By Clare S. Richie
Education, community and baseball can transcend humble beginnings. A local nonprofit is using all three of those tenets to help at-risk youth.
C.J. Stewart understands this first-hand. He grew up in an old northwest Atlanta housing project, Hollywood Courts. With the help of mentors who recognized C.J.’s potential and connected him to needed resources, he earned a baseball scholarship to Georgia State University and was later drafted by the Chicago Cubs. Today, he’s recognized as one of the country’s leading hitting instructors and player development professionals with clients like Jason Heyward and Andruw Jones.
In 2007, C.J. and wife Kelli started L.E.A.D. (Launch.Expose.Advise.Direct.) to empower at-risk youth to become ambassadors prepared to lead their city.
“C.J. was developing suburban players to achieve their goals, but an inner city youth couldn’t afford to train with him,” Kelli explained, “so C.J. decided to make himself available to those just like him.”
Together the husband and wife team developed a proven model, Pathway2Empowerment, which provides year-round academic support, baseball training and competition, community service experiences, and exposure to colleges and careers.
To reach at-risk youth, L.E.A.D. partners with Atlanta Public Schools (APS) to recruit 6th – 12th graders who are underperforming across grades, attendance and behavior. For middle schoolers, APS coaches and teachers conduct weekly core value training about excellence, humility, integrity, loyalty, stewardship, and teamwork, while L.E.A.D. facilitates offsite events, like the celebrity baseball clinic at Turner Field and the annual visit to watch the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets play at Russ Chandler Stadium.
For high school participants, L.E.A.D. staff run an eight-week fall program from which 25-30 Ambassadors are selected based on high standard of athletics, academics and civic duty. For the remainder of the year, Ambassadors meet on, on average, four days per week at Washington High School for practice, games, and around the city for various enrichment activities. For example, Ambassadors visit a local fire station to learn about public service, maintain the Washington Park section of the Atlanta BeltLine, and meet with Georgia’s Own Credit Union CEO and staff to learn about banking and finance.
“I’m proud to be a L.E.A.D. Ambassador for life,” said Desmond Jones, who joined L.E.A.D. as a 7th grader. In middle school, he was admittedly “slacking off,” but pushed himself to do better because the organization believed in him.
In high school, Desmond was selected to be a L.E.A.D. Ambassador, a distinction that signifies he is a college bound, civically engaged student-athlete. Thanks to the nonprofit that changed his projected pathway, Desmond graduated from Mays High School and is headed to Tuskegee University this fall. “They put me in position to win. I’m glad that I have them in my corner.”
Desmond is just one of the many L.E.A.D. success stories. Another is Austin Evans, a 2015 Gates Millennium Scholar, Posse Scholar and Eagle Scout who’s an incoming freshman at Texas A&M. Both were likely inspired by L.E.A.D.’s first college graduate, Joseph McCrary III, who is a role model for younger Ambassadors. In 2013, Joseph graduated Magna Cum Laude from Savannah State University on a four-year athletic scholarship. He currently works for Home Depot and umpires L.E.A.D. games in the fall and summer; combining his interests in accounting and sports.
We all win when youth are valued and prepared to be leaders. “The status quo for black youth is not ok,” C.J. emphasized, especially when only 55 percent of Georgia’s black students graduate high school. Through L.E.A.D, the Stewarts and their partners are changing the status quo by treating at risk youth as untapped assets and positive change agents.
Since its inception, 100 percent of L.E.A.D. Ambassadors have graduated from high school and 95 percent enrolled into college, nearly all with scholarships.
This success only propels L.E.A.D. to do more. According to Kelli, “By 2020, our goal is to have 100 Ambassadors across APS high schools.”
Visit lead2legacy.org for more information and to donate.
