We use sports to:
student athletes towards educational opportunities after converting raw talent into the skills required for entry into college athletic programs.
teens to service and local enrichment activities in order to instill a sense of responsibility, belonging and investment; key requirements for building a civically engaged individual.
student-athletes and parents on how to prepare for post-secondary pathways, including playing baseball on the college level, tech ed, entrepreneurship, military, etc.
youth towards their promise by using the historical journey of past African American legends as the road map.
L.E.A.D. provides year-round, direct service programming to up to 250 Black youth in 6th-12th grades from low income households who are underperforming in the areas of grades, attendance and behavior. All of our student-athletes are from inner-city communities throughout Atlanta and attend Atlanta Public Schools. Our year round programming consists of activities across our four pillars of focus: academics, athletics, civic engagement and commerce. Our programming is delivered in a trauma-informed, culturally responsive framework that is centered around our student-athletes’ racial, linguistic and cultural identities.
Allow L.E.A.D. staff to build trusting relationships with members while teaching the leadership, life, social and job/career preparedness skills inherent in athletic development.
Civic Engagement become a part of one’s DNA in order to develop leaders who have a strong sense of responsibility and commitment to their communities. Members of L.E.A.D. complete over 2,000 hours of combined community service annually.
Because we target youth who are underperforming across grades, attendance and behavior, academic success usually does not come easy for our youth. L.E.A.D. staff uses their interest and love for sports to inspire them to compete academically.
Commerce drives the social and economic culture of our communities and world. Having a seat at the table of commercial development is essential to effect positive growth for communities. Through strategic business partnerships, LEAD connects its members with the business community, creating a network and pipeline for future, diverse leadership.
Our Lady Jr. Ambassador and Ambassador Programs currently serve middle and high school girls in the Washington and Douglas Clusters.
Our Jr. Ambassador and Ambassador Programs currently serve middle and high school boys in Atlanta Public Schools.
* Both Tennis & Baseball are offered
Sports-based youth development (SBYD) provides a high potency, active environment where fun and learning take place.
As we prepare our Ambassadors to be community leaders who are workforce, college and career ready, our unique position in their lives is to develop their social emotional learning (SEL) capacities. Through support from the Laureus Sport For Good USA Foundation and Community Foundation For Greater Atlanta, we use a resource called Hello Insight to assess and develop our programming and our Ambassadors. Through Hello Insight, we track our boys’ and girls’ development across the following SEL capacities.
In the early 1900s, the American government turned to athletics to prepare men to fight in WWI. After seeing the social, physical and psychological preparedness of American soldiers, the country began to invest heavily into athletics, including high school sports.
Today, Black youth in Atlanta are at war with three curveballs that threaten their success: crime, poverty and racism. L.E.A.D.’s sports-leadership, Pathway2Empowerment model provides year-round training and development designed to help our youth win at the game of life.
Our integrated system fuses our four pillars (athletics/baseball, academics, civic engagement, commerce) with our six core values (excellence, humility, integrity, loyalty, stewardship, teamwork), and provides year round experiences in phased approach to development (assessment, engagement, empowerment, application). Simply stated, we meet our youth where they are, guide them along our Pathway2Empowerment and help them chart a course that leads to a sustainable life of significance; with a focus on empowering them to break the cycles of financial and social poverty in their families. We develop them into MAJOR LEAGUE CITIZENS.
Sports-based youth development focuses on the intentional use of sports to break down the barriers that marginalized youth face on their journey to building lives of success and significance. Our youth are marginalized relative to three curveballs: crime, poverty and racism. Understanding the inherent trauma that goes hand in hand with these curveballs, our programs are delivered as follows:
Trauma informed approach: We use SBYD interventions each time we engage our youth that acknowledge and address the trauma that they carry with them daily.
Culturally Relevant: culturally responsive framework that is centered around our student-athletes’ racial, linguistic and cultural identities.
L.E.A.D. is focused on using its programming and resources to positively impact public education in Atlanta and across the nation. In 2009, L.E.A.D. formed a partnership with Atlanta Public Schools (APS) through the Atlanta Partners For Education Program. Since becoming a partner, L.E.A.D. has grown from serving 20 student-athletes to serving over 275 APS student-athletes through programming and partnerships. Currently L.E.A.D. has partnerships with the various middle and high schools in APS.
We are especially grateful for our partnership at the historic Booker T. Washington High School, the home field of the L.E.A.D. Jr. Ambassadors and Ambassadors.
If your school would like more information about LEAD Programs, contact Kelli Stewart.
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