A Detroit-based nonprofit youth development program will soon have a presence in another Rust Belt city.
Downtown Boxing Gym, a nonprofit organization focused on youth development (and offering little by way of actual boxing) has long received requests from advocates outside its home market seeking to replicate DBG Detroit’s free out-of-school program for kids aged 8-18.
The organization is now acting on those requests, having established a licensing agreement for a franchise offshoot in Buffalo, N.Y.
Kevin Kirby, a coach, personal trainer and Buffalo-based real estate agent, becomes the first licensee for DBG Detroit. He will host the program at the more than 100-year-old Jubilee Branch library in Buffalo.
Franchise models for nonprofits are more common than many think, particularly internationally, said Jessica Hauser, executive director of DBG Detroit.