Puentes New Orleans Incorporated

Escalera STEM is a national program that promotes economic mobility for youth. Targeting low-income, first-generation Latino students, Escalera supports students both personally and academically as they explore career paths, prepare for college, and develop leadership and technology skills. This 2-year after school program follows students entering their junior year and follows them through their senior year. At present, the program operates at 3 area high schools: West Jefferson High School, L.W. Higgins High School, and Grace King High School.

L.U.N.A. (Latinx Unidos de Nueva Orleans en Accin) is a grassroots, multiracial youth project that focuses on youth leadership development with a strong emphasis on youth-led advocacy, organizing, and coalition building. L.U.N.A. empowers young people to participate in working together to develop creative solutions to problems that directly affect them through creative expression and informed social action. L.U.N.A. embraces a holistic approach to social change by changing systems and society. Youth members work to develop innovative solutions to creating a more open, inclusive, and equitable world. Since launching in March 2018, youth members have identified these prominent paramount issues and concerns: equity and immigrant rights.