{"id":37919,"date":"2026-04-09T16:28:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T20:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=37919"},"modified":"2026-04-09T16:28:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T20:28:22","slug":"power-forward-grant-awarded-to-aspiring-music-producer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/power-forward-grant-awarded-to-aspiring-music-producer\/","title":{"rendered":"Power Forward Grant awarded to aspiring music producer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An aspiring young music producer was honoured by the Aurora Black Community Association with its 2026 Power Forward Grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keil Thomas was honoured by the Aurora Black Community Association (ABC) and Aurora Council at last week\u2019s Council meeting where ABC Founder and President Phiona Durrant explained how the grant will help Thomas propel his business forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Power Forward Grant is about economic empowerment. Change doesn\u2019t happen without economic empowerment,\u201d said Durrant, noting Thomas\u2019 impact within the ABC itself. \u201cKeil, we thank you for showing up in the community, we congratulate you on your entrepreneur journey, and this uplifts you. We don\u2019t just give money, this is not just a give-out, it\u2019s how mentorship will be provided to these youths. Financial literacy is provided so it\u2019s not just \u2018take this and go.\u2019 There\u2019s three months of training provided to [grant recipients] about how to use money, how we invest, and how we give back to our community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In turn, Thomas thanked the ABC for its support, which he said made him \u201cextremely happy and grateful,\u201d and Durrant herself, who he said was \u201csupportive to so many people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d also like to thank my parents for their support and the way they encouraged me to try things,\u201d said the honouree. \u201cThank you for being here to help me develop my business idea and for giving me so much support throughout this journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis grant will really help move my new DJ business forward. I\u2019ll now be able to get some of the equipment I still need, and it will help me with marketing costs like business cards and some of my website services. I\u2019m really looking forward to the entrepreneurship training, mentorship, and business development coaching. This will all help me as I work towards my goal of becoming a music producer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas was congratulated by Mayor Tom Mrakas and members of Council, with Ward 1 Councillor Ron Weese asking the grant recipient to share more about his journey and the memories he\u2019s made along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would say the people that I\u2019ve been surrounded with and the people that I will meet along the way that are here to help me and support me,\u201d Thomas replied. \u201cI\u2019d say that\u2019s definitely one of the most memorable and most important moments of this journey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Support was also offered by Ward 6 Councillor Harold Kim, who highlighted the impact of the Power Forward program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t just about financial support, it\u2019s about belief. It\u2019s about the community saying, \u2018We see you, we see your effort, and we want to walk the journey with you,\u201d said Councillor Kim. \u201cYou didn\u2019t get here by accident. I suspect, Keil; that behind this award is a story \u2013 a story of persistence, of showing up when it would have been easier not to, of carrying ambition alongside uncertainty, and still choosing to move forward. That takes courage, and it takes resilience \u2013 the kind that doesn\u2019t always get applause, but absolutely deserves recognition. [This] grant is not a handout, it\u2019s an investment \u2013 an investment in your potential, your vision, and your future contribution to this community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAurora is stronger when young men and women like you are empowered to grow, to lead, and to build something meaningful, whether that\u2019s a career, a business, or a new path entirely. I hope you will carry this moment with you. On the days when things feel heavy or progress feels slow, remember that this community believes in you. We\u2019re cheering you on, and we\u2019re excited to see where you take this next chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPrograms like Power Forward matter because they don\u2019t just talk about opportunity, they create it. They remove barriers, they open doors, and they remind us that talent is everywhere, even when opportunity isn\u2019t. This is what community looks like. It\u2019s not just policies or plans, it\u2019s people supporting people, it\u2019s mentorship, it\u2019s encouragement, it\u2019s standing behind one another and saying your success matters to us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added Mayor Mrakas: \u201cI think we\u2019re all going to be watching for you and seeing how you\u2019re going to represent Aurora on the world stage because I can see a lot of things in your future. You\u2019re a promising young man and we\u2019re very proud of you\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPhiona and the entire Aurora Black Community Association, you guys do phenomenal work and we really appreciate the work that you do. We\u2019re very proud that you\u2019ve partnered together to bring forward a lot of these activities and events to really uplift our community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An aspiring young music producer was honoured by the Aurora Black Community Association with its 2026 Power Forward Grant. Keil Thomas was honoured by the Aurora Black Community Association (ABC) and Aurora Council at last week\u2019s Council meeting where ABC Founder and President Phiona Durrant explained how the grant will help Thomas propel his business […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":37942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2026-04-09-06.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9RB","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-17 08:37:06","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37919"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37943,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37919\/revisions\/37943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}