Are You Ready To Change The Future?
Empowering youth through innovative, hands-on experiences that build the skills, confidence, and connections needed for the future. Creating pathways to emerging careers, entrepreneurship, and economic opportunity while celebrating the culture, creativity, and potential of every young person.
Our Mission
The R.E.C is dedicated to welcoming and supporting young visionaries from all walks of life, breaking down systemic barriers. Every youth carries a unique gift and a powerful story; our role is to provide the foundation they need to share their voice with the world. By fostering healthy expression, we empower them to build a pathway toward sustainable, lifelong success.
Vision
We envision a world where every youth, regardless of background, can access innovative pathways to cultivate their unique creative DNA and thrive through new opportunities in an ever-changing landscape.
The Creators Ecosystem
We’re building a nationwide movement to democratize the creative economy by putting youth voice at the center. Our Creators Ecosystem is co-designed with young people, connecting emerging visionaries with vetted industry veterans while giving youth a meaningful role in shaping the programs, opportunities, and experiences designed for them. Together, we turn creative and technical potential into pathways for professional success in tech and media.
01
Engage Local Creatives
We mobilize a diverse community of industry professionals, from filmmakers to software engineers, who are mission driven to share their high level skills with aspiring talent.
02
Youth-Mentor Matching
We curate high-impact pairings based on career goals and creative interests, fostering deep mentorships that turn passion into professional excellence.
03
Co-Designing Learning Paths
Youth and local creatives co-design every step. We carefully match real-world professionals with enrolled participants, so young people help choose who supports them and how they climb their own mountain.
04
Navigate & Build Future
Mentors guide youth in launching digital portfolios, navigating complex industry landscapes, and mastering the strategic skills needed to win.
Youth Programs
Empowering the next generation with future-ready creative and technical skills.
Creator Academy
Grow real-world 21st century skills: like collaboration, storytelling, and problem-solving through hands-on creative projects.
Startup Hub
Turn your ideas into action with mentors who help you test, launch, and grow projects that matter to you and your community.
AI Tech Path
Experiment with AI and emerging tech while discovering how your unique creativity can shape tomorrow’s jobs.
Future Skills
Build future-ready skills, explore your creative DNA, and unlock new, innovative career paths whether or not you know your dream job yet.
Everyone has their own creator DNA
Raising Every Culture (REC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping youth discover who they are, what they carry, and how they create. Through creative pathways, entrepreneurship, and culturally grounded learning experiences, REC expands access to opportunity while equipping young people with the tools, confidence, and leadership skills to build meaningful futures.
REC’s Creator DNA Assessment is a signature tool that helps youth uncover their unique strengths and creative wiring. Whether they are Builders, Visionaries, Storytellers, Strategists, or Connectors, the assessment provides insight into strengths, learning styles, and growth pathways. It serves as a foundation for personalized skill-building, mentorship, and real-world opportunities that align with each young person’s strengths while fostering confidence, leadership, and community contribution.
Our Founders
David Pedraza
Founder & Executive Director
David is the Founder and Executive Director of Raising Every Culture (REC), bringing more than 15 years of experience in youth development, nonprofit leadership, education, community development, and family support. He founded The R.E.C on the belief that a young person’s potential should never be limited by access to opportunity, creating pathways that center youth voice and connect their strengths and interests to creativity, technology, mentorship, entrepreneurship, and emerging careers. Through REC’s Creators Ecosystem, David is helping young people build the skills, confidence, and opportunities to not only prepare for the future, but have a voice in creating it.
Monique Pedraza
Co-Founder & Chief financial officer
Monique is the Co-Founder and CFO of Raising Every Culture (REC), bringing nearly two decades of experience in youth and family support, mental health and wellness, education, and community-based work. With a Master’s degree in Mental Health and Wellness, she brings a trauma-informed, relationship-centered approach to the R.E.C, helping ensure young people feel seen, heard, valued, and supported as they discover their strengths and navigate their own paths. Monique believes meaningful change begins with listening, and she uses her experience, creativity, and commitment to authentic connection to help build programs where youth voice doesn’t just inform the work, it helps shape what comes next.
