A collaboration announced Tuesday between the City of Kenosha and local partners in youth development, education, technology, career development, and workforce preparation will offer opportunities for local youth, ultimately creating a pipeline of local talent to area colleges and future employers.

As one part of a plan to develop and revitalize the City’s older neighborhoods, the City of Kenosha is developing the Kenosha Emerging Leaders Academy (KELA) in partnership with Carthage College, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Herzing University, Gateway Technical College, Jockey International, Best Buy, the Kenosha YMCA, the Students Engagement thru Groups and Activities (S.E.G.A.) program, gener8tor and the Mahone Fund.

KELA, which is set to open later this year in the former Brown Bank building, located at 23rd Avenue and 63rd Street in the Uptown neighborhood, aims to provide students and young adults with the skills and resources to pursue college and/or career paths.

The KELA building is located within a few blocks from the proposed Kenosha Innovation Neighborhood (KIN), a live, work, and play neighborhood focused on innovation, education, training, learning, and work opportunities. According to Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian, KIN represents the future economy of the Kenosha community, and it will change the region’s economic trajectory and offer inclusive, diverse, innovation-based opportunities to position Kenosha competitively as a destination for technology and entrepreneurial development.

Read more at Kenosha.com.