Academy

Alycia

Design FC 2018 - Present, Design FC Academy Student.

12th grade, Chester PA.

Alycia joined Design FC in 2022 as a 5th grader and quickly fell in love with the program. After graduating from Stetser Elementary, she returned the following year as a member of Design FC's Junior Coach cohort and hasn't slowed down since.

In 2023, Alycia participated in a sneaker design workshop with adidas, where she and her classmates learned about careers at the global brand and designed their own custom sneakers. The following year, her talents and leadership earned her a spot in the inaugural Design FC Youth Creative Collective, a project that brought together young designers from around the world to co-create a jersey representing six cities across the globe.

That same year, Alycia joined an experiential learning trip to New York City, visiting the WNBA, Girls Who Code, and Google to explore what careers in design, sport, and tech actually look like up close.

Now in the Design FC Academy, Alycia was paired with Alex Taylor, an NYC-based designer who works closely with adidas and the WNBA. As a passionate artist and basketball player, the pairing was a natural fit. She spent the summer collaborating with Alex on a basketball-inspired collection and traveled to New York for a studio visit to experience his creative process firsthand.

Alycia is now in 8th grade and continuing to grow her skills in the Academy. We can't wait to see what comes next.

Kevin

Design FC 2018 - Present, Design FC Academy Student.

12th grade, Chester PA.

"Design FC is always giving me that key piece in my life that makes me feel like I'm actually doing something. It's right there to make me realize I'm doing something with my life, and makes me realize there is always something bigger in store for me and my future."

Kevin was the first student to join Design FC in 2018, as a 5th grader from Chester, PA. He has been at the heart of the program ever since. As Kevin grew, so did Design FC, evolving to create the Design FC Academy during the pandemic specifically to meet his needs. Design FC equipped Kevin with his own MacBook and Adobe Creative Suite, giving him the tools to ignite his creative career.

Since then, Kevin has collaborated with major brands including EA Sports and New Balance, worked alongside athletes like Tim Weah, and presented to rooms full of executives across sport and fashion. He launched his own apparel brand, Prosperity in Abundance, fully funded by Design FC, and took it further by partnering with KITH's Kinnect Foundation. Now fully proficient in Adobe Illustrator and industry-grade design software, Kevin is a senior in high school and is the first student in program history to have applied to a fashion degree program.

Today, Kevin is Design FC's Associate Designer, working on projects, mentoring students, and helping the organization grow as it expands across the country. Most recently, he was tapped to lead a design project with the Philadelphia 76ers, a collaboration that gives his hometown students a direct connection to one of the biggest franchises in professional sports. He returns weekly to mentor the next generation of Design FC students at the same school where his journey began, and at the Youth Design & Sport Summit in New York City, he took the stage alongside leaders from Nike, EA Sports, and Fanatics. Students voted his session their favorite of the day.

Kevin continues to blaze a path for our students in Chester, and we're excited to continue supporting him as he develops his design career.

Chester:

Academy

A specialized program that provides students who have been with the program for 3+ years with the life changing resources, access, exposure to pursue their creative dreams. By leveraging some of the biggest names in sport, design, fashion, and media, we give our academy students unparalleled access to the creative careers they are interested in exploring.

Through experiential learning trips, projects, professional-mentorship and resources, our students have worked with some of the biggest names in sport, design, tech, fashion, and media.

Chester:

STUDENT STORIES

OTHER Programs

After school

The Jersey Project

Youth Creative Collective

Youth Design & Sport Summit