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Business Journal july / August 2007

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14th Edition

oing D You

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Russell Simmons

Cindy Barclay Quality Dialysis

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Publisher’s Message

Keith J. Davis, Sr.

Sr. Publisher

Keith J. Davis, Sr. jr. Publisher

Keith J. Davis, Jr. Editing Consultant

ReShonda Tate-Billingsley Operations Director

Ana Romero Administrative Assistant

Tarsha Sanders Project Coordinator

Kristal Duhon Sales & Marketing

Ebony White Multimedia Director

Albert Reff Andrea Hennekes Layout & Graphic Designers

Ernesto Canas Hiram Lewis Ghuzzala Malik Distribution

Booker T. Davis, Jr. Photography

Zack Jones, Jones Photography Rickey H. Brown Contributing Writers

Pastor Byron Murray Darryl V. Samuels Katherine Noyes Keith J. Davis, Jr. Jesse Muhammad Dr. David Jones Tess Tims Carla Lane

Like hundreds of people who turned out at the Shrine of the Black Madonna recently, I had the pleasure of meeting hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. But unlike a lot of the people there, I wasn’t enamored with his celebrity status. I was there in awe of an astute businessman. And Russell Simmons knows his business.

He’s built a conglomerate that many only dream about. And it’s obvious that there’s a lot to be learned from him. He put many of his lessons in the ultimate teaching tool – a book called Do You: 17 Laws to Access the Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success.

After reading this book, I decided that it epitomized the message I hoped to get across in this edition of the D-Mars Business Journal. Success is earned AND learned.

Simmons argues that all success, be it professional or personal, comes from a connection with your higher self and that tapping into that connection will allow you to get your mind right, find the motivation to start instead of stall, surround yourself with the right people, appreciate the value of hard work and understand the power of karma. I couldn’t agree more.

Most successful individuals have not achieved their distinction by having some new talent or opportunity presented to them. They have developed the opportunity that was at hand. As usual, in my quest to educate, entertain and inform, it is my hope that there will be something in this edition that will spur you to develop your opportunity.

Articles featured this month are aimed at helping you do you. That simply means tap into your higher self. What’s your motivation? What is it that drives you? And what’s keeping you from realizing your dream? Answer these questions, then plan your work and work your plan. An old Swedish proverb reminds us that God gives every bird a worm, but he does not throw it into the nest.

Your blessings are waiting on you. Now go get them.

As always, I have to ask that you support the advertisers in this, and all the D-Mars Business Journals. Because they “do us” we’re able to help you “do you.”

CONTENTS What’s Your Vision.............................................................................6 You Play to Win the Game!............................................................13 Support African American Entrepreneurs: Buy from Black-Owned Business................................................14 Doing You................................................................................................15 Mediocrity is Not in Your D.N.A. .................................................18 Education VS Schooling...................................................................23 The Real Deal on Your Hair.............................................................27 6 Ways to Find the Perfect Job for You................................28

MR. D-MARS Tip of the Month Stick with it and success is sure to follow!

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D-MARS Business Journal 9898 Bissonnet, Suite 570 Houston, Texas 77036 713-272-9511 . Phone 713-272-6364 . Fax 1-800-453-8752 . Toll Free www.d-mars.com

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Russell Simmons

urges you to Hip hop mogul Russell Simmons always did like rap music. And why wouldn’t he? After all, his brothers – Run DMC – were already one of the biggest rap groups of the 1980s.

But there was just one problem – Russell couldn’t rap. What he could do, though, was manage. So he began managing rap groups. At 21, Simmons began to realize that he could chart his own course in the business world. And he set out to do just that.

Now, some 25-plus years later, Simmons has built a half-billion-dollar music and fashion empire and travels the country delivering a message to young entrepreneurs, particularly young black entrepreneurs.

But forget Def Jam, the pioneering record label he co-founded, which brought hip-hop to urban and suburban teenagers alike and made household names of Run-DMC and LL Cool J. Forget Phat Farm, whose sweaters and jeans now share shelf space with Polo and Tommy Hilfiger. Forget the energy drink, the debit card, and every other venture bearing his stamp. Forget even the charity and political outreach.

Perhaps the most enduring legacy of Russell Simmons will be something he never set out to do. Simmons has emerged as an entrepreneurial role model, providing guidance both directly and indirectly.

“All of the businesses that I’ve gotten in,” he jokes, “I got in because I didn’t know I couldn’t.”

Simmons was recently in Houston to share his secrets for success and promote his latest book, Do You: 12 Laws to Access the Power in You to Achieve Happiness and Success “I’m not telling people anything that’s a shock,” he says. “Maybe I’m telling them things they’ve already heard before.

But maybe because of my luck and success, they believe me. It really is about your inner voice, so Do You is really the theme of the book.

I think there’s nothing in the book new, it’s the same stuff from The Bible, The Koran, The Torah, the Buddhist scripture. I’m talking about the same stuff. I got it from the Yoga Sutras for the most part, or from the Bhagavad Gita, but it’s the same. A Christian reverend, he says the same stuff as me every day. So I think when you understand scripture translated properly the laws are unbreakable and are exactly the same,” Simmons said.

“People have to learn to have faith and resilience and to put their head down and value the work more than they value the prize because the prize is not the toy, the prize is the work itself. You could use these laws and acquire junk, but the real secret is how do you become happy and that comes only when you have an intention to acquire things that inspire others or lift people up, and not for a minute but for a long time. Stable lasting happiness is what you want to give people. This obvious stuff is said over and over and over again by everybody and heard july / August 2007

Do You!

by everybody, but not adhered to by most people.”

“More people don’t get it because they don’t have faith. God realization comes from clarity, complete focus. Complete concentration slows the world down to a standstill where you can see God’s work everywhere, but instead of doing all the things that promote that clarity you get high. What does getting high do? It makes you feel euphoric, like as if you were some realized or enlightened being, the world slows down, only it’s not from clarity it’s from a dull perception. The Yoga, they say Christ consciousness, or Nirvana, comes from stopping the mind from the noise. The noise is all the shortcuts and stuff that separates, it’s the rethinking of what you already know. That’s why you gotta slow the noise down so you can see it.”

What we need to reform is the conditions that create these lyrics.

Obama needs to reform the conditions of poverty. I wish he really did raise his money on the Internet, like he said. I wish he really did raise his money independently.

No. It’s an old hip-hop expression: “Do you!” It’s just something we say all the time. It means do what you want to do. Do what inspires you. Don’t be a sheep. Keep it real. The book was originally called “Russell Simmons’ Laws of Success.” Oprah renamed the book. It was like God calling. She gave me a better title.

The book doesn’t say just work hard. It says meditate. That’s the most important thing in the book. I go to yoga every day. I meditate every morning.

To be awake is to be fully present, no noise, just you and God. Most of us only have seconds of full consciousness. To live in a state of samadhi — that’s what we’re here for.

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- Cindy Barclay -

Q u a l i t y

D i a l y s i s

As a little girl, Cindy Barclay wanted to follow in her stepmother’s footsteps and pursue a career in nursing. Even though she grew up to be a registered nurse, she had no idea that her passion for medicine would flourish into a successful business. But that’s just what happened.

Today, Barclay is the founder and CEO of Quality Dialysis, a staff-assisted home dialysis company, and the number one staffassisted home dialysis facility in the state of Texas.

“I wanted to provide exceptional home-based dialysis service and make a difference in the lives of those coping with this disease by improving their quality of life,” she said. The ‘Diva of Dialysis’, as some call her, has become one of Houston’s most respected and successful entrepreneurs, but her journey to success wasn’t easy. While working at a hospital in Houston’s medical center, it took a tragedy to make Barclay realize her true calling.

“What happened to me was an epiphany. I think when the Lord has a plan, He brings that plan to fruition,” she said. “It was about two in the morning when I was called in to work on an emergency case. On the way back home I had a major car accident.” A car accident that left Barclay incapacitated and out of work for a year. In that year, she fell into a deep depression.

“I was a single parent taking care of two girls (Gennevive and Maria). I had insurance, but times were still hard.”

A friend suggested Barclay used her 25 plus years experience of working with the critically ill, many of whom were patients diagnosed with kidney failure, and start her own business, doing what she did best—caring for patients. That way she would be able to solve her financial troubles, and by directing her energy towards caring for others, this would help steer her mind from her own depression.

In 1994, Barclay began Quality Dialysis (QDI). A Houston facility that also provides staff-assisted home dialysis for patients afflicted with kidney disease. “I only send licensed nurses into the home. In the traditional out-patient dialysis facility, a dialysis technician (non-licensed personnel) cares for four patients at a time and the licensed nurse provides oversight. The advantage of staff-assisted home dialysis is that a licensed nurse focuses on the physical, physiological, and socio-cultural needs of the patient, one-on-one. Patients have more autonomy and they can continue to work,” Barclay said. Barclay says in building her business, she realized that patients coming to her facility hadn’t been previously adequately informed about their treatment options. “Unfortunately, medicine is both necessary and lucrative. So it is important to explore treatment options and choose the one that best suits your needs. It’s your right!” she says.Barclay says her referrals come from doctors, social workers, Internet searchers, and word of mouth.

But despite the success with her business, Barclay said there was still something missing. She felt a void. Too many people are still suffering from kidney problems and the numbers never seem to go down. It was then she realized she needed to

somehow reach out to all those suffering with kidney disease.

People needed a more extensive understanding of the disease, their options, and basically the do’s and don’ts of everyday life with kidney disease; not just for those suffering, but for those predisposed to the disease. She had to find a way to get the answers out there, in addition to help teach those predisposed how not to become a statistic. Barclay penned a novel, That Damn Dialysis—to fill that void.“There is a knowledge deficit. I think that we in the medical profession tend to talk to patients as if they are in a vacuum, so I wrote the book because I wanted to make information about chronic kidney disease more comprehensible,” she said. “Cledus B.Washington, the main character in the book has experienced the entire dialysis process. The book helps you to understand how the disease is obtained, the devastating implications of the disease, and the things that one can do to avoid it. If your family has a history of diabetes and hypertension, that knowledge may be a key factor in the prevention of acquiring kidney disease. Most of us know someone who has diabetes or high blood pressure. So what do we do to prevent that? Get regular checkups and speak to your physician about kidney disease, eat healthy and exercise. That’s my primary focus.”

Barclay wanted to present a real-life issue in a fictitious situation that was on a level people could understand in hopes of educating the masses. That Damn Dialysis is her way of giving back to the community and she has already received tremendous feedback from individuals singing her praises from all walks of life.“Dialysis is a life-sustaining procedure. Kidney disease is one of the epidemics suppressing our community. History repeats itself; I have visited with many patients where lack of knowledge continues to be a generational curse. Obviously this knowledge is not getting through to our children. I want this book to change that.”

For those who hope to follow in her footsteps, Barclay says hard work, determination and faith are key. “I don’t think there is a recipe. Some people give up too easily. If you have your mind set on a goal, you have to stay focused on it no matter what. It’s a long journey, just keep knocking and somebody’s going to eventually open the door.”Barclay also urges people to know their craft and do it with passion. “You must be knowledgeable and passionate in your area of interest. So seek that knowledge and follow your dreams. I did!”

july / August 2007

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That Damn Dialysis

is available

www.claybarpublishing.com, www.amazon.com and the Shrine of The Black Madonna.

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WHAT’S YOUR

By Pastor Murray Contributing Writer When I was young, my father abandoned our family in search of a dream. He was despondent about his life after returning from the Vietnam War, so he packed up his belongings and left, leaving only a note. ‘I’m going out into the world to find myself,” was all he wrote.

I didn’t see my father again for 31 years. Sadly, when we did finally reconnect, it was obvious that he still hadn’t found himself. The dreams that sent him packing had not sustained him through his search, and somewhere along the way, he had given up all together.

I’m convinced that many people, like my father, have no idea why they exist. Perhaps they too realize their lives lack purpose, so they

VISION?

start off on a journey of discovery.

But eventually they get sidetracked and lose their way; the journey takes a backseat to just existing.

They end up sleepwalking through life, ultimately abandoning even the hope of attaining significance and purpose.

Craig Groeschel once wrote ‘All people end up somewhere, but not many end up somewhere on purpose.’ If your existence is ever going to be more than a series of events, crisis and paychecks strung together over a lifetime, you need to have a purposeful destination in mind. That purposeful destination is called a vision. Vision is the picture in your mind of your most fulfilling life and the steps required to make that picture reality.

You need a vision because it will give your life focus, guidance and passion. Vision brings focus

because it enables you to establish priorities that will support your dreams, not hinder them. Many times, our lifestyles don’t support our vision and we don’t even realize it. Having a vision will force you to cut out extraneous activities (and people!) that impede your progress. Vision will also give you endurance. Think of vision as the roadmap to your destination. When life throws you a detour, the vision acts as the roadmap to help you get back on track. Without the roadmap you could waste valuable time lost and confused.

And finally, vision will bring passion to your life. It’s nothing in the world like knowing what you are meant to do! And you are meant for purpose. God has assured us of that. But purpose without vision is like driving through a fog. The destination lies

ahead, but the path is obscured. It is vision that lifts the fog and allows you to see the path that lies ahead.

Up Close and Personal with Twana Espree, Rich House Realty

Why did you choose to go in the field of real estate?

