(Photo by Kim Robinson)
International Ryder Cup Event Provides Milwaukee Youth with Access to Careers in Professional Golf Industry
Earlier this week MKE Fellows, in partnership with the PGA of America, provided a once-in-a-lifetime, behind-the-scenes experience for over 60 Milwaukee youngsters to see “Beyond the Green” when they visited Whistling Straits Golf Course, home of this year’s international Ryder Cup event. One of the greatest sporting events in the world, the Ryder Cup brings the USA and Europe’s best golfers and global attention to Wisconsin Sept. 23-26, 2021. “Beyond the Green” is designed to provide access to youth who need and deserve opportunities to enter and flourish in the professional golf industry and every field of human endeavor.
PGA REACH, the 501(c)(3) charitable foundation of the PGA of America partnered with the MKE Fellows allowing access to the Ryder Cup’s inner workings, event operations, and top PGA leadership. Milwaukee area youth from several Milwaukee Public Schools, Marquette University High School, Kappa Leadership Development League, Urban Underground, Pearls for Teen Girls and the Watchmen from the Milwaukee Rescue Mission, learned about career opportunities in the golf industry directly from PGA of America leadership, special invited guests, and several powerful panelists including PGA President Jim Richerson, Milwaukee Bucks President Peter Feigin, actor/comedian Chris Tucker, Jordan Brand VP Gentry Humphrey and others. The day-long career awareness and exploration event also included an onsite tour of the Ryder Cup’s inner workings at Whistling Straits as part of the PGA WORKS “Beyond the Green” event, the first-of-its-kind held during Ryder Cup week.
“We continue to partner with leading organizations like the PGA and work purposefully to open doors and expand the career universe for Milwaukee youth,” said MKE Fellows Executive Director John W. Daniels III. “It doesn’t get any bigger than the Ryder Cup and to provide our youngsters with personal and direct access to those who direct and control this $84 billion international industry is monumental.”
(Photo by Kim Robinson)
ABOUT THE MKE FELLOWS
MKE Fellows is a well-documented, growing youth leadership initiative providing support to Wisconsin’s talented and ambitious young African American men designed to facilitate academic excellence, degree completion, and career and vocational preparedness never veering from commitment to community. The phenomenal success of the Fellows initiative has been evidenced in their ability to respond to today’s urgent social and health conditions while engaging Milwaukee communities most affected by these calamities.
As an example, when the pandemic caused a disruption in academic services to MPS students, the MKE Fellows responded by creating the Five Pillars Tutoring Program – a collaboration between Marquette University, the Milwaukee Links and Henry Aaron’s Chasing the Dream Foundation – to successfully provide virtual tutoring and instruction to students at Ralph Metcalfe School in the heart of Milwaukee.
ABOUT PGA WORKS
PGA WORKS is a strategic initiative designed to diversify the golf industry’s workforce. Funded by PGA REACH, the 501(c)(3) charitable foundation of the PGA of America, PGA WORKS leverages fellowships, scholarships, career exploration events, and the PGA WORKS Collegiate Championship to inspire and engage talent from all backgrounds to pursue key employment positions across the golf industry. For more information, visit PGAREACH.org/PGAWORKS, follow @PGAWORKS on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.
ABOUT PGA REACH
PGA Foundation, Inc. d/b/a PGA REACH is the 501(c)(3) charitable foundation of the PGA of America. The mission of PGA REACH is to impact lives through golf. For more information, visit PGAREACH.org, follow @PGAREACH on Twitter and find us on Facebook.
ABOUT the PGA of America
PGA of America is one of the world’s largest sports organizations, composed of nearly 28,000 PGA Professionals who work daily to grow interest and inclusion in the game of golf.
For more information about the PGA of America, visit PGA.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
For more information on the MKE Fellows, visit www.mkefellows.com.