La Toya Sykes, president and CEO of the nonprofit after-school group, “Our Next Generation”, is a powerful and influential woman in the Milwaukee community. Sykes strives to help her students, or “her babies”, to stay on the path to graduate high school and encourages them to pursue higher education.

Our Next Generation, located on the corner of Lisbon and 35th St., hosts kids from the surrounding neighborhood at the conclusion of their school day. The children play games, receive dinner, and get homework help from tutors at the end of every weekday.

Sykes grew up in the neighborhood surrounding the center, and uses her background to better connect with her students. Sykes describes that she knows the negative messaging that her children are receiving, and does her best to combat it. She reminds her students that they are not the product of their surroundings; they are in the driver’s seat of the their future.