CYPI Travel Program

09/02/2024

I’m beyond words🙏🏿🖤✊🏿
I’m so proud of these Brothers, their parents, the team and the Initiative!!!! So much more to come💯 this is the “trip departure”!
Thank you Miles of Freedom Richard Miles Henry Sephus we couldn’t get there without you✊🏿
Photo cred: Brittani Robinson of Leighpicsletters✊🏿💯🖤

08/27/2024

One Experience! One experience can change your entire world!

I'm extremely proud of CYPI Travel Initiative! I'm extremely proud of our Ambassadors as well! 19 young men are embarking on a journey to Stuttgart, Germany this week. 11 received their first passport. 8 have never flown, and the majority have never been to Europe! These brave young men will participate and make their voices heard concerning anti-semitism and racism alongside youth from 3 other countries.
Edward Morris Nikki Chamblee Josh Kemp Jazmyn Ferguson Katlynn Williquette Amber Brewer, MBA thank you for getting us to this point!!!! Frances Daley thank you for having your students join us during our "Pre-Travel" Courses. Country awareness, community building, restorative leadership, how to travel....all a part of our Pre-travel courses to get our ambassadors ready. Can't wait to see their faces as we board for Germany!!!

Special thank you to Richard Miles of Miles of Freedom and Henry Sephus for supporting us with transportation to and from airport.
Super big S/O to Rashad Jackson and Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy and Tiffany Jackson with FRIENDS of Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy. Your partnership makes this possible.

Wheels up put that seat back!!!
hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag

07/17/2024

****CYPI Travel Club****

Changing the perspective of one individual can change the trajectory of an entire community. For many Black and Brown scholars living in the trauma of being “undervalued” by society, their experiences can be very linear, causing them to view the world from a singular perspective. Many never make it out of their cities, much less the country. Steve Jobs said “a lot of people haven’t had very diverse experiences. So, they don’t have enough dots to connect and end up with linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The mission of the Change Your Perception Initiative (CYPI) travel program is to make civic engagement, restorative leadership, and cultural competence a tangible experience for BIPOC scholars. We desire to give them ‘more dots’ to connect.

CYPI has two (2) major components. The foundation is our school-based scholastic “Companion Program” embedded in the scholar’s learning routine. The capstone of this project are the travel opportunities the students experience. We strongly believe in the Change Your Perception Travel Initiative (CYPI). We live in a globalized culture. Thus, the ability to interact and create sustainable change requires a global perspective. CYPI Travel Program was designed to make space for scholars who typically only experience racism, poverty, and discrimination, to participate in the conversation about 'solutions' and become catalysts for lasting change. Our motto: “Change your perception and you change your world!”

Our first year is here! We want to thank Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy for their vision! Partnering with a community-based project as a school takes vision and commitment. It requires leadership with a heart for its scholars and the communities they inhabit. This type of leadership is embodied by Principal Rashad Jackson and his team. Thank you for having the heart, passion and vision for your Brothers! We also wish to thank Tiffany Jackson Executive Director of FRIENDS of Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy. She facilitated and supported this from its creation. Our “Companion Program” could not be possible without the investment and dedication selected BOMLA teachers have committed to. Thank you, Katlynn Williquette, Jeanette L. Duggan and Amber Brewer, MBA. Finally, we want to thank our corporate partners, our “Companion Program” wouldn’t be complete without you! Christian Gentry from Zeal IT Consultants, Prescott Lawani from Padlockes Technologies LLC and Malika Hamilton, CPA. Your generosity is heartfelt! Schools are ‘community based’ and it takes a community to be successful. We appreciate being a part of this community!

Thank you to our team: Edward Morris, Nikki Chamblee, Jazmyn Ferguson, LMSW, Josh Kemp, and Jesse Bulluck!!! You are PRICELESS!!! I’m humbled to vision alongside you! We’ve created an authentic and masterfully designed 21st Century Learning Program.

Look for more to follow this year!!!

04/27/2024

Exposure…exposure…EXPOSURE!
School and community should be symbiotic in my opinion. Schools and Community investing in each other.

I’m excited and grateful for both the school we’ve partnered with and our community partners! Thank you Christian Gentry and Prescott Lawani for giving back! Our program offerings would not be what they’re going to be without you!✊🏿🖤

I’m extremely proud of what we’ve put together and what our program will do for not only this cohort, but those to come! Tiffany Jackson!! Your vision and dedication to the community and school is unmatched. Thank you for making space✊🏿🖤

Our parents are just as important as their youth! Culture is inclusive and happens from the home out! What we do affects the entire community. Bring change to our world. Partner with us and make change!
Follow us, our programs and its successes here: https://lnkd.in/eb7jpNvr

We look forward to your support and the change we will make together!

04/19/2024

I spoke with one of my mentors yesterday. Our conversation began with the value and importance of 'experience'. Experience is what makes knowledge applicable, and moves into wisdom. Wisdom is more valuable than silver and gold I'm told.

This is the WHY of our travel program! Give our ambassadors wisdom! We make Restorative Leadership, Community Development, Civic Engagement and Relational Capital TANGIBLE! What better way to learn and express DEI than tangibly.

Our entry point is travel to other countries. The 'WORK' is our companion program. Here we partner with Social Studies, English Language Arts and World Language programs to make tangible, the essential knowledge and skills these programs teach. We make this knowledge wisdom.

We are building future change agents and social architects! Knowledgable and wise. Able to approach global issues with a global perspective. The solutions our society needs are within these ambassadors. Our job is to assist them in cultivating a growth mindset capable of identifying, informing and implementing these solutions! It's said... those closest to the problem are closest to the solution. These ambassadors are situated at the axiom of this statement, and we will equip them to fulfill it.

Partner with us to provide these solution engineers the opportunity to design the solutions our society needs!

CYPI travel Initiative

04/18/2024

We want to thank Leighpicsletters for supporting our CYPI Travel Program!!!!! Understanding 'Relational Capital', the power of 'Perception" and its impact on self and business is what we teach! Relationships will lead to all else. Thank you for supporting us with content creation!

Leighpicsletters is in the business of telling the story of your business. From illustrious images, to captivating copy, Leighpicsletters is your one stop shop for transforming photos and phrases into content creation.

04/18/2024

Our team and our Ambassadors are extremely grateful for our supporters!!!!! As you support us, we will change not only these lives, but the lives these young men are connected with!
We want to personally thank Craig Tennant, Siegfried Marrissens, Kathryn Kelly, Theresa Hingston, Greenhill School, Melinda Barber, The Canopy Hotel Dallas, and Leighpicsletters!!!
Take the opportunity to enhance your day by supporting future changemakers!

Last year, I created the Change Your Perception Initiative (CYPI) as part of my w… Leon Theodore needs your support for Changing Perspectives, Changing Lives!

04/02/2024

I'm super excited to share with everyone that our Travel Abroad experiential learning program is expanding the minds and experiences of 19 Black and Brown youth this year!!!! Our 'ambassadors' will travel to Stuttgart, Germany this year to participate in SCORA MEET 24. They, along with 300+ youth from India, Germany and Israel will come together to discuss issues such as global leadership, ending racism and global community building. Making change in the world begins with changing perceptions and building community! We are giving these ambassadors the opportunity to be a part of conversations they are normally affected by.
I'm very grateful to Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy At A Maceo Smith for partnering with us! Look for more to come! You can keep updated on the exciting opportunities and programs coming your way here!