NEW ORLEANS (press release) – The NBA Foundation has awarded the NOCCA Foundation a major 2026 grant that will help provide access to the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) for hundreds of young artists who depend on financial assistance through the NOCCA Foundation’s Student Support Program.
The NOCCA Foundation’s Student Support Program serves over 200 NOCCA students aged 14–18 across the New Orleans Pelicans NBA market. The program provides those students with aid for department fees, supplies, travel to life-changing summer intensives across the country and more.
“The NBA understands that elite success is built through a powerful ecosystem of mentorship, training, and investment,” says Shanekah Johnson, Executive Director of the NOCCA Foundation. “We share that vision and work daily to ensure NOCCA’s young creatives have the resources to thrive in the classroom and lead the industry after graduation.”
Students attending NOCCA have a 100% high school graduation, a 100% college acceptance rate, and job placement in a broad range of fields including culinary arts, media arts, and jazz. In 2025 alone, NOCCA graduates earned $46.2M in college scholarships and grants.
“Everything is possible here at NOCCA,” says Culinary Arts Level III student DeAndre Sanders. “We are learning how to make our own futures. I can be confident in any area of Culinary when I leave NOCCA. I’ve learned how to become a professional in culinary techniques, world cuisines, and in our own special culinary culture. I love making a roux, bechamel sauces, and using the holy trinity. Being passionate about what I am doing, I can see that I’m becoming the best person I can be.”
With the NBA Foundation’s support, the NOCCA Foundation will ensure that creative talent translates into educational achievement and sustainable careers.
“It is a huge advantage for young creatives to collaborate with artist-mentors, to learn from a prior generation’s experiences and hard-earned knowledge,” said Silas Cooper, President and CEO of NOCCA. “It is essential that all students, regardless of family resources, have these advantages and the opportunity to expand their imaginations and thus their dreams of who they can be. Organizations like the NBA Foundation make everything possible.”
