The Foundation’s solution to aid young men in their development is our comprehensive mentoring program, Alpha Academy, which promotes continual involvement and communication to assist our mentees in becoming better citizens within their communities. Our primary focus is to encourage mentees to pursue post-secondary education, and our target audience is male youth of middle and high school ages 12-19 and grade levels 7-12.

Mentors serve as positive role models and meet with young men two Saturdays per month during the school year for 3-hour periods, and all of the learning is in support of fostering positive values, discipline, accountability, and an attitude towards self-development, high academic achievement, and ultimately, employment. This is accomplished through interactive activities with experienced facilitators and speakers, as well as engaging discussions about current events.

In addition to inspiring and motivating the youth to pursue higher educational goals and other types of post-secondary educational opportunities, the program also offers a variety of mentoring sessions on topics such as:

• The proper use of social media and developing time management skills in preparation for college and life;
• Financial literacy and entrepreneurship;
• Cultural awareness and Black History; and
• Science, Technology, Engineering Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) activities.

Another objective of the program is to expand the mentees’ analytical, critical, and logical skills so that they will be able to engage in intelligent discussions and make better decisions for their lives. This is achieved through the implementation of the following 3 key youth mentoring components: