Mission:
To help create viable pathways to better educational and employment opportunities for male African-American youth who have been involved with the Los Angeles County probation system.

Background:
IamBLOOMis part of the Building a Lifetime of Options and Opportunities for Men (BLOOM) initiative, a five-year project of the California Community Foundation. Launched in 2012, the initiative aims to provide educational and employment opportunities by 2017 for at least two thousand of the approximately forty-eight hundred teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18 who have been involved with the Los Angele County probation system. With additional support from the Annenberg, Carl and Roberta Deutsch, James Irvine, and Union Bank, and Weingartfoundations, the initiative works to re-direct youth via career-based mentoring programs, support for academic and/or vocational completion, and a pipeline of internships and job opportunities. IamBLOOM, the Web site and online community about and for young African-American males living in South L.A., features profiles of youth who are turning their lives around as well as resources and opportunities for companies, government agencies, charitable foundations, service organizations, and individuals interested in supporting the initiative. In February, CCF will issue a request for proposals for community-based organizations serving this population and will award grants based on the RFP in June.

Outstanding Web Features:
Visitors to the site can view brief bios of young men who are being helped by the initiative that include answers to questions such as "If you could do any job in the world, what would it be?" and "What are you really good at?" Registered users can participate in conversations with other members of the online community through forums and/or access/post events or opportunities such as job fairs, career workshops, and so on. Visitors also can share content related to or about BLOOM or sign up to volunteeras a mentor or tutor, or pledge a job or educational opportunity.