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Stephen Sye (l) and Malcolm Coley of Futures First help students step up their game.
Game Venture Futures First founders work to make Wilmington a center for esports By Ken Mammarella Photos by Joe del Tufo
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he three founders of Futures First Gaming are paying forward some of the help they’ve had to become successful in work and life. They’re doing it with video games and esports. “We resonate with kids. We understand their struggle,” said Malcolm Coley, who grew up amid the scourge of violence in Salem, N.J. “I’m not a role model. I’m a real model. I make mistakes, too, and learn from them.” “We’re living proof that you can get there,” said Stephen Sye, a friend from Salem. “We’re all serial entrepreneurs.” Newdy Felton grew up with a single mother in Wilmington’s Hidden Valley. “I had to learn on the streets how to be a man,” he said. “I didn’t sell drugs. I sold candy.” Inspired by his grandmother, who sold platters of food and other items from her home in Wilmington’s Southbridge, he was just 10 when he hired his first employee for his candy empire. ▶
AUGUST 2021
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