YBM Leadership Alliance
Creating A New Reality
About YBM Leadership Alliance YBM Leadership Alliance is a non-profit organization founded in 2006. Our Mission is to develop young black men into 21st century leaders by exposing them to positive leadership models; equipping them to be spiritually grounded to make a difference within humanity, and empowering them to become competent leaders with a passion for lifelong learning. Our Vision is to Create A New Reality where young black men are assumed to be and sought out as leaders of our community and where young black men recognize the greatness within themselves. Our Goal is to Create A New Reality by inspiring and training generations of leaders. Our primary goal is to create a network of impactful and socially active young black male leaders.
YBM Leadership Alliance’s Theory of Change
YBM Leadership Alliance’s Programs and Strategies
Justin Elliott Duke University YBM Ambassador Class 2013
There is not a single day that passes by that I do not think of my purpose in life. I never knew exactly what God had planned for me and I never imagined achieving all that I have. My emergence into the YBM Leadership Alliance Program, however, gave me purpose and a sense of direction for my life. I still remember the first YBM College Fair held at Rocky River high school. There were several inspirational speakers that had unique stories and incredible backgrounds, yet the one idea that they all had in common was the importance of pouring back into the community to uplift others just as we have been uplifted and encouraged. For so long I focused on excelling in high school so that I could be successful, obtain a well-paying job, be able to support my family, and live a long happy life. However, as I started to attend more and more YBM workshops, I started to understand that my success was not about me, but rather about being an example for others that wanted to succeed and doing everything in my power to make it happen for them. In high school I was part of an International Baccalaureate program and surrounded by students that did not look like me and labeled my intelligence as a ‘unique case’. YBM empowered my life by giving me a voice. Students saw my activities in the newspaper, online, and on the news. They saw not only me, but other students that looked like me serving the community, excelling in rigorous courses, and positively impacting our world. I am in YBM to defy the stereotype of a young black male, and to be a role model for children that go to school under the pressure of that stereotype every single day. Mr. John Martin chose me to be an ambassador and I can honestly say it is the greatest honor I have ever received. I have had the opportunity to mentor others, serve at a prayer breakfast, encourage youth on radio stations, and make sandwiches for the homeless. I have sat in meetings discussing what we can do to change our community; I have lived out my purpose in life each and every day because of my involvement with the YBM Leadership organization. I have sat in countless scholarship sessions, college workshops, and late night meetings all because there is nowhere I would rather be. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of such a powerful organization, and I can only pray that I have made as big of a difference in someone else’s life as the YBM organization has made in mine. Every time I see a young black male I try to share with him my experience with this wonderful program in hopes that he will join and that it will impact his life as well. Although the YBM organization has led me to live out my purpose there are so many steps left to take in my journey. The mentoring program has inspired me to start a mentoring and tutoring program of my own in the Charlotte community and overseas. The dedication to service I experienced in the YBM program has driven me to apply for the DukeEngage service program in which I will be able to travel overseas and initiate a mentoring and tutoring program for struggling students. This service is not for public recognition or any awards, this service is to exemplify to others our true purpose in life, and to continuously defy those stereotypes that try to anchor us down. I would also like to thank Mr. and Mrs. John and Tammy Martin for their support and their belief in us as young black men. If it were not for their initiation of the YBM Program I may have never found my purpose in life.
Marshall Craft Massachusetts Institute of Technology YBM Ambassador Class 2013
The YBM Top 100 program has definitely made a difference in my life. Before participating in the YBM program I was a bright student that felt under appreciated. My family was supportive and recognized the importance of my hard work, but it seemed I never received as much recognition as I would have, had I been playing sports or a similar activity. The Top 100 program provided recognition for my academic success and provided me with a chance to be a visible role model for my high school peers. Through the publication itself and being featured on the cover, I earned recognition in both my school and community. Afterward, through continuing to participate in the YBM Ambassador Program, I have gained further recognition from those I have met and who have heard about me. I used to be a lot less sociable before I became involved in the Top 100. I was very uncomfortable meeting new people and introducing myself. Sure, I knew how to have the proper handshake, eye contact, and look professional, but I was not adept and at ease in the situation. My experience in the Top 100 has helped me to become more comfortable through the practice I have been afforded. It’s provided me with an opportunity to be exposed to community leaders and business professionals. I have been energized to participate in more volunteer opportunities and also take a leadership role in more activities, something that would have been a lot more difficult without the catalyst of the YBM organization. Usually most peers of mine do not understand or worse are derisive of my dedication to academics. They are not as future focused as I am so connecting with them on more than a surface level can be prohibitively difficult. The Top 100 and YBM Ambassador programs have connected me to peers from around the area that may have different goals but similar drive. Getting to meet and work with them has proven both to me and others that the negative stereotypes usually associated with young black men do not hold true for everyone. Though the end of the school year is rapidly approaching, my participation in YBM will continue into the future. I look forward to returning and sharing with the upcoming classes of YBM participants. It is important for me to both be an inspiration and to share my experiences and what I did to grow and become more successful. I will also continue to make time to volunteer in whatever community I am a member. Service is an important part of leadership and I want to make sure that I am using my talents and skills to help others. I realize that YBM is looking to expand to other cities across the country so I will definitely be available to assist when the time comes for wherever I am residing. I plan to continue my academic success at MIT. It is an important part of my life plan and crucial to its success. I will definitely use the skills I have acquired to meet and interact professionally with instructors and business persons to make successful contacts. I have an interest in going into entrepreneurship so these skills will be invaluable to me in this area. YBM has been a motivating, life changing experience for me and I look forward to sharing the experiences and rewards with other future bright young men.