My family has been in Real Estate for the past 28 years. My mother, Lou Richard is a Real Estate Broker in the Port Arthur / Beaumont Area and both my mom and dad are real estate investors. So I grew up in the real estate environment, thus it’s like second nature to me. july / August 2007

Initially, growing up I thought I wanted to blaze a different trail. So after college graduation (Lamar University), I went to work in Corporate America for a Fortune 500 Company. After that, I moved on to become Vice President of a National Health Agency. After twice being awarded the Rome Bettes National Award (the highest award in the industry), I decided it was time to achieve another goal. That goal was to become an entrepreneur. Starting my own Real Estate Company was a natural because of the family real estate business.

The Name Rich House Realty was to honor my mother and the path she blazed in the Real Estate Arena. Her name is Lou Richard, and Rich House is from the House of the Richards. The name also denotes the rich service and attention our clients receive.

In your opinion, what does it take to be successful?

Having a vision, clear measurable goals, and a strong solid plan to get you there. Also being diligent about working your plan and making revisions when necessary.

What is your personal business philosophy?

The four pillars of our business philosophy are: Complete Honesty, Strong Integrity, Superior Customer Service, And Strong Market Knowledge

What would be your advice to someone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

Follow your dreams! The only thing that can hold you back is you! A good friend once told me “Knowledge without application is an illusion” . And the flip side to that is: “Application Why do you think you’ve been successful in without knowledge is confusion”. So do your your endeavors? homework before diving in!

I have a very strong work ethic, very posi- tive mental attitude, and strong dedication to continuous learning. I feel when you stop learning, you stop living.

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SHIRLENE CLINCY BRANCH MANAGER

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D oing Business with the Port of Houston Small businesses — including minority- and women-owned companies — are the leading employers in the Houston area and provide nearly half of all jobs in Texas. The Port of Houston Authority recognizes that a vibrant entrepreneurial spirit is vital for a strong economy and leadership in global trade and commerce.

According to a recent study, a total of nearly $7 billion in revenue is generated annually by all businesses providing direct services at the Port of Houston. Small businesses that are eligible for the PHA’s Small Business Development Program enjoy a significant share of that revenue. The PHA commissioners and executive staff maintain aggressive goals to promote small business participation on Port contracts for products and professional services.

The Port of Houston Authority’s Small Business Development Program (SBDP) was created to provide additional opportunities for local small businesses to participate in contracting and procurement at the Port of Houston Authority. By formalizing existing practices and implementing new procedures, the SBDP will allow the Port of Houston Authority to target more effectively small business participation (including minorityand women-owned businesses) and create opportunities relating to PHA contracting and procurement.

The SBDP is a goal-oriented program, requiring vendors who receive contracts from PHA to use good-faith efforts to utilize certified small businesses.

The

program applies to all contracts over $25,000, except contracts for sole-source items, federally funded contracts, contracts with other governmental entities and those contracts that are otherwise prohibited by applicable law. The SBDP is a race- and gender-neutral program. SBDP participation is restricted to local small businesses.

The Port Commission will establish an annual goal for small business participation at PHA. The initial overall annual goal of the SBDP is 35 percent of the dollar amount of all SBDPeligible contracts and procurement. Individual contract goals will vary based on subcontracting opportunities, availability of small businesses, and price competitiveness.

To participate, small businesses must be certified by an agency or organization whose certification is recognized by PHA or by an independent third-party certification agency retained

by PHA. Certification is based on a firm’s gross revenues or number of employees as defined by the Small Business Act, Section 3, and 13 C.F.R. § 121.201. The net worth of each owner must not exceed $750,000, excluding principal residence and the value of the small business. Small businesses from the Texas counties of Harris, Galveston, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Liberty, Waller, Chambers and Brazoria are eligible to participate.

The Port of Houston Authority Small Business Development policy and procedures are available online in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF).

View the entire Small Business Development Program policy and procedures.

James T. Edmonds Chairman

july / August 2007

Keith J. Davis, Sr. D-MARS

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Houston Ship Channel gets $33.5 million dollars HOUSTON -- Through strong support of the Houston congressional delegation, the Port of Houston Authority (PHA), as the local government sponsor of the Houston-Galveston Navigational Ship Channel, recently received notice from Washington that the Senate Appropriations Committee appropriated a total of $33.5 million in funding for the Houston Ship Channel.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Galveston District will receive $16.3 million for general construction and $17.2 million for operations and maintenance.

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, an appropriator on the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, was key to getting the funding and increase above the President’s budget.

“The announcement of this funding is great news not only for the Port of Houston Authority but the entire Houston region,” stated Jim Edmonds, PHA Chairman. “Over the past 93 years, the Houston Ship Channel has become one of the nation’s busiest waterways, providing a powerful regional and national economic engine, exquisite environmental resource,

and vital trade link between the world and Houston. The port authority is fortunate to have great leadership in Congress, both in the Senate with Kay Bailey Hutchison, John Cornyn and our Texas delegation in the House.”

Begun in 1998, the Houston Ship Channel deepening and widening project was completed in 2005. The project widened the channel from 400 feet to 530 feet and deepened the channel from 40 feet to 45 feet from the sea buoy to the Beltway 8 bridge. Initiated more than 30 years ago, the project reduces collision and oil-spill risks in the channel. Greater capacity was also provided by the addition of barge lanes constructed on either side of the channel to a depth of 12 feet to allow slower barge traffic to navigate the channel.

In addition to enhancing safety and increasing capacity, the HSC deepening and widening project also helps protect water and air quality. By reusing materials dredged from the channel in Galveston Bay, the PHA and the corps of engineers have taken a precedent-setting role in improving water and air quality.

In addition to the $87 million annual economic impact of the project, it is also one of the most significant environmental projects undertaken in the United States.

The dredge material from the project over the next 50 years will be used to build 4,250 acres of tidal marsh and wetlands in Galveston Bay, rebuild subsided historical islands, and create oyster reefs and other natural enhancements.

While ongoing channel maintenance is financed entirely by the federal government, channel deepening projects are cost-shared between local sponsors and the federal government. The total federal and non-federal cost of this project if $639 million. The PHA, as the local sponsor, is contributing its share of the nonfederal cost from bonds approved by Harris County voters in 1989 by a margin of nearly two to one.

The Port of Houston Authority owns and operates the public facilities located along the Port of Houston, the 25-mile-long complex of diversified. For more information, please visit www.portofhouston.com.

You Play to W in the Game!

By Darryl V. Samuels Contributing Writer In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote in his classic book, Why We Can´t Wait, that African American’s economic problems were compounded by the emergence and growth of automation. At that time there were no training programs available to shepherd African Americans into. Since discrimination and lack of education confined African Americans to unskilled and semi-skilled labor, construction was seen as the answer. However, during that time period, employers and union officials told African Americans that there were no places for them. King stated that billions of dollars were being spent on city, state, federal buildings and goods and services for which African Americans paid taxes but could not receive a paycheck.

