Founder and Executive Director of The CATCH Initiative
Meet Our Founder
Mauri Sylvester founded the CATCH Initiative (Community Adolescent Training & Career Help) with a simple belief: every young person deserves access to opportunity, mentorship, and the confidence to build a brighter future.
Inspired by firsthand experiences witnessing the barriers many young people face, Mauri launched CATCH to address the root causes of poverty by connecting youth with meaningful relationships, creative expression, career development, and real-world opportunities. What began as helping a handful of local teens has grown into a community-driven nonprofit committed to equipping young people with the tools they need to thrive.
Under Mauri’s leadership, CATCH has developed innovative programs that combine mentorship, workforce development, multimedia arts, and community engagement to help participants discover their strengths, build practical skills, and create lasting change in their own lives.
Mauri believes that lasting impact is created when communities invest in their young people before they fall through the cracks. That philosophy continues to guide CATCH’s mission of empowering the next generation through opportunity, accountability, and hope.
“When society drops the ball, we CATCH each other.”