Young Leaders Initiative

The Young Leaders Initiative recently evolved from The Young Business Leaders Initiative, Inc. (“YBLI”) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that dedicates itself to teaching business fundamental courses to underprivileged charter and high school students.

The program has recently been renamed the Young Leaders Initiative and has expanded its focus on career development and helping young adults prepare themselves for a productive future and improving their chances of reaching their goals. YLI now includes the mentorship program, sports camps and clinics and a scholarship program.

Mentorship Program

Energetic, young executives serve as YLI volunteers and lead all the grassroots teaching and mentorship programs. Originally focused on New York City, we are excited to announce that we have recently formed a partnership with The Brewer Foundation to expand the program across the nation.

Two former Morgan Stanley Investment Banking analysts founded YBLI in the Spring of 2003, when they taught one class at A.P. Randolph High School in Harlem. After the resounding success of the initial program, young professionals and various high schools began to inquire about opportunities to expand the program. Since then, YLI has expanded its program with regular volunteers from firms such as:

Local charter and high school teachers find the program a refreshing addition to their economics, career development and humanities classes, while volunteer teachers see the program as a fun way to remain involved in the community and to develop their own presentation and teaching skills. There is no fee for a school to participate in the program, and YLI ultimately decides which charter and high schools to target.

YLI selects high schools based on the following criteria: graduation rates of schools (YLI focuses on lower graduation rate schools), high school and class focus, class schedule availability, availability of existing programs, support from teaching staff, and proximity to various YLI volunteers.

Although YLI provides course syllabi and sample lecture materials to its volunteers, each group of teachers must ultimately determine the teaching methods that are most effective for their particular class and the time they can dedicate towards the program.

This career development teaching approach is the premise of the organization and provides executives a valuable volunteer activity that enables them to contribute to the local community while also developing important problem solving and leadership skills.

YLI allows young executives to fit community service into their demanding schedules, and gives them the flexibility to contribute freely to the curriculum. The added flexibility encourages the volunteer teachers to discover teaching methods and career development topics that are most complementary to their students’ particular needs and interests.

Scholarship Program

During the JBF trip to Africa, it became clear that our work from the United States has not gone unnoticed. After visiting the orphan children – many of whom live in villages made of mud huts and who now are able to attend secondary school and speak several languages – it was evident that the efforts of the Foundation have been appreciated, yet is only a fraction of the work that needs to be done.

Malawi has over 1.2 million orphans, primarily due to the growing AIDS epidemic. This has caused a large amount of children to rely on their siblings to take over the responsibilities of their deceased parents. Because Malawi doesn’t offer free secondary school, the majority of these child-headed households don’t get an opportunity to attend school past the 6th grade.

This lack of accessible education has caused a huge educational gap, crippling an already weak economy – where only 7 percent of the population has electricity. Girls are faced with even more challenges because they continue be oppressed by the pestilence of molestation, while more is being required of them as they assume responsibility for their parentless families.

The Malawi government has been forced to choose food programs over educational stimulation because of their economic condition. There are drastic infrastructural and agricultural improvements needed, where import and export capabilities are minimal due to the geographical constraints of being a land-locked country. These challenges are multiplied on the collegiate level – where under 1,000 students enroll into the University of Malawi each year, despite a growing population of close to 15 million.

As previously stated, very few Malawi can afford secondary school much less college. The Jack Brewer Foundation believes that by granting more of Malawi’s top students access to college educations in degree programs that will directly improve the country, it will consequently increase the likelihood that the country will become self-sustaining. This is a concept that Foreign Minister Joyce Banda has implemented on the ground in Malawi for over two decades.

Today, over 6,000 people depend on her seven orphanages, her secondary and primary schools, sports and youth development programs and her microcredit program. The Joyce Banda Foundation (JBF) and The Jack Brewer Foundation (JBF) have combined resources in an effort to create a bridge between Malawi and the United States. JBF (US) has adopted a new slogan that will apply to all of our work in the United States and around the world: “Empowering from Within”.

Sports Programs

JBF upholds sports as an ideal vehicle to promote teamwork, discipline, goal setting and a strong work ethic. For this reason, JBF will continue its Sports Programs to ensure these skills are transferred to youth throughout the world.

Many of the supporters, officers and directors of JBF have relied on the countless values instilled in them through sports to adequately prepare them for their varied endeavors. JBF has taken part in numerous camps and clinics throughout the US and Mexico, and is looking forward to continuing this work across the world.

JBF Sports Programs will benefit from the Bridging the Global Gap Initiative, which will focus on sending used sports equipment to under-developed countries in an effort to spread the values that sports offer to the underprivileged. While on the JBF trip to Africa it was evident that the poor economic conditions have created a negative outlook on the importance of sports and the values associated with it. It is our fervent goal that the equipment drive facilitates the timely repair of Malawi’s youth programs.

JBF has also sponsored in dozens of sports camps and clinics that have taken place throughout the United States and Mexico, which have supported thousands of youth since its inception in 2006. Our Sports Camps have included:

As an aside, JBF was proud to learn that two of our scholarship program students were named to the Malawi National Hand Ball Team. These students have shown an ability to succeed in the classroom and on the court!

For more information, please contact JBF Worldwide at brewerfoundation@gmail.com.

Search This Site

In This Section