Program & campus vision imagery
Five tuition-free career training programs for young adults aging out of foster care and the juvenile justice system. Ages 16 to 25. No cost to participants. Enrollment is by referral from partner agencies.
Young adults age out of the American foster care system every year. The system stops seeing them the day the case closes.
These young people are not short on talent or determination. They are missing what most successful people started with, one steady adult in their corner and a fair chance to build a future of their own. This program provides both.
This is our Marketing Specialist track. AI-enabled digital marketing, about 24 weeks, fully online, free to participants. Participants finish with a portfolio of supervised work for real small businesses and the skills to hold an entry-level marketing role. The Foundation also runs four other tracks: Bookkeeping & Accounting Clerk, IT Help Desk, Web Developer, and Administrative Assistant. See all five programs →
The first three months build the foundations. Participants learn money, customers, and the tools of the trade before they take on supervised client work.
In months four and five, participants complete supervised projects for real small businesses, with a mentor beside them at every step.
Clients pay participants directly for any work delivered during the program. The Foundation does not invoice clients, collect payment, or take any share of participant earnings.
The final month closes the cohort and sets up the year ahead.
The Marketing Specialist cohort is small so every participant gets one-to-one attention from the faculty. Case managers and partner agencies can refer eligible young adults for any of the five programs.
Refer a young person →The four named below lead program design, curriculum, and delivery, all as volunteers. The extended faculty includes a licensed clinical counselor, a small-business accounting professional, an enterprise marketing director, and specialists in prospecting and administration.
Started her first business at sixteen. Ten years designing systems for service-based small businesses. Leads program design, funder relations, and the campus vision.
Volunteers full-time on program delivery. Leads the AI curriculum, software toolchain, and automation coursework participants apply in their client work. He has used every tool a student touches.
Professor and Chair of Mathematics & Computer Science at Southern Arkansas University. Research sponsored by DARPA, AFOSR, AFRL, and NASA; co-lead on a $20M NSF data-analytics initiative. He brings university-level rigor to the six-month flagship Marketing Specialist track.
Leads participant onboarding, near-peer mentorship, and Foundation outreach to university networks. The closest in age to the students in the cohort.
Licensed Professional Counselor Associate with 17 years working with families as an educator and school counselor. Trauma-informed, working across four languages, she works as a counselor in Texas and leads clinical support for the cohort.
Supports instruction, participant administration, and the day-to-day operations that keep a twelve-seat, nine-teacher program running.
Plus extended faculty covering small-business accounting, enterprise marketing, prospecting, and administration. Nine volunteer teachers for twelve students, at zero cost to the student.
Azgari Lipshy (Founder & Executive Director) · Stephen Dugan · Dr. Md Enamul Karim · Khadijah Karim ·Nasreen Ahmed · Rowshanara Moly
Bylaws, conflict-of-interest policy, code of conduct, and the IRS determination letter are available to funders on request.
Co-delivers the pilot cohort, refers eligible young adults into the program, and provides wraparound support drawing on their community-based youth services network.
Founded by retired NFL player Stephen Braggs, this Austin-area 501(c)(3) supports foster youth ages 13–22 with housing stability, financial literacy, and mentorship. SBYF co-pilots the first cohort and contributes referrals and organizational capacity.
A wellness-focused live-and-learn campus where opportunity youth spend up to a year building job-ready skills, their health, and a plan.
The pilot cohort is where we start. The long-term plan is a residential campus where participants live and learn for up to a year, then leave with skills, a network, and a plan they own outright.
A place where a young person can arrive without an adult in their corner and leave with job-ready skills, a network, and a plan.
Cottages to live in. A learning hall. Hydroponic towers and a working greenhouse. A kitchen where they learn to cook the food they grow. Space to lift, to run, to breathe. A pond and a garden. And a network of adults who stay involved until the participant no longer needs the campus.
This is what we are raising money for.
Stable, dignified housing on campus for up to a year while participants learn and build.
High-demand job skills and a pathway to stable income. Self-employment is an option for those who want it.
Nutrition, fitness, mental health, and financial literacy woven into every day.
Azgari Foundation is a Delaware 501(c)(3) public charity under IRC §170(b)(1)(A)(vi), with an active SAM.gov registration and an IRS determination effective December 1, 2025. We are structured to receive workforce agency contracts, federal and state grants, foundation awards, and individual philanthropy. Programs are free to participants and always will be.
Opportunity youth ages 16–25, with a focus on foster care alumni, current and former Preparation for Adult Living (PAL) participants, young adults exiting the juvenile justice system, Community-Based Care (CBC) referrals, and unaccompanied youth facing housing instability. These are priority populations under WIOA Title I Youth Formula, Chafee Foster Care Independence, and Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) funding streams.
Opportunity Austin, Austin Community Foundation, Workforce Solutions Capital Area, Texas Workforce Commission Foster Youth Task Force and Region 7 PAL leadership, Texas Homeless Network Balance of State Continuum of Care, Texas DFPS, LifeWorks Austin, Capital A Housing, PeopleFund, and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas Affordable Housing Program.
EIN 41-2896092
UEI U95WFYNFERH3
Delaware 501(c)(3), foreign-registered in Texas
Funder briefings, letters of support, site visits, and outcome reporting plans on two weeks' notice. Determination letter and financials available on request.
Open the referral form in a new window →
Can't find your answer? Email fosteryouthinitiative@azgari.org. A person reads every message.
Every sponsorship covers a graduate's first-year operating costs. Every general gift builds the pilot and the campus.
Donations to Azgari Foundation are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
EIN 41-2896092 · Delaware 501(c)(3) public charity · Determination letter available on request