About Us

When Yolanda and Keith Ragland lost their teen son Brandon to gun violence, they thought their broken hearts might never recover.

But time brings hope, healing, and perspective. It also brings new energy to meet challenges head on.

One challenge the Raglands recognized was the growing number of talented teens in Eastern Michigan turning to violence and crime due to a lack of mentorship, creative outlets, and a sense of purpose. Teens like their son Brandon, who was himself a creative artist. 

The Raglands decided the best way to honor their son’s legacy was to nurture other vulnerable young artists, offering them opportunities for self-expression and alternative pathways to a successful future.

Out of this seed of an idea, Elevation Youth Corp (EYC) was born. EYC is an arts education nonprofit organization founded in 2017 in Ypsilanti, Michigan to target at-risk teens with mentorship and training centered on the creative arts and entrepreneurship.

Through practical hands-on workshops in everything from photography and fashion modeling to broadcast media and audio engineering, we create safe spaces in which young people can explore their interests, test new ideas, and learn from experienced mentors as they open new possibilities for their future.

All EYC activities are offered free of charge. To encourage participants to pay it forward and learn how to give back, EYC members are expected to donate four hours of their time each month to volunteer service in their community. Our ultimate desire is to nurture the next generation of leaders ready to create lasting change for good in Eastern Michigan while building a national model for how to lift up and empower at-risk teens through the power of the creative arts.