Empowered Young Men EYM

1
Empowered Young Men (EYM)

• An Overview

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Who are We?

• The Empowered Young Men (EYM) is a Not-for-Profit
  organization designed to reprogram and develop
  young black men into leaders by surrounding them
  with success and building a positive network to
  support their dreams

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EYM cultivates dreams by challenging and
reconstructing the reality that seems so
pervasive in our culture
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How Does One Become an EYM The Dream Draft

• Prerequisite
• To be an EYM all you need is a DREAM. The dream
  is our basis for all development
• Interested young men must pitch their dreams to
  community individuals, local businesses and
  corporate sponsors in any fashion that they
  desire (Ie. Powerpoint, musical, speech)
• The Dream Draft
• EYM believes in our human capital and knows that
  our selling point is our outstanding young men
  and their dreams
• Corporate Sponsors and individuals will have the
  opportunity to sponsor the dream of an EYM by
  bidding on them
• We will also tie in internships and other
  opportunities to make the dreams of our EYM more
  tangible

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The EYM Way

• We use hip-hop, sports, and entertainment,
  mediums that young black men are attracted to, to
  teach them important lessons around
  self-awareness, perseverance, leadership,
  competitiveness, assertiveness, and teamwork. As
  they grasp these fundamental concepts, we will
  guide them to more strategic concepts like
  effective communication, personal branding,
  entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and
  community commitment, leverage sports and hip-hop
  less, and depend more heavily on their newly
  enriched intelligence, drive, and passion to
  learn, compete and succeed

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Who is Our Customer?

• Marcus is a high school Junior
• He lives in an impoverished area of the inner
  city, in a single parent household. He has
  attended multiple schools and finds himself
  distracted when it comes to education.
• He runs into peer pressure on a daily basis, via
  gangs and abundant drug use within his community.
• He has a D average due to his lack of focus when
  in school. His parent is not involved in his
  daily life, academics, and personal growth.
• He feels the odds are not in his favor and as a
  result has no game plan for his life, but he has
  an audacious dream to own a fleet of limousines
  in the city

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Young black men are being mentored, but by the
wrong role models
This cycle continues because we are not
challenging it as effectively as it is supported
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Marcus, Whats Stopping You?

• Our program replaces the perception of
  helplessness with the reality of limitless
  potential

Month 1 Instructor What is your dream? Marcus
To own a fleet of limousines Instructor What is
stopping you? Marcus (hesitantly) Everybody
says I can't do it
Month 9 Instructor What is your dream
now? Marcus Still to own a fleet of
limousines Instructor Now whats stopping
you? Marcus NOTHING!!!!
Everything
Nothing!!!
Month 1
Month 9
The EYM Way
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Why are We Different?

• Our fight is against what is commonly referred to
  as The Black Male Crisis. We do not fight this
  American tragedy by simply giving young men jobs
  or attempting to improve their education, what we
  target is their APATHY
• Apathy is a psychological term for a state of
  indifference - where an individual is
  unresponsive or "indifferent" to aspects of
  emotional, social, or physical life
• Our Change Theory is rooted in helping Marcus
  and other young men like him obtain a reason to
  live, develop a drive to succeed, and build their
  confidence, which will increase their chances of
  improving grades, intensifying focus, and
  avoiding risky behavior

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EYMs Strategic AdvantageThe Competition

• The Competitive Game Format
• Imagine an instructor standing in the center of a
  circle of ten young black men. The five (5) young
  men sitting on the left hemisphere of the circle
  are sitting in orange chairs and the five (5)
  young men sitting on the right hemisphere of the
  circle are sitting in black chairs
• During EYM Discussions the instructor has a
  scorekeeper in his hand at all times to award
  points to either of the teams based on their
  engagement, debate, and proactive analysis during
  discussions
• Young men earn points based on several factors
• Essays
• Proactive participation and Innovative Thinking
• Networking
• Competitive Victory

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EYMs Strategic AdvantageThe Competition

• For 9-10 months we will take these ten (10) young
  men through a series of discussions, forums,
  outings, and games designed to help develop
  and/or expand their fundamental and strategic
  skills based on the EYM Pillars.
• The program will encourage effective
  collaboration with the team concept and reward
  points to teams and individuals. A team wins by
  accumulating more points than its competition.
  The winning team will receive a financial reward
  in the form of scholarships and the losing team
  will receive a smaller scholarship. Individuals
  will also be rewarded for exemplary performance
  and leadership

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EYM Sustained Growth

• Upon completing the program, the young men will
  then have the opportunity to join the EYM
  Investment Fund (iFund) to continue their
  tutelage as well as to contribute to an
  established business/organization. The men of
  the EYM Investment Fund will ensure that the
  young men are assigned a mentor and stay actively
  engaged in the operation of the EYM Investment
  Fund. The iFund will also act as an alumni
  network for EYM graduates.

