Ask a room of business leaders where workforce development begins, and most will point to technical training, apprenticeships, higher education or a person’s first job. Yet the foundation for tomorrow’s workforce is often laid years before an individual begins thinking about a career.

Sometimes, it begins with a child having enough to eat. Sometimes, it begins with a ride home after school. Sometimes, it begins with a new backpack and school supplies. And sometimes, it begins simply by helping a child believe they belong.

Nearly 20 years ago, while volunteering in her daughters’ fourth grade classroom, Forough Hosseini learned that some of her daughters’ classmates were experiencing homelessness and food insecurity. Until then, she had no idea that children in her own community faced those challenges. As she began speaking with friends, it became apparent that she was not the only one.

That realization led to the creation of Food Brings Hope in 2007.

The organization’s first effort was straightforward: provide weekend food bags so children could return to school on Monday will full stomachs and ready to learn.

“But food was solving an immediate problem,” Hosseini said. “Opportunity was solving a long-term one.”

That single realization transformed the organization from one focused on hunger relief into one focused on removing the barriers that prevent children and families from reaching their full potential.

According to the Florida Prosperity Initiative, more than 700,000 children in Florida live in poverty, with nearly half concentrated in just 15% of the state’s ZIP codes—including Daytona Beach’s 32114. While poverty is often measured through statistics, Hosseini sees something else.

Potential.

“You should have equal opportunities in life,” she said. “Whether you take them is up to you, but they should exist for all.”

For Food Brings Hope, that belief has shaped an approach unlike many traditional nonprofits.

While grant-funded programs often have clearly defined boundaries, life’s challenges rarely fit neatly into those parameters. Families don’t experience obstacles one at a time, and a single unmet need can prevent them from taking advantage of opportunities that already exist.

Sometimes it’s as simple as transportation. An after-school tutoring program may be available, but without a way home, a child can’t participate.

Sometimes it’s documentation. A family may qualify for WIC or SNAP benefits but be unable to afford the cost of obtaining the paperwork, like a birth certificate, required to apply.

Other times, a scholarship opens the door to college, but a student can’t afford travel expenses to attend a leadership conference or STEM program that could shape their future.

Rather than accepting those barriers as someone else’s responsibility, Food Brings Hope has intentionally built partnerships across the community—businesses, schools, healthcare providers, local governments and nonprofit organizations—to respond when traditional systems leave gaps.

“We’re always trying to fill the gap,” Hosseini said. “We try to work ourselves out of a job. We do what others can’t do or can’t do well enough.”

That philosophy extends well beyond meeting immediate needs.

Children move through a continuum of opportunities that grow alongside them. Elementary students receive tutoring, meals, homework assistance and enrichment through KidsZone. TeenZone continues that support through middle and high school with mentoring, academic assistance and exposure to college and career pathways. Students with exceptional academic promise can continue into FBHonors, where advanced STEM opportunities, college preparation and additional financial support help ensure talent isn’t limited by circumstance.

Programs such as Change the Code and the Lemerand Center of Excellence continue that investment, pairing intensive tutoring with mentorship and enrichment designed to help students graduate ready for what’s next.

The results speak for themselves. During the 2025–2026 school year, 99 students participated in the Mayor Henry Change the Code Program at Mainland High School, and every participating senior graduated.

But numbers tell only part of the story.

“A thousand times,” Hosseini said when asked whether she has watched children’s confidence change after being exposed to new experiences.

Those experiences may include meeting governors, college coaches or business leaders who once stood where they stand today. They might involve visiting a college campus, attending a professional sporting event, or simply spending a day at the beach—experiences many children take for granted, but that can profoundly shape a young person’s understanding of what is possible.

For many students, these aren’t extraordinary experiences. They’re first experiences.

Hosseini believes children experiencing poverty often feel separated from their peers long before they recognize the economic realities behind that feeling.

“Poor kids are automatically detached from the population,” she said. “We have to make sure they feel they are part of the group.”

Creating that sense of belonging is just as important as providing academic support. When children feel included, supported and valued, they begin to imagine futures that once felt out of reach.

Take Daniel, for example. His parents’ words tell the story better than any statistic could.

“I am writing to thank you for the incredible impact your program has had on my son, Daniel,” a parent wrote in a letter to Food Brings Hope. “Since joining Food Brings Hope, we have seen an amazing transformation in him. The program has provided a safe, supportive and encouraging environment that has helped Daniel truly open up. Thanks to your wonderful staff and activities, he has grown tremendously in his social skills and has found a new group of friends.”

The letter continues, “Beyond the social connections, the program has given him a genuine sense of inspiration and confidence that carries over into his everyday life. Seeing him excited to participate and grow has been a true blessing for our family. Thank you for your dedication, kindness and investing so much heart into the children in our community.”

For Hosseini, stories like Daniel’s are the true measure of success. Graduation rates, college acceptances and academic milestones matter, but they begin with something much more fundamental: helping children discover confidence, find a sense of belonging and believe in what’s possible.

“My definition of success is having a student who is happy and able to move to the next grade with the knowledge they’ll need to be successful.”

She pauses before describing the vision that continues to drive her.

“I’ll never be truly satisfied until every student in our community has a roof over their head and food on their table.”

As employers continue asking where tomorrow’s workforce will come from, Hosseini believes the answer requires communities to look much earlier in a child’s life.

Too often, she says, people assume schools alone can prepare children for success. But educators cannot solve every challenge families face. That responsibility belongs to all of us.

Businesses, nonprofits, schools, government agencies and community members each have a role to play in ensuring children have access to the opportunities that allow them to thrive.

Because workforce development doesn’t begin with a résumé. It begins by removing the barriers that keep children from discovering what’s possible.

Sometimes that’s hunger. Sometimes it’s transportation. Sometimes it’s a birth certificate. Sometimes it’s simply believing you belong.

Talent is everywhere. Opportunity isn’t. The communities that recognize that—and commit to closing the gap between the two—will be the best positioned ones to build the workforce of tomorrow.