“Coach” Barry Cooper cheers on emotions, therapy and safe spaces — things that were in short supply in the world he knew as a Black boy growing up in Bed-Stuy. Now through his nonprofit, the Brothers Redefining Opportunity (B.R.O.) Experience, he’s building what was missing then: a peer community for Black and Latino boys and young men that helps teach them to care for their mental health on their own terms.
The barbershop experience
Cooper’s path to founding the B.R.O. Experience began with noticing gaps in how schools and the juvenile justice system treat young men. He said those systems often punish Black and brown boys instead of supporting them as they come of age.
“We don’t get a chance to really live out our boyhood and make the mistakes that are necessary for us to understand what it means to truly be a man,” Cooper said.
When Cooper turned 18, he chose barber school over college, and eventually opened his own shop on Marcus Garvey Boulevard in Bed-Stuy. The barbershop was a place where he could hold court, while for customers it was a “third space” — a place outside of work and home where men could have safe, low-cost conversations.
But when his business collapsed after he dove into “the full fabric of a Bed-Stuy boy” — immersed in drugs and street life — he took those tough lessons and returned to school.
A degree in educational psychology led to work mentoring and creating community at Eagle Academy, an all-boys’ school in Ocean Hill, and with the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES) in downtown Brooklyn. Cooper eventually got certified in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which would later form the core methodology of his nonprofit.
Building the B.R.O. Experience
During the pandemic, a rise in crime led a police inspector in the local precinct to reach out, as he knew Cooper’s work. Cooper proposed a program that could help young men focus on their mental health.
“What if I created a space where young men could learn emotional regulation, have a space that’s really safe, where they could be vulnerable, they could be authentic, brave and connected?” Cooper said.
On a community call with the police inspector, neighbors and other stakeholders expressed support. Some lent expertise in nonprofit development and startups, helping Cooper formalize his vision. By 2021, the B.R.O. Experience became a 501(c)(3), starting with a $5,000 investment from community members.
Now, it operates with a budget of just over $1 million and was recently awarded a $100,000 grant as one of five winners of a Spark Prize from Brooklyn Org, which supports nonprofits across the borough.
Feelings, snacks and hip-hop
The B.R.O. Experience’s main leadership initiative lasts nine months and blends mentorship, social-emotional development, CBT group sessions and “critical consciousness” work. Programs serve boys aged 8 to 24, ranging from summer camps to fatherhood workshops. In flagship programs like Behind the Bars, facilitators use hip-hop songs — J. Cole’s “Love Yourz,” for instance — to spark conversations about comparison, emotions and thought patterns.
Lyrics become gateways to name feelings, explore cognitive distortions and open up in ways traditional programs rarely allow. Cooper says therapy too often happens after a crisis, after which a youth is put on medication or given a diagnostic label, both steps that can trigger a sense of stigma. Schools and the juvenile justice system also typically punish rather than support Black and Latino boys and young men as they’re figuring out who they are, he says. The B.R.O. Experience creates a space for regular practice, peer support and connection with facilitators who share lived experiences.
The program also keeps participants coming back by offering stipends for participation, access to snacks and technology and a spot to rest, talk or simply feel safe. Over time, that repetition builds real emotional regulation skills, Cooper says. One participant recently described staying calm during a tense encounter at the DMV. When Cooper asked him how it felt having his driver’s permit, the young man said, “You know, the permit was cool, but I was glad I didn’t crash out.”
That moment reflected Cooper’s belief that giving young Black and Latino men tools to understand and express their emotions can help prevent the kind of self-sabotaging behavior he once experienced.
“Because we can’t outwardly name it, we chalk it up as Black anger or young men’s anger — and, no, it’s actually sadness or frustration, confusion, and they don’t have the vocabulary,” he said. “We’re really focused on giving them the language to speak about what it is that they’re feeling, not [just] what they want to do in life.”
Lessons for other nonprofit entrepreneurs:
- Continuity can save lives. When a pilot program ended due to lack of funding, one participant, Brandon — once quiet but steadily opening up — was killed just days later. Cooper doesn’t call that a failure, but a wake-up call: continuity becomes a form of protection. Now, graduates are guided into ongoing community involvement or even hired as facilitators.
- Build environments people want to return to. B.R.O. is intentionally homey: a workout bench, keyboard for musicians and a barbershop corner make it a space where young men feel ownership, comfort and safety.
- Cultivate trust through community connections. Cooper doesn’t just rest on being a Bed-Stuy boy. The nonprofit’s 2026 Brooklyn Org Spark Prize and previous awards — and its initial $5,000 from the neighborhood — reflects a community that believes in and values their emotional resilience programs for youths.
7 Marcus Garvey Blvd. in Brooklyn
Email: communications@thebroexperience.org
Donate or learn more about how you can support the B.R.O. Experience.
