Tue, 26 May 2026 11:10:10 -0700WeeblySat, 14 Jun 2014 01:23:49 GMThttps://www.ethicalleadership.org/helping-african-american-youth-access-college-boys--girls-club-of-benton-harbor-michigan/helping-african-american-youth-access-college-boys-girls-club-of-benton-harbor-michiganCollective Leadership Principle Learned: How African American men can support each other in stepping up to help youth succeed by holding high expectations and developing special personal relationships with youth.

Outcome: Helped 100% of African American youth in a community leadership program graduate from high school and go to college in a community where the high school graduation rate is a little over 60%.

Outcome: Changed the culture of the Boys & Girls Club to incorporate youth and adult partnerships resulting in tripling participation and keeping youth engaged beyond their eighteenth birthday.

Collective Leadership Principle Learned: How African American men can support each other in stepping up to help youth succeed by holding high expectations and developing special personal relationships with youth.

The Boys and Girls Club of Benton Harbor provides young people with access to structured education and recreation opportunities to improve scholastic performance and leadership development. Boys and Girls Clubs have a proven track record of enhancing the lives of young people and their families, and in turn improving the neighborhoods where these young people reside.

How does Benton Harbor develop leadership and support youth in academic success?
During KLCC, Benton Harbor revolutionized the model (see KLCC Bridge article, February 2009, below) for working with teens by inviting teens into decision-making roles in the operations and development of programs. The Fellowship focused on how to improve education; all of the Fellows graduated and went on to college. Using youth and adult partnerships, the Fellows created a tutoring program that continues, raising reading levels for 60 youth by thee grade levels in 2009. In 2010, former Fellows returned as tutors. Also continuing are programs to help parents understand how to negotiate the college system and get financial support for their teens ready to go to college.

The model of using youth and adult partnerships to develop programs and practices that welcome youth as they develop their own leadership capacity has dramatically increased the number of youth of all ages coming to the Club.

Creating collective leadership capacity.
In many community change efforts, women vastly outnumber men. When the work involves the success of young people, this can deprive youth of valuable role models. In Benton Harbor, a group of African American men (see KLCC Bridge article, May 2008, below) formed a strong collaboration to support each other in engaging in the community. They held high expectations for each other and for the youth they worked with. They also developed strong personal relationships with youth that ultimately led to a way of working where youth and adults partnered to carry out community change projects.
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