This is the scene at the Tri-County Job Center, just one initiative of Men and Women United for Youth and Families, a small nonprofit organization that seeks to empower people who live in its three-county service area.“We serve as a hub,” says Executive Director Randolph Keaton, a member of Four County EMC. “In our rural communities, we are proud of the fact that we have hard-working people. We come from that place.”

If our rural communities are going to thrive, we have to start with our young people.

As its name suggests, Randolph’s nonprofit also focuses on growing young leaders for these communities. Its youth outreach program serves teens between the ages of 14 and 19, offering leadership and life coaching, entrepreneurship programs, and mentorship.

“If you work with them and say, ‘What do you like most in your community, and if you were a leader, what would you work on to change?’ they operate from a different place,” Randolph says. “They start to want to be more involved.”