Who will take your place?

“I am a leader because I am determined, motivated and on my way to greatness” …
Dane Mellad, Junior - WGC Leader and member of our first class. 

The Leaders of Tomorrow (LOT) program is our pipeline for the future, reflecting the NBMBAA’s commitment to the black youth of our nation. “Leaders” are high school students who have exhibited leadership potential but need mentoring and skill development to realize their full potential. What’s unique about the program is that it focuses not on the best academic students, but by design, on students with a grade point average between C- and C+. While the LOT program has existed for two decades in numerous cities throughout the U.S., the Westchester/Greater Connecticut (WGC) LOT chapter began just two years ago.

I had just moved into the area and was invited to the home of WGC member Diane Winston. Passionate about developing a LOT chapter and having deep roots in her community, she had learned of a complimentary pilot program in the Norwalk public school (NPS) system. By the end of that meeting, the LOT chapter was born. Within weeks, thirty ninth-grade students, partners, parents and seven mentors began.

Our education partners, Norwalk Community College and NPS provide facilities and tutoring, and we focus on developing workshops with our funding partners, Pitney Bowes Literacy and & Education Fund and Praxair, to give them visibility to the leaders and the impact of their dollars. Our parents have a forum to help us develop the program further. But most of all, the Leaders have a sense of expectation, accountability, and commitment to a four four-year program. We incorporate personal growth as part of our operational rhythm, holding individualized parent-leader-mentor sessions throughout the year.

In two years, the WGC program has grown 40% in population and has supported fifteen national conference attendees, one national scholarship winner, and three Leadership Camp attendees.

Exposure opportunities are made available by achievement. Based on their participation, academic achievement growth, community service and mentor assessment, the Leaders accumulate points throughout the year—a “report card.” Those points enable Leaders to compete for events, like the case competition and national conference. For example, Colin Walters, one of the youngest in his area to become an eagle scout at age 13, the highest rank in Boy Scout, received a national LOT scholarship in his first year in LOT. Jessica Romeus and Dillen Bohorquez were two of fourteen selected for the London, UK LOT Leadership Camp. Both were immersed in British culture, career and cultural development courses. In Dillen’s words: “I was learning new things the whole week … new words, new music, about people that I’d never heard of before … But even though so much was different, so much was the same. The kids were basically just the same as us.”

The value of the program is different and personal for each leader; for some, confidence is increased, for others, focus is deepened, and for others, horizons are broadened. For all of us, we each affirm the WGC credo, developed by the Leaders themselves: “As a Leader of Tomorrow, I am committed to visualizing my potential by challenging myself and striving towards excellence through academic achievement, service and leadership development so that I may aid my family, my community, my country and the human race.”

One of the most effective things a mentor can do is expose students to successful black professionals in diverse fields, but there are other opportunities as well. If you are not a mentor, volunteer for a workshop topic or bring in a guest speaker, connect your chapter with financial resources in your corporation or to its matching gifts program. The NBMBA Foundation raises money for the Leaders of Tomorrow Program and its growth depends on our commitment and dollars—especially in these economic times.

Who will take your place?

Kim Holder
Leaders of Tomorrow Chair
Westchester/Greater Connecticut Chapter