The Blueprint Foundation

The Blueprint Foundation was founded by members of the Portland chapter of the historically Black fraternal organization, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. The move was in response to a 2010 census report on the state of education in Oregon that identified large disparities in high school retention and graduation rates for Black students in Portland’s Public high schools versus their white counterparts.

Our intent was to shift the numbers by providing Black youth with access to workforce development that would complement their schoolwork and solidify their interest in careers of the future. The green sector is growing due to major investments in tackling global environmental challenges that happen to disproportionately impact Black community members. Recruitment and retention literature stresses the importance of personal connections to one’s work for retention in any career, but particularly in fields related to science and engineering. Consequently, the combination of promising job prospects and culturally meaningful work led us to select the green sector as the focus of our efforts.