When I made the decision to move back to Detroit, I wanted to make sure I was giving back to my community somehow. My time in Grand Rapids really helped me develop a passion for youth development and I definitely wanted to stay involved when I came back to the city. I began to volunteer in various capacities with organizations that focused on youth development when I first moved back but I never anticipated what would come next.

Shortly after moving back, I met some amazing people who shared the same vision and we decided to start a non-profit, Motor City Scholars (MCS). We created MCS to provide mentorship for 12th grade students applying to college and tutoring for 11th graders preparing for the SAT. Now don’t get me wrong, I had plans on starting my own non-profit at some point, but the plan was always after I had more experience. But why kid myself when I know I learn the best with a more hands-on, “thrown in the ring” type of experience. That’s how I process. Anyways, once we decided the vision and goals of the organization, my peers and I began to discuss org structure. I expressed my interest in wanting to learn more in a variety of roles of a non-profit and my peers, having more experience than myself, were more than happy to throw me in the ring and let me try my hat at leading the organization (having faith that I won’t get pummeled, of course).

I’m forever grateful for my board believing in me and working with me to help me achieve my personal professional goals while also creating something so amazing for the youth of Detroit. In the few months that our organization has been around, I have learned so much and I’m eager to learn more. Our progress so far may seem small, but it’s huge to us. Just knowing how grateful the parents are to have they children in a program to help them achieve academic success and seeing the improvement of the students over the course of the program has been such a rewarding feeling. This has truly been an enlightening experience so far and I look forward to the future of the organization and myself. Challenge Detroit and Motor City Scholars have really allowed me to self-reflect and make improvements on myself while serving the City that I love… who wouldn’t want an opportunity like that? 🙂