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Example Discussion Snippet It Was All A Dream

• Affirmation
• Instructor Who are we?
• Young men Empowered Young Men!
• Instructor And?
• Young men We are empowered to lead!
• Introduction
• Jay-Z It Was All A Dream
• Discussion Points
• What is your dream?
• What does your dream mean to you?
• If you could express your dreams in a dollar
  amount, how much would it be worth to you?
• How much would it be worth to others?

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Cornerstone EventEYM Stock Competition

• The empowered young men will fundraise throughout
  the year to build up their coffers for the stock
  competition
• This teaches self reliance and responsibility
• Points will be rewarded to the team that raises
  the most money and other incentives
• A sponsor will match their raised funds
• The young men will use this total amount to
  compete to grow their principal investment
• Points will be rewarded to the team that
  increases their net worth the most
• The final amount after the stock competition will
  be distributed as scholarships

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Picture of Success

• Each EYM will
• Complete and internalize their leadership
  statement beginning with I am empowered to
  lead (see appendix for complete example)
• Compete in several competitions (I.e. stock,
  essay, oratorical)
• Be exposed to various Executive Leaders,
  Companies, Institutions, and Mentors
• Read a minimum of 3 books to help improve their
  financial literacy, foster personal development,
  and cultivate their positive attitude and core
  skills
• Join the established EYM Investment Fund and
  Alumni Network upon graduation

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Picture of Success

• The most important piece to an EYMs success is
  when he is asked Whats stopping you from
  succeeding? His answer should be a strong and
  confident Nothing!

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Appendix
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The Purpose of the EYM Leadership Statement

• Throughout the program the EYM will build on
  their Personal Leadership Statement. The
  leadership statement serves multiple purposes
• We will walk our young men through a series of
  steps to research their own dreams, for example
• What schools do people who do this attend?
• What do they major in?
• Who are some key people in this industry that I
  should establish relationships with?

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The Purpose of the EYM Leadership Statement

• The process of building this is important in the
  fact that if the young man changes his goal or
  dream he will understand the steps to
  establishing goals and setting targets to reach
  them.

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Evolution of the EYM Leadership Statement

• I am empowered to lead.
• I am empowered to lead as the CEO of a major
  automotive company.
• I am empowered to lead as the CEO of a major
  automotive company. I will get there by
  attending the University of Michigan and majoring
  in mechanical engineering.
• I am empowered to lead as the CEO of a major
  automotive company. I will get there by
  attending the University of Michigan and majoring
  in mechanical engineering. Afterwards, I will
  secure an internship and fulltime job at an
  automotive company on the Fortune 100. Next, I
  will attend Harvard and obtain my MBA.

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Statistically Speaking

• According to the National Urban Leagues The
  State of Black America Portrait of the Black
  Male
• African-American men are more than twice as
  likely to be unemployed as white males, and black
  males who work in comparable jobs earn only 75
  percent of what white men earn.
• Half of black men in their 20s were jobless in
  2004, up from 46 percent in 2000.
• Black men are nearly seven times more likely to
  be incarcerated, with average jail sentences
  about 10 months longer than those of white men.
• In 1995, 16 percent of black men in their 20s who
  did not go to college were in jail a decade
  later, its grown to 21 percent.
• Black males between 15 and 34 are nearly eight
  times as likely to suffer from AIDS as their
  white counterparts.
• Black males ages 15-19 die from homicide at 46
  times the rate of white males their age.
• Black male achievement begins to decline as early
  as the fourth grade and by high school. Studies
  show, black male achievement begins to decline as
  early as the fourth grade and by high school,
  black males are more likely to drop out in 2001,
  only 42.8 percent graduated from high school,
  compared to 70.8 percent for their white
  counterparts.

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Other Examples of EYM Activity

• Discussions
• Who Am I
• It Was All A Dream
• Managing Adrenaline
• Money, Power, Respect
• Balling
• Failure is Unacceptable
• What Does Long Term Thinking Mean
• Sell Water to a Well
• This Womans Worth

• Events
• The Look Up Exercise
• Cash Flow Tourney
• Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity Building
  Foundations
• Forums
• The Value of Education HBCU, Ivy League, State
  School
• Competition
• Stock, Essay, Oratorical

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Contact Information

• Hassan F. Johnson
• Founder and CEO of The Empowered Young Men (EYM)
• [phone]
• www.empoweredyoungmen.org (under construction)
• Hfjohnson_at_empoweredyoungmen.org
• Detail
• First Program Launch Date
• Summer 2010

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Credits

• Background image http//www.daretobeking.com/
• Stats National Urban League http//www.nul.org/th
  estateofblackamerica.html
• Comic Strip Illustrations by Will Capers
• 113 Poppy St.
• Hampton, SC 29924
• Cell 843-441-0305
• email darkenigma03_at_yahoo.com
• webpage www.myspace.com/theartistwill