Professor Walker's Global Game Changers receives $25K Kosair Charities grant

Brandeis School of Law Professor Justin Walker today accepted a $25,000 grant from Kosair Charities for the Global Game Changers Children's Education Initiative. Walker serves as executive director of Global Game Changers.

The money from this grant will be used to provide after school programming at the Muhammad Ali Center for 100 students from the West End's Young Elementary School.

"Our structured educational program will teach them that no matter where you come from, and no matter how young you are, you can make a difference in the world," Walker said during today's press conference.

Walker added that many of these children have never had an opportunity to visit a museum, but this grant will allow them to spend every afternoon at one every day.

"Whereas many of these children have seen first-hand some of the less positive things happening in our community, they will now be spending every afternoon hearing and reading about young people who are making good things happen in our communities. And whereas many of these children are told far too often that they’re not important, that they’re not talented, and that they can’t make a difference, they will now be spending every afternoon learning the opposite – that each of us has the ability, and the responsibility, to make our corner of the world a little better place for our having been here," he said.

Walker thanked the Kosair Charities Advisory Council, as well as the other partners helping the program, including JCPS Principal Mary Minyard at Young Elementary. Additionally, leadership, guidance and evaluations will be made by classroom instructors, elder mentors, youth mentors, evaluation specialists and capacity builders from the University of Louisville School of Medicine's Optimal Aging Institute, the UofL School of Psychology and Brain Sciences, the UofL School of Education and AmeriCorps VISTA.

In addition to Kosair Charities and the Muhammad Ali Center, other community partners include Hilliard Lyons, the Gheens Foundation and Brown-Forman.