In celebration of the second anniversary of President Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Initiative, Haute 100 listers Will and Jada Smith will embark on a “Careers in Entertainment Tour.” The husband and wife entertainment duo hopes to increase the knowledge of the entertainment industry as well as increase opportunities for millennial youths in the business.
In a statement regarding the tour, Jada said, “The Careers in Entertainment Tour is an engine for change in our industry, and a means of closing the gap between dreams and the tools necessary to achieve them. This initiative in support of My Brother’s Keeper will engage our underserved young girls and boys in hope to inspire future generations—a responsibility I do not take lightly and one I cannot wait to bring to fruition.”
Broderick Johnson, assistant to President Obama, cabinet secretary, and chair of the My Brother’s Keeper Task Force, also released a statement. He said, “The My Brother’s Keeper Task Force applauds The Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation for responding to President Obama’s call to action to ensure all youth have clear pathways to opportunity and success. We commend Will and Jada for leveraging their unique platform and networks to inspire and engage our nation’s most vulnerable youth, whose tremendous talents are too often underrepresented in this and other industries.”
The tour, which is slated to commence this fall, will feature a number of panels that will give youths n opportunity to hear from industry professionals in filmmaking, television production, cinematography, composing, writing, project development, representation, distribution, sound design, film editing, public relations, among other positions.
For those of you unfamiliar with the initiative, My Brother’s Keeper was launched on Feb. 27, 2014. Through this initiative, the Administration is joining with cities and towns, businesses, and foundations who are taking important steps to connect young people to mentoring, support networks, and the skills they need to find a good job or go to college and work their way into the middle class.
