmael’s operational mindset, systems thinking, and formal education paired with Armoni’s entrepreneurial spirit, community connections, and wide-reaching impact across school districts made for a perfect match. They launched a nonprofit grounded in the belief that true transformation happens “where opportunity meets change.”

Now, from their humble beginning serving 20 students, they have grown to help thousands of kids on a yearly basis with a staff of 30 in both the Sacramento and Los Angeles counties. Project Optimism serves youth (between fourth grade to high school) from historically underserved and low-income communities. Their mentors are recruits from high school to college, and many of their staff and students identify as Black, Latinx, or Farsi.

They coordinate everything from professional and personal development workshops to large-scale community fundraisers. For them, their mission is always to make any kid who walks through their doors feel seen, appreciated, and believed in.

“[The schools’] bottom line is behavior, attendance, and academia, and to some kids these three things don’t really matter because they don’t even believe in themselves,” Armoni said, “So we create programs and opportunities where we’re just pouring into them to feel worthy to do other things.”

With struggles both inside and outside the classroom, the biggest challenge can be instilling a positive mindset within each child. Armoni emphasized that a “growth mindset” is one of the biggest factors to becoming civically engaged and a future leader.

“We say the optimistic mindset is looking at any situation in your life as a lesson, a blessing, and an opportunity to grow,” Armoni said. The organization works to get that message across by connecting their students with inspiring community leaders to spark motivation and growth.

Looking forward, the Project Optimism team envisions building dedicated community centers for their students and ideally securing a natural space for a future “Optimism Estate” where their students can learn more about sustainability and environmental health.

How can you help Project Optimism? 

• Volunteer — contact them about local events where you can lend a hand.
• Donate — monetary and new, or gently used technology donations (laptops, printers, computers) are appreciated.
• Spread the word — learn more about the work they’re doing at projectoptimism.org.