In a converted space in Bedford-Stuyvesant, something quietly powerful is happening. Young men — some still in elementary school, others well into their twenties — are showing up to talk. Not just to vent, but to learn, to heal, and to lead. The organization making that possible is the B.R.O. Experience Foundation (Brothers Redefining Opportunity), and in 2026, Brooklyn is starting to pay close attention.

Founded in 2020 by educator and youth advocate Barry Cooper — known in the community as Coach Coop — the B.R.O. Experience was built in response to a gap Cooper had seen throughout his years working with young people: there simply wasn’t enough dedicated space for Black and Latino young men to process their experiences, build emotional resilience, and find brotherhood. So he built one.

A 4,500-Square-Foot Home for Brotherhood

The BRO Space Wellness Center, the organization’s headquarters in Bedford-Stuyvesant, is a 4,500-square-foot facility designed around community. It’s where guided discussions happen, where mentorship events take place, where team-building activities and interactive workshops bring young men together. It has evolved, as Cooper puts it, into a “community-style gathering space” — somewhere young men can show up and feel like they belong.

The programming spans a wide age range. The “Little BRO” summer camp serves elementary school students in third through fifth grade. The Right of Passage program works with young men ages 13 to 18. At the older end, the BRO Project is an immersive 12-month initiative for Black and Brown young men ages 18 to 24 who are justice-impacted, have not graduated from high school, or are disconnected from their communities.

There’s also “Behind the Bars,” a music-centered cognitive-behavioral therapy curriculum for middle and high school students, and the “Daddy and Me Project,” which supports young men navigating fatherhood. Across all of these programs, the approach is the same: trauma-informed, community-rooted, and grounded in the belief that emotional intelligence is a form of strength.

2026 Spark Prize Recognition

This year, Brooklyn’s philanthropic community took formal notice. The B.R.O. Experience Foundation was selected as one of five recipients of the Brooklyn Org Spark Prize — an unrestricted $100,000 grant awarded annually to pioneering nonprofits committed to racial and social justice with deep roots in the borough. The award was celebrated at the Brooklyn Org Spark Breakfast at the Barclays Center in March 2026.

The recognition puts B.R.O. in remarkable company. The 2026 Spark Prize cohort also includes the Asiyah Women’s Center, which serves survivors of domestic violence from Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian communities; Black Trans Femmes in the Arts, which supports Black trans femme artists through residencies and mutual aid; and the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, which fights discriminatory surveillance technologies through litigation and advocacy.

For Barry Cooper and his team, the $100,000 is more than a financial boost — it’s validation for an approach to youth development that doesn’t always make headlines, but that changes lives in Bed-Stuy, Brownsville, and Bushwick every single day.

What You Need to Know

• Who they are: The B.R.O. Experience Foundation (Brothers Redefining Opportunity) is a Bed-Stuy-based nonprofit serving Black and Latino young men ages 8–24 across Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, and Bushwick.
• What they do: Offer trauma-informed mentorship, cognitive behavioral therapy-based programming, summer camps, fatherhood support, and music-centered therapeutic curricula.
• Home base: The BRO Space Wellness Center, a 4,500-square-foot facility in Bedford-Stuyvesant where young men can gather, learn, and heal.
• 2026 recognition: Selected as one of five recipients of Brooklyn Org’s Spark Prize, receiving an unrestricted $100,000 grant in recognition of their racial and social justice work.
• Get involved: Visit thebroexperience.org to learn about volunteering, donating, or connecting with the organization’s programs.

Brooklyn has always had a tradition of community organizations that step in where institutions fall short. The B.R.O. Experience Foundation is squarely in that tradition — meeting young men where they are, giving them tools to navigate a world that doesn’t always make it easy, and building the kind of brotherhood that lasts. If you’re a Brooklyn resident, educator, or funder looking for an organization doing meaningful work on the ground, this one is worth knowing.

For more on small business support and grant opportunities available to Brooklyn and NYC nonprofits, see our recent roundup of NYC small business grant deadlines this month.