Forty-four years later in 2007, African Americans in Houston are still paying taxes but not receiving their fair share of public contracts.

Houston, Texas is heralded as being the july / August 2007

most culturally diverse major American metropolitan city in the country outside of New York City. Time and again the city has been voted ¨best cities¨ to live and do business by Black Enterprise magazine. With the expansion of the METRO rail system, Port of Houston and Texas Medical Center, African-American businesses should flourish. However, the fear is that our companies will squander the opportunity and not bid because of pre-conceived notions.

Perception is reality for many who believe that the lingering negative aftereffects of the 60’s and other issues are preventing them from responding to requests to bid. Disingenuous contractors and others who circumvent the “good faith effort” are certainly to blame.

However, that does not justify that African Americans regularly secure less than 3 percent of public projects.

Research indicates that many Houstonbased African-American business owners are closing shop and returning to 9 to 5 jobs. We are rapidly leaving the construction industry in record pace and going into trades that are oversaturated.

Finally, the fact that our children are choosing not to take over the family business has created a void that leaves public organizawww.

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tions like The City of Houston, METRO, Port of Houston and various higher education and hospital districts desperate to find capable, qualified African-American firms to bid their projects.

Finding a marketable, competitive AfricanAmerican business that regularly bids and wins public projects is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Our firms must become assertive and refine their skills, learn the rules of the game by mastering the bid-Request for Proposal (RFP) process, develop trusting relationships, pursue mentor-protégé, partnerships, joint venture agreements and continuing education opportunities ,and financially investing for the business to be recognized.

Houston is continuously growing and billions of dollars will continue being spent on infrastructure, stadiums, public buildings, hospitals and goods and services. Keep the Dream alive by adopting this three-part strategy: Bid, bid regularly, and bid competitively. Just bid, baby!

Darryl V. Samuels is a Project Manager, Grijalva & Allen, PC HUB Advisory Services at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and President, NAMC, Inc. Greater Houston Chapter.

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Support African American

ENTREPRENEURS:

BUY FROM BLACK-OWNED BUSINESSES

By Katherine Noyes Contributing Writer Inviting bids from black-owned businesses is a matter of fairness: Even though African-Americans represent 13.4 percent of the U.S. population, they own just five percent of American companies and receive less than 0.5 percent of the revenue.

African-American entrepreneurs face fewer opportunities and more challenges than others do in this country. So until more American companies embrace supplier diversity and make it a practice to buy from black-owned businesses, African-Americans will continue to face a dim future in the business world.

In the United States, blackowned businesses are 20 percent more likely to fail within their first four years than white-owned businesses are. Black-owned businesses also tend to start with less capital, and are four times more likely to be denied credit than are whiteowned firms. In addition, AfricanAmericans are less likely to benefit from the multigenerational family and social ties that so often lead to business partnerships among white-owned firms in this country.

For other minorities, the entrepreneurial picture isn’t quite so dismal. Hispanic-Americans, for example, who account for a smaller proportion of the U.S. population — 11.9 percent — own a larger proportion of its businesses than African-Americans do, with 7 percent overall. Asians, meanwhile, have reached “entrepreneurial parity,” meaning that the proportion of U.S. business owned by AsianAmericans is roughly equal to the 4.5 percent of the U.S. population they account for.

In corporations, supplier diversity is a goal frequently discussed but rarely achieved. As far back as 1978, the federal government mandated that federal agencies — as well as corporations that do business with them — award roughly 8 percent of the value of their contracts to small, disadvantaged and minority-owned businesses, including those that are black-owned.

That created a flurry of activity

july / August 2007

among those in and around the government, with repercussions to varying degrees in the rest of the corporate world. Many companies began to embrace diversity programs, but often they focused primarily on staffing. Black-owned companies have remained relatively few and small (92 percent have no employees), receiving a disproportionately small portion of the procurement pie.

As a result, many black-owned vendors never even get considered for supplier roles in most corporations, particularly when it comes to professional services, which are often chosen outside the traditional procurement process. Contracts frequently get awarded to suppliers that the functional manager already knows — which, according to the numbers, very likely don’t include any that are black-owned. An unspoken “perception of incompetence” bias works against many black-owned businesses, which are believed to be somehow inferior or have lower professional standards.

There’s also a common misperception that prices will be higher, and that supplier diversity somehow costs a company more. In fact, data suggests quite the opposite: Companies using best practices for supplier diversity have been found to achieve a higher return on their procurement operations.

But there are many other reasons to support black-owned businesses. For example, African-American firms hire minority employees in much higher proportions than other companies do. Fewer successful African-American companies means fewer jobs for minorities and less hope for multicultural neighborhoods — and the country as a whole.

Of course, the highest value of supplier diversity is equal opportunity for all. By encouraging your company to invite bids from blackowned businesses, you can help an underrepresented population gain the foothold it has long deserved on the economic ladder.

Do Your Part: If you control a budget within your company, make an active effort to request bids from black-owned businesses, both for commodities and for professional services. Ideally, to be representative of the US population, at least 13 percent of your suppliers should be black-owned businesses. It’s important to work directly with firsttier minority firms rather than via subcontracted relationships, which has less benefit for the black entrepreneur.

In addition to numerous services eager to help companies manage supplier diversity efforts (for a fee), there are also many free online directories of black-owned companies nationwide, including: •Alliance of Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs (ABLE) •Federally-certified minorityowned businesses •State-registered minority-owned businesses •BlackPages.com Encourage Your CEO to Mandate Fairness: It may take a mandate to get managers companywide to leave their comfort zones to seek out top-flight, black-owned businesses.

So, encourage your senior management to require supplier diversity in centralized and decentralized purchasing processes.

To do so, urge your senior management to adopt this four-part plan: •Insist that at least 13% of the budget in each spending-category (e.g., information technology, accounting, finance, and legal) be awarded to black-owned firms.

Require budget managers to go beyond their personal network to find top quality black-owned firms.

Organizations like the Alliance of Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs can help your company find highly-qualified vendors.

•Do business directly with blackowned businesses, not through intermediaries. If you are interested in supporting smaller, blackowned firms, then partner with a larger black company who will take www.

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responsibility for cultivating and mentoring smaller black-owned businesses.

•Extend the same respect to black business owners as you do all others. It is not necessary to tell black business owners that, “Our company is going to insist that minorities perform as well as majority firms.”

That’s patronizing. If your prospective suppliers don’t know they have to outperform their competition, then they don’t deserve your business.

•If you hire a black-owned firm and they under-perform, fire them.

But seek another black-owned firm to take their place. Your managers need to know that they can’t just hire any old black-owned firm, let them fail, and then go back to business-as-usual with the excuse, “We tried.”

