July Update

      The month of July has been a very productive month because I was able to get actual feedback from teens and young adults from the local and surrounding areas and host a kickoff event on July 14th, at the Belle Glade Teen Center where over 40 people ( mostly teens) were in attendance.

The Kickoff included : 

• A PowerPoint Presentation that reinforced my purpose for hosting the event and a call to action from my peers. 
• Refreshments for the people who attended
• Conversation on what groups/committees should be created to plan my event

The Kickoff allowed me to realize that there are several aspects of event planning that must be taken into account and has allowed me to take on a more accurate timeline that includes my date changing from a mid-October date to an late winter/early (January-March) Spring 2017 date. 

Timeline for Glades Teen Summit ( Still susceptible to modification)

By the end of May:

·         Attended the 31^st National Preventing Crime in the Black Community Conference

·         Analyzed what aspects of the conference should be implemented into Glades Teen Summit

By the end of June:

·         Begin portfolio

·         Decide on a time period

By the end of July:

·         Have an event kickoff

·         Decide on a location

·         Create various committees

By the end of August:

·         Decide on an actual date

·         Compile a list of ALL that will be invited to attend the event

By the end of September:

·         Send out letters to local businesses, potential speakers, principal, and teachers asking for their participation in the event.

·         Begin making flyer prototypes and marketing process (have at least two sample flyers made).

       By the end of October

·         Reach out to vendors to see which ones would be available for the event.

             The timeline of what will occur from November into the year 2017 will be uploaded as soon as I can assure the steps I'm taking are leading me in the right direction. 

I            I am currently working on building a