Proven Results Since the inception of Young Black Male Leadership Alliance (“YBM”) in 2007, our vision has been to “Create A New Reality” by inspiring young black men to become leaders who will impact and transform their schools, families and communities. We are developing the future generation of leaders. While the ultimate long-term success of our program will be measured by strength of the future generation of leaders that we produce we are proud to report that our short-term results have been extremely promising and impactful to the community. Over the past seven years, YBM has conducted (5) annual Leadership Conferences, (5) Summer Leadership Academies, over (20) leadership and college prep workshops, completed (20+) community service projects, (4) leadership retreats, (10) College tours, awarded $6,000 in college scholarships and provided 22 business suits to young leaders. We have collaborated with Charlotte Mecklenburg School System, Boy Scouts of America, Urban League of Central Carolinas, Communities in Schools, Central Piedmont Community College, CPCC Man Up Program, UNCC Collegiate 100, UNCC Building Better Brothers (B3) Program, Emerging Leaders, Girl Talk Inc., Johnson C. Smith University, The Park Ministries, Nations Ford Community Church and the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Through all these events and collaborations, YBM has impacted over 5,000 young black men and their families in the Charlotte and surrounding area. The results below are presented based on our four theory of change strategies 1) Promote Positive Messages, 2) Provide College Readiness for young black men and their families, 3) Develop a network of black male leaders, and 4) Engage young leaders through real world service projects.
Promote Positive Messages The YBM Top 100 Program promotes and highlights high achieving high school black male seniors who have excelled in academics (min 3.0 GPA), leadership, extracurricular and community service activities. The objective of the program is to provide positive messages, images and academic stories about young black men to combat the abundance negative stereotypes and messages portrayed about young black men.
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100% high school graduation rate (Top 100 and Ambassador Programs) 200 high achieving high school minority males identified and recognized over the past two years 750 Top 100 publications recognizing young black male academic success distributed 20+ news, radio and print media articles reaching hundreds of thousands of people 8,000+ online media impressions
Provide College Readiness The YBM College Prep Academy Program provides comprehensive college access services to high achieving black males in their junior and senior years of high school. Each student receives comprehensive services including academic advising, SAT Prep classes, visits to outstanding colleges, assistance with essays, college applications and financial aid forms, and advocacy on their behalf with the colleges. The results over the past two years include:
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100% High School Graduation Rate 100% received scholarship funding 1.4 Million scholarship funds received 15% received full scholarship 69% received greater than 50% scholarship $113,008 average scholarship amount received 100% Received admissions to one of their top 5 schools
Develop Black Male Leaders The YBM Ambassador Program is designed to develop a network of successful young black male leaders, mentors and role models who will have a positive impact within their communities. The program goal is to increase the number of young black men that actively participate as leaders, mentors and role models in their communities. The Ambassadors participate in leadership development training, local, national and international service projects and post program coaching sessions. We are proud to report that the results from the first Ambassador cohort are extremely positive.
o 100% have actively participated in or led a service related activity or training since the completion of the Ambassador Program o 63% College Ambassadors participated in a leadership activity in their first semester o 2 Ambassadors are actively creating a mentoring program o 1 Ambassador participated in an international service project to Haiti & 1 will participate to Africa in Spring 2014 o 100% gained leadership experience and knowledge o 100% were promoted to the next level in their education o 100% of the seniors graduated from high school o 100% of the graduating seniors are currently attending college o 100% high school seniors received new business suits
Engage Young Leaders through Service The YBM Third Grade Reading Program is a reading literacy and mentoring program that matches high achieving black male high school students with at risk third grade minority males who are reading below grade level. The high achieving minority black males develop leadership skills and experience while serving as role models to the elementary school students. o o o o o o o o
300 hours of reading mentoring delivered to black male elementary school students by YBM students 60+ elementary school black male students have received mentoring from YBM students 100% of the at risk minority male mentees were promoted to the next grade level 97% of the evaluation participants believe the 3rd Grade Reading Program has positively influenced the leadership development of the high school mentor 97% of the evaluation participants believe the 3rd Grade Reading Program has made a positive influence on high school mentors and elementary school mentees 89% of the evaluation participants agree that the program had a positive influence on the student engagement of mentees (3rd grade students) 77% of the evaluation participants agree that the program had a positive influence on the attitudes of elementary school mentees 78% of the evaluation participants agree that the program had a positive influence on the academic improvement of elementary school mentees
YBM Leadership Alliance students actively work on service projects throughout their engagement with YBM programs. The following service results were achieved in 2013:
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7 service projects completed in 2013 200 hours of service hours delivered by YBM students 1 Service learning project completed feeding over 800 homeless residents 1 Ambassador participated in an international service project to Haiti & 1 will participate in Spring 2014 to Africa Served as Ambassadors for MLK Prayer Breakfast (3rd year) Volunteered at Operation Christmas Child (3rd Year)
YBM Leadership Alliance’s Collaborating Partners and Sponsors
YBM Leadership Alliance www.ybmleadership.com 704-340-5996
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info@ybmleadership.com