The best supplier diversity programs are mandated from the top with more than lip-service, by installing formal programs for goalsetting, measuring, reporting and achieving supplier diversity goals.

Tracking spending-by-category is a particularly critical. To have real “teeth,” mandated supplier-diversity goals should be among the evaluation criteria in managerial salary and promotion reviews, for any manager that controls a significant departmental or functional budget.

Invest for the Future: If you work for a Fortune 1000 firm, ask your company to invest a portion of its pension funds in firms that are members of the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC), a trade organization for venture capital that invests in minority entrepreneurs.

Supporting supplier diversity doesn’t mean giving handouts or sacrificing quality in the products or services your company receives— quite the contrary. It means giving black-owned and other minority businesses a long-overdue chance to prove their worth.

Katherine Noyes is a senior editor with charityguide.com.

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Doing You

By Keith J. Davis, Jr. Contributing Writer

As I continue to grow and establish myself in this business industry, I feel that I’m pursuing my dreams and building upon my niche.

adults who are aspiring entrepreneurs.

My goal in life is not just to have success for my family and me, but to be able to build community leaders, presidents, CEO’s, and political leaders for the future. Once again that’s what my foundation strives to accomplish. I feel that I would be doing a disservice to my family, friends, and community if I didn’t share my knowledge.

As the founder of the Keith J. Davis Jr. Foundation, I have benefited myself by pursuing my niche and “Doing Me”. So I encourage other young entrepreneurs to do the same and begin to reap the benefits and take yourself and your business to the next level.

I would like to thank my mother, Heather Davis (Realtor 832-4430157), for everything she has done for me in life. She was there from the beginning of my career and will be there till the end.

She provided when I didn’t have anything, and is a major part in what I have now. So for now, the least I can do is say thanks and I love you with all my heart.

Keith J. Davis Jr. aka K. Jer’Rod Keith J. Davis Jr. Foundation K. Jer’Rod Enterprises

“I stand for freedom of expression, doing what you believe in, and going after your dreams.”

-Madonna Ciccone Ever since I was around the age of 10 years old, I remember having some kind of hustle. I realize that I was, and still am, a true salesman. But now instead of selling wholesale hats, I’m selling a bigger product and to a bigger cliental. I believe that my experience in sales at a young age boosted my ability, and confidence to succeed in the present. That’s why I encourage youth, if possible, to start young. I believe getting exposed to an early career is like the molding stage of success, also where they can learn from their mistakes and successes.

I’ve been truly blessed and I try to take full advantage of every opportunity given to me. I feel that opportunities don’t come along often and shouldn’t be wasted. So through my foundation, I try to provide opportunities to youth, teens, and young

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moving forward towards achieving your goal.

Do something every day to keep the momentum going. Think positive!

Steps for Staying

Motivated

Staying motivated is simple when you use these seven steps.

Fourth - When you feel a bit off track, or overwhelmed take a few moments of solitude and focus on your goals. Recall your vision. Write Second - Set realistic, inspiration and out your goals again. Writing is very powerful. measurable goals that challenge you. Give It helps you clarify and embrace your goals. yourself a date to complete your goals. This Remember what’s really important to you and method gives you a way to tell when and if you why you want it. achieve your goals.

The feeling of being overwhelmed is caused by Third - Create a vision for your goals. lack of decision. Sitting in solitude think about Envision yourself as reaching each goal. What any dilemma you may be facing-make a deciwill it look and feel like for you? For example, if sion on how to move forward. You will feel like your goal is to reduce your stress 50 a fifty pound weight has just come off your percent by xx date, go to the Internet or look shoulders. You will physically let out a sigh of through a magazine for a picture of a person relief. Putting off making decisions happily walking down a path, smiling, affects your ability to stay motivated. So start enjoying life and having fun! Select an image making decisions. that reflects what you want to achieve and what it will look and feel like for you. Place your Fifth - Identify a plan for reaching your goals image in a place where you will be sure to look and develop action steps to successfully carry at it daily-several times a day. out your plan. Stay in action daily First - Believe in yourself and like yourself.

Sixth - Continue to learn. Read books, articles, listen to tapes or watch movies to build new learning around your goal. New learning brings you to insights which are very powerful. Insights will keep you energized, motivated and inspired. Insights provide you with a high similar to the feeling you get after an intense work out. All those happy chemicals- adrenaline and serotonin are stimulated and rush to your brain filling it with excitement and motivation. You feel happy and energized. The key to success and motivation is continuous zlearning and reaching new insights. This is exhilarating plus its good exercise for your brain.

Seventh - Seek the support you need. Rally family members and friends to support your cause.

Identify resources that will help you reach your goal and achieve success.

Ask for support when you need it. Celebrate each accomplishment it is important to staying motivated. Coaching is a proven and powerful tool for helping people stay motivated and achieve the success they are looking for.

NOT

Mediocrity is

in Your D.N.A.

that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter, so the world will at least be a little bit different for our havBy Jesse Muhammad ing passed through it”.

Contributing Writer Your family, friends, community, the world and most importantly your buried inner Ponder over this: If your life were to end greatness, are waiting for the real you to on today, what would people say about show up! What’s holding you back? One you? Would you have fulfilled your purpose in life or were you striving toward it? word: MEDIOCORE. Mediocre is defined as: “of ordinary qualDid you maximize every day? How many ity; rather poor or inferior; lacking exceppeople did you touch? What mark have tional quality or ability; not very good or you left on history? Did you live a life of substance or did you merely exist without great. “ Does this describe you right now? Don’t aim and purpose? settle for being mediocre because MediI recently read in a book that “our souls ocrity is Not in your D.N.A. are hungry for meaning, for the sense july / August 2007

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You are Destined for greatness, there is None like you and you were created Antimediocre.

Don’t be contempt with where you are because you are not where you ought to be. Join the Anti-Mediocre Society…..a society that’s evolving lives from mediocre to mastery.

(Jesse Muhammad is an energetic motivational speaker and is the owner of Jahaanah Productions. He has spoken to diverse audiences for nearly a decade. Let him liven up your next event! Call 832.978.0939 or email at jahaanahprod@gmail.com)

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The First African American Women President of Sanford-Brown Institute - North Loop Campus

Marilyn D. Hall A Lifelong Educator

Marilyn D. Hall has a long history in education. Hall has held administrative and faculty positions in private and independent institutions within the Allied Health communities for a total of 22 years. As the first President of SanfordBrown Institute - North Loop Campus, she leads a campus that currently offers the following allied health certificate programs; Surgical Technology, Medical Assistant, Pharmacy Technology and Medical Billing and Coding Specialist.

Prior to her presidency, Hall served for seven years as an instructor in the following disciplines: Medical Billing and Coding, Medical Assistant, Cardiovascular Technology and Diagnostic Imaging later to become the Director of Education for the South location.

As an Educator, she firmly believes that the students are our first priority and is committed in providing excellent instruction and training to all students. You can often find her in meeting rooms discussing ways to enhance current services offered to her students and the medical communities.

One of her main goals is to bridge the gap between private-for profit school and the medical/ local communities by hosting an annual Gala in which all proceeds are donated to a Non-Profit Organization and Scholarships for local students.

A Rising Star in the Real Estate Industry

Courtney Johnson Rose has been selected by the National Association of Realtor’s (NAR) to be included in the REALTOR® Magazine’s 2007 “30 Under 30” list. The coveted honor highlights thirty talented, rising realtors under thirty nationwide for their achievements and contributions to the real estate industry.

Rose entered the real estate business in 2000 determined to stand out from Houston’s crowded market. And she has done just that. Despite her youth, Rose is a rising star in the real estate industry, closing on 30 transactions totaling $5.8 million in sales in 2006. Today she markets both residential and commercial properties in Houston. Working as an Associate Broker for George E. Johnson Development, her mission is to educate and empower her clients to build financial security through real estate. july / August 2007

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Achieving

Success Everyone wants success. Some people spend their every waking moment pursuing it, to the detriment of all else. For others, attaining success seems impossible.

They conclude that it is destined for a select few. The rest of us are to remain “content with such things as we have”. Having it all is not “in our stars”.

However, the above assumptions couldn’t be further from the truth. When you strive for success with the wrong assumptions, you will never reach it.

It’s like traveling somewhere with the wrong map.

Zig Ziglar says that, “Success is a process, not an event,” “a journey, not a destination.”

Jim Rohn describes it as “…a condition that must be attracted not pursued.”

Do you see the pattern? “…a process, not an event.” “…a journey, not a destination.” “…a condition that must be attracted not pursued.”

You can’t hurry success, catch it, or find it by chance. You can’t inherit it, gate crash on it, or take it from some one else. Success is something you must work hard and long to earn, for yourself. It has a price, sometimes a very high one. And most people aren’t really and truly ready to pay that price, to do what success demands.

If success has eluded you so far, perhaps you should try changing your assumptions. You need to

accept that: (1) You must go through a growing process, which will require time and patience, in order to achieve success. There are no short cuts.

Anything else is a temporary illusion. Success that will remain with you, and bring you joy rather than sorrow, requires a learning process, a time to grow out of old habits and into new ones, a time to learn what works and what doesn’t. And you must pay your dues, in full, in advance! So don’t be in a hurry.

(2) You will need to acquire traits and skills that attract it. What does success mean to you? Identify, in specific terms, what you regard as success. What traits or skills will you need to achieve this goal? Set clear, writte goals. Devise plans to acquire the needed traits and skills. Learn to do what you need to do, to get where you want to go. What kinds of people have what you want? What do they do, or not do, that helps them get and keep it? If you do what they do and avoid what they avoid, there’s a good chance that you will end up with what they have.

Find 2 or 3 people who have what you want. Write down the habits that have made them successful and resolve to copy them.

Starting now! This is called mentoring, learning from others who have arrived where you want to go.

Mentoring can cut out the heartaches of trial and error. A mentor can keep you focused and on

track. Once you learn to do what it takes, you qualify. And when you qualify, success comes looking for you. You just can’t be denied! You fulfill the requirements and attract success to yourself. Opportunities open up to you, and when they do, they find you ready to grasp them.

(3) You must be ready to travel the road to success, oftentimes alone. It’s been said that, “At some point in time, the pursuit of your goals becomes secondary and what you have become in the process….. is what is most important. It’s not the distance you go…so much as the going itself” (Les Brown).

Parents, remember when you tried to teach your children to crawl? You put their favorite toy in

front of them and teased them forward, inch by inch. They were after the toy, which kept them motivated.

But you wanted to strengthen their muscles and teach them a new skill. When they became good at reaching the toy, they had learned to crawl. After that, they could reach any destination they wanted, without you and the toy!

The DESTINATION was less important. They became champion crawlers in the PROCESS! That’s what the journey to success does to you. It causes you to learn habits and skills that make you “full of success”, or “successful”.

Because you have now mastered the skills and the process, you can keep on reproducing success. You now have what it takes. But if you try to “gatecrash”, you don’t get to learn the process and the skills.

Now that you know how to attract success, why not get started on the journey or process that will take you where you want to go? Anyone can succeed, but unfortunately not everyone will. It’s your decision to choose.

You can have anything you want in life, if you’re ready to pay the price. But if you consider the process too hard, too slow, or the distance too long and lonely, you have qualified yourself as a loser; painful but true.

So don’t short-change yourself with short-cuts and counterfeits.

You can have the real thing.

Go out there today and start attracting success. It’s literally yours for the taking!

Congratulations Sharon Phillips on your promotion to

First Vice President Community Affairs Relationship Manager

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tion a c u d E VS. oling o h c S Dr. David Jones Contributing Writer As a young boy growing up, I saw my mother take a little and make much to feed seven children. I witnessed firsthand how she would go to the grocery store with twenty dollars and come out with enough to prepare a four-course meal to feed seven children and herself. It amazed me how she could take a salary of less than twenty thousand dollars and save six thousand in one year. Mind you; this is a woman with a high school diploma and at the time, no college degree. So as I matriculated through the higher halls of learning (obtaining a doctorate degree), one question came to mind. Is schooling a direct correlation to education?

We live in a time of great school crisis. Many of our children rank at the bottom of nineteen industrial nations in reading, writing and arithmetic.

Is America truly an educated nation when the narcotic economy is based upon our own consumption of the commodity? How smart is that? Today, we have more children born to parents with college degrees, however, the teenage suicide rate is the highest in the world and suicidal kids are rich kids for the most part, not the poor. What’s wrong with that picture?

I’ve noticed a fascinating phenomenon in my fifteen years in the field of education - that education and schooling are not the same. No longer can we take for granted that scientists are trained in science classes or politicians in civics classes or poets in English classes. The truth is that many schools are failing to educate and excelling in behavioral management, giving orders, and Special Ed. referrals. So where is the education in this abyss of madness?

I believe ‘Big Mamma’ had more education than some of these degreed folks walking around blind of knowledge with their eyes wide open. By the way, you do know what they say about many of the college degrees people hold? Ph.D. - piled higher and deeper, MA – more anal, and BS… well you know. How can America with all the universities and colleges produce thousands of graduates of whom many don’t have common sense?

Big Mamma didn’t have a college education, but july / August 2007

she could raise ten kids, teach them about the love and fear of God, budget a modest fixed income, and put the majority of those ten children through college. I say she was educated without a college degree.

My pastor, the late Rev. George M. Bennett, would often tell the story about a boy whose parents raised him in a modest home, poverty stricken neighborhood, and they themselves didn’t complete the sixth grade. Upon graduating from college, the boy came home to visit his parents for a Sunday dinner. As he sat in the dining room watching dad gather together the Cornish hens from behind the wire fence, his mouth watered with delight.

As mom prepared the table and dad prepared to say grace over the food, he prefaced his grace with an apology. “Son, as you know, we don’t have much, I could only round up two Cornish hens for dinner but as a family, we’ve learned throughout the years to share. “”Oh no!” the son replied. “There are three Cornish hens in the pot, enough for each of us to have one a piece.” The father looked puzzled at the boy and replied, “no son there’s only two hens in the pot.” “No, you’re wrong dad. I watched you from the dining room window and according to my mathematical calculation you gathered three hens. You see dad, I’ve been to college and I can count.” “Well son,” the dad replied, “since you’re so smart this is what I’m going to do.” Dad removed the lid from the pot and got one hen and placed it on mama’s plate and took the second hen and placed it on his plate. Now, my college graduate, you get the third hen out of the pot and let’s have dinner.

There are two institutions at present that control our children’s thinking - television and schooling, in that order. Both of these reduce the real world of wisdom, fortitude, temperance, and common sense to a never-ending, non-stopping abstraction.

In centuries past the time of a child and adolescent would be occupied in real work, real charity, real adventures, and the realistic search for knowledge obtained by those who really wanted to learn. A great deal of time was spent around the dinner table as a family learning who to solve life’s problems, learning affection, citizenship, respect, listening skills, and dozens of other tasks necessary to become an educated whole man or woman.

The Bible is right; the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. What good is schooling if we’re producing uneducated fools? Enough said.

I think the message is clear, schooling and education are not guaranteed to be synonymous. I beckon with all my heart to those inspiring students seeking a degree at any level, put your focus on getting an education and less focus on getting a degree. My motto is: Don’t hesitate to educate, for to educate is to elevate.

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Medicare and most insurance companies are accepted

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Rebuilding the

Community

Sharone Mayberry is Founder and CEO of Mayberry Homes, Incorporated. Mr. Mayberry began his career as a homebuilder thirteen years ago in the Third Ward Community and has expanded his community development projects to North & South East Houston. Mr. Mayberry is a native Houstonian that attended school and

lived in the Third ward Community as a young Mr. Mayberry is quite an enterprising individual; man and continues to reside in the Third Ward aggressively working to improve the face of Houston’s surrounding communities, buildwith his wife and daughter. ing over hundred homes, price ranging from Mayberry Homes, Inc. is his contribution to the $100,000.00 to $365,000.00. greater Houston Community by working to improving the face of Houston’s surrounding Sharone Mayberry has helped to remove the areas. He has received commendations from stigma associated with the inner-city living.

Fannie Mae Association, Council Member Ada He is truly viewed as a pillar in the Community Edwards Office and host of local banking in- with a sense of connection with the people he stitutions as a minority builder. He is also affili- serves. ated with Re-Ward Third Ward, Guiding Light, Dr. Esther Compton along with a host of other Community Development Corporations.

The Real Deal On Your Hair

can grow back at any time.

8. Androgentic Alopecia (female pattern hair loss, hereditary) 9. Scarring Alopecia(Scleroderma, Lupus etc) 10. Alopecia Universalis (hair loss on entire body, hereditary) 11. Trichotillomania (self-induced hair loss, continuous pulling) 12. Hair Products

By Tess Tims Contributing Writer Almost 30 million women in America experience some type of diffused hair loss. Hair loss in women is much more common than many may think and can occur for several different reasons. Hair loss may be permanent or temporary, depending on the cause.

Being in the hair replacement industry for over 17 years, I have found that the number one cause of hair loss is traction alopecia, which is wearing glued tracked weave, and braids too tight, although stress is another main cause.

If you are one of these ladies, help is here. It’s called Lazier treatment and non-surgical attachment LACE FRONT HAIRSYSTEM. It looks like it’s growing from your scalp. You owe it to yourself to do something different. Call Tess at Tess Tims International 281-870-0201salon, 832-368-9383cell and ask about Program Hair and our financing. 12534 Westheimer Rd #401 Houston, TX.

You could be losing your hair due to: 1. Traction Alopecia (Continuous and excess stress on the hair, braiding, glued track weave, cornrows, ponytails,

buns, comb clips etc.) Hair loss could be permanent 2. Alopecia Totalis (hair loss on entire scalp) 3. Hormonal Changes (pregnancy,menopause/discontinuation of birth control) 4. Stress (can trigger hair loss whether people are predestined to lose hair or not) 5. Tinea Capitis(ringworm) 6. Chemotherapy/Radiation (Hair loss starts approximately 2-3 weeks after first treatment, tender scalp.

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Ways to Find the Perfect Job for You

By Carla Lane Contributing Writer www.diversestaff.com Whether your preferred destination is the executive suite or simply the nearest exit from your current position, don’t let your job take you aimlessly down any path. In fact when it comes to career planning, don’t think in terms of “jobs” at all. Instead build your career plan on “doing the work you’re best at for the employers who need it.”

Following these steps could place you in the career of a lifetime: 1. Identify Your Talent Position yourself not as a job applicant, but instead as the best way to get something done, solve a problem or capitalize on an opportunity. To do this, you need to identify what you enjoy doing, what you are good and turn that information into a workable career plan.

2. Find Your Market Explore what market your talent best prepares you to serve. Look around for the unmet needs and work that needs doing in your company, industry or profession; find the biggest problem your employer or prospective employer

july / August 2007

who are extremely good at something and build a product of such quality that clients seek it out.

•The Charmers, who have such great personal style and powers of persuasion that they talk their way through to clients.

•The Hunters, who know everything about their clients and all the strategies they need to catch them.

the solution. How will your ideas solve the problem or exploit the possibility? How are they better than other ways to do those things? Why should the client listen to you? Reframe your career as a business story and assemble 3. Create Your “Product” the resources you need to make Each path represents different A product is something that solves your case believable. abilities and temperaments; each is the client’s problem, confers a based on different talents. Whichbenefit on the client, produces 6. Develop Your Organization ever is your own natural path, folthe outcome the client wants, or Remember, you are no one’s emlow it. All paths lead to the sumadds value missing in other com- ployee; you’re CEO of You & Co. mit. parable products. Review your To make sure you satisfy your clitalent and the unmet needs or ents and continue to grow your unexploited possibilities in a mar- business, learn to wear the ket you know well. Where do they following hats: marketing, intersect? That’s where you can product development, create a marketable product. Make operations, customer sure your product reflects what service, sales, inforyou desire, makes the best of your mation management, abilities, will fit and benefit from time management your temperament, and will draw and planning. upon your assets.

There is no one path 4. Understand Your Client’s Needs to the goal you are Think of your employer or prospec- seeking, citing a Brittive employer as a client and assess ish Telecom study that their needs. Who is this client and found four patterns what does he or she need? Who among successful entreare the client’s customers? What preneurs: does the client need to satisfy the customer? What is the customer •The Networkers, who parlooking for? How could I help the lay their contacts and friendclient satisfy the customer more ships into “opportunities” completely? that they then exploit.

•The Past Masters, 5. Make Your Case Make your case for why you are

faces for which your talent is the solution. Stop thinking like an employee or job applicant and start thinking like an opportunity-minded vendor, scanning the market for work that needs doing.

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Empowering Young Black Males to Succeed Like many, Dr. Anthony Green, Sr. knows all too well the plight of young AfricanAmerican males. Research clearly shows that young African American minority males are the most vulnerable population. In fact, at one point, Anthony was one of those boys, heading down the wrong path. Then, while a student at Wiley College, a near-death experience caused him to turn his life around and today, he spends his life trying to help other young males stay on the right track.

Green is founder/director of Men Aspiring Leaders through Education (M.A.L.E.), an organization that works with inner-city at-risk boys.

“We are a group of positive productive males who want to render our services to help save our young black males and trying to inspire them to make life-saving decisions that are safe, healthy, and legal. Individuals, communities, as well as society as a whole benefit from our efforts,” Green said.

Green is a native, as well as a product of the Greater Houston area. As a teacher in the Houston Independent School District, Green saw firsthand the struggles of young black males. “The health, economical, justice, health, and educational statistics are alarming,” Green exclaimed.

After receiving his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Wiley College and Oklahoma City University, respectively, Green went on to get his Doctoral degree in Education, majoring in Curriculum and Instruction, from Texas Southern University.

The M.A.L.E. program, which Green started when he was a teacher at Kelso Elementary School, seeks to teach leadership and social skills to some of the most economically and socially challenged boys in the Houston area.

“I started teaching in 1999 in South Park. My first class was an all-boys third grade. I named my class “The No Limit Learners”. Why? I believe there are no limits to learning. That’s my philosophy every year. I noticed a lack of male involvement in education for young black males so I decided to channel all my energy toward youth development to empower young African-American males to succeed.” In 2000, Green began teaching at Mading Elementary where he also taught all-boys classes for the following three years and unanimously became the Teacher of the Year in 2001.

While making a difference on the elementary level, Dr. Green also taught a few English courses at Houston Community College (Central Campus). During his tenure at Mading, Green successfully wrote grants for the Mading community, became Mading’s Director of the Mayor’s After School Achievement Program, where Green had also implemented the M.A.L.E. program. “I was convinced that this was my target population as well as my calling. I stayed involved in the community and continued to advocate for the youth.” As a big brother in the Big Brother/Big Sister Mentoring Program, Green decided to develop his own high quality mentoring program. “We actively interact with youth, parents, and communities and track students until they complete their formal education.

In the near future, as an incentive for participants to stay focused on their educational journey, M.A.L.E. and Rainmaker 1, LLC will provide scholarships to students once they have successfully completed high school,” Green said.

The program, which has reached over 200 school children since its inception, aims to give young boys a solid foundation to use in the workforce. M.A.L.E is committed to empowering young males by “inspiring excellence and achievement through scholarship, while strengthening social skills and moral character in the cardinal principles of manhood, perseverance and the uplift of humanity.”

“Our priority is to reshape urban communities and to provide positive leadership and role models,” Green said. “Our ultimate goal is to prepare all young males to become prominent productive citizens and to achieve a valuable and respectable place in society, while encouraging them to make life-saving as well as morally sound and socially acceptable decisions.”

M.A.L.E uses a social skills curriculum designed to assist parents, teach-

ers and other school and agency personnel in the planning and teaching of character education and violence prevention. The philosophy of the program is based around the psychosocial approach which believes that a social and emotional skills training program can be used as a method of intervention, and as a tool of empowerment, grooming today’s youth into tomorrow’s leaders.

The curriculum includes urban education issues, anger management, conflict resolution, empathy, financial literacy, health education, arts education, leadership skills, alcohol/tobacco prevention, music education, foreign languages, global awareness, economic issues, youth-led projects, multicultural education, athletics, environmental education, karate, problem-solving skills, and a host of enrichment and academic enhancement modules. M.A.L.E. also implements community involvement such as community service, cultural awareness and field trips.

The program has caught the attention of several businesses and educational agencies, including Rainmaker 1, LLC, an Oil and Gas production company, which has decided to partner with the program. M.A.L.E. also collaborates with Committee for Children as well as the Tiger Woods Foundation, just to name a few. According to Green, “The department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education at Texas Southern University provided me with the tools I needed to build success. Moreover, TSU taught me to be a competent, committed, culturally responsive, and caring individual as I sought to seek solutions to the various challenges facing urban education.”

Green knows he has already accomplished some things many people only dream about.

“I have been successful in my endeavors because of support, perseverance, determination, and dedication. These are the seeds, traits, and characteristics that the M.A.L.E. program plant in our youth.

“Most importantly, my faith in God is very important to me.

I am fully aware of where my health, wisdom, and strength come from. Others have inspired me as well. There have been many spiritual leaders, foremothers and forefathers, grandparents, teachers and professors, mentors, relatives, friends, family and colleagues who inspired me to finish the race. My mother (Erma Fields Green) has been deceased since 1988 due to an unexpected aneurism in the brain. At the time of her tragedy, I was a ninth grader so it was very difficult for the whole family to swallow the lost of their backbone. To a certain extent, I used her death as inspiration to continue my education. Mom always said, “Get your education” so I kept that statement as my motivational motto. If she was here, I think she would be proud of her son.” I can’t thank my father (Nolan Green, Jr.) enough for his continued support. Through ups and downs; smiles and frowns, he has been my rock as well.

Dad taught me unforgettable lessons about dreaming big. He’s a proud father and I plan to model and provide that same rich foundation for my son (AJ) and future generations to come. My wife (Janelle) who is a pharmacy student at TSU deserves my heartfelt thanks as well. She and Anthony Jr. made sacrifices over the years so that I could put my education first. May God Bless all of you!”

His advice to someone hoping to follow in his footsteps? “Believe in yourself and in your ability to achieve your dreams. Think more highly of yourself. Respect others. Develop effective study habits. Nothing is impossible when you put your mind and heart in to it. Environment is very important as well. Surround yourself around positive, productive, prominent role models. Character education is key. Often times, character and social skills are more important than knowledge. Become actively involved in the community, use your resources, get an education, or obtain some type of vocational skill, or some type of trade. Dream big and believe that anything is possible.”

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RAINMAKER fp ad

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