The Gaps We're Called to Fill
Our communities face significant challenges, from local youth unemployment and limited access to professional tools, to the global impact of digital transformation and skills gaps.
12.5%
Youth Unemployment
California's youth unemployment rate (ages 16–24) has climbed as high as 12.5% — more than double the 5.3% rate for the broader workforce.
500K Youth Unemployment
Nearly half a million California youth ages 16–24 were out of both school and work in 2025.
92% of Entry Level Jobs Will Be Disrupted
Nearly 93% of entry-level jobs nationwide are exposed to high or moderate disruption from generative AI.
What makes the REC Unique
We believe solutions are most powerful when they are built with young people, not just for them. Our approach places youth voice at the center, positioning young people as active partners in shaping their futures and their communities. Through a co-design process, youth identify their strengths, interests, and goals while building leadership, confidence, and a sense of ownership.
We integrate social-emotional learning as a foundation for growth, supporting self-awareness, emotional regulation, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. By nurturing the whole person, youth develop resilience and the interpersonal skills needed to thrive in school, work, and community life.
We expand access to opportunity by developing skills beyond traditional pathways. Through digital literacy, creative technology, entrepreneurship, problem-solving, and collaborative leadership, young people build adaptable skills that support long-term stability, economic mobility, and purpose.
Our work empowers youth to become creators, decision-makers, and leaders who contribute to solutions that strengthen their communities.
Consulting & Organizational Development
Leveraging Raising Every Culture’s community-rooted expertise, our consulting arm partners with organizations to build capacity that strengthens community voice and expands access to opportunity. We support partners in developing sustainable systems, leadership practices, and community-engaged strategies that deepen local impact and support long-term change.
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Training Services
Empower your team with specialized training programs designed to foster inclusive practices and leadership development, building internal capacity for lasting change.
03
Grant Writing Services
Secure vital funding through expertly crafted grant proposals, translating your organization's mission and impact into successful grant acquisitions.
02
Vision Casting & Strategic Planning
Clarify your organizational direction and craft actionable strategic plans for sustainable growth, ensuring every initiative aligns with your core mission.
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Future Sustainability Mapping
Anticipate challenges and opportunities by developing robust strategic roadmaps for future success, ensuring sustained relevance and impactful leadership in your field.
“With access and innovative opportunities being a challenge for youth our hybrid program provides consistent access where were reducing barriers that keep youth from gaining access to new and innovative opportunities year-round.”
Founder- David Pedraza
Who We Serve
Raising Every Culture (REC) serves youth and families from communities that have historically faced barriers to opportunity, access, and creative pathways. We focus on young people who are ready to discover their voice, develop real-world skills, and build a future rooted in purpose and possibility.
Through culturally grounded experiences, mentorship, and creative skill-building, REC supports youth in strengthening confidence, exploring entrepreneurship, and expanding pathways for growth. We also partner with families, schools, and community organizations to ensure young people are supported not just in programs, but within the environments where they live, learn, and grow.
4M
Youth in the U.S. are disconnected from education and employment, potentially reaching one-fourth of all youth
Source: Measure of America, Disconnected Youth report (2021
33%
Entrepreneurship education has reached more than a million young people in underserved communities nationwide, and separate research on entrepreneurial success finds that a third of successful entrepreneurs credit a mentor or support group compared to just 14% of those whose businesses failed. Mentorship and skill-building aren't separate tracks; they compound each other.
Sources: NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship); Xero, entrepreneurship mentorship research (2023)
15%
Mentored youth saw an increase in earnings between ages 20 and 25
Source: Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, national mentoring impact study (2025)
20%
Mentored youth are more likely to pursue higher education compared to their peers without mentors
Source: Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, national mentoring impact study (2025)