Baltimore Renaissance Foundation

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The Baltimore Renaissance Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit organization in Baltimore, Maryland, USA which provides leadership training for secondary school and college students. The organization, usually referred to as "Baltimore Renaissance", was founded in August 2006.

Programs Sponsored by The Baltimore Renaissance Foundation

Baltimore Renaissance sponsors the following programs:

Student Professional Development Initiative (SPDI) - an entrepreneurship training system for young men. Participants in SPDI create a community oriented business venture, with the assistance of a volunteer business counselor.

Project Counterculture - a program described by Baltimore Renaissance as "a social movement encouraging positive self-expression". The goal of Project Counterculture is to combat negative perceptions of young people by promoting the work of young artists and writers.

The name "Baltimore Renaissance" was derived from the Harlem Renaissance, a 1920s cultural movement of the African-American community emphasizing creative expression and the dignity of the common man.

Recent Projects

Although the SPDI program is focused on neighborhood projects in the Baltimore area, the Baltimore Renaissance Foundation provides training and consulting for new and established nonprofits and community organizations worldwide. The nonprofit was recently selected to co-sponsor the national Black Entrepreneurship Empowerment Tour (BEET) in 2008 along with Speak2Society, a youth entrepreneurship speakers network, and the New Light Leadership Coalition, a leadership training organization.

Among other projects, Baltimore Renaissance is providing development support for a youth community centre in the Ukraine, and sponsors an online knowledge base for people interested in social entrepreneurship.

The Baltimore Renaissance Foundation was featured in the November 2007 issue of HBCUConnect Magazine, where 26-year-old founder Jonathan Carter reflected on his experiences at Hampton University. "It teaches you a lot about who you are," quoted Carter. "I saw people doing things that inspired me, and gave me understanding of what I can accomplish in light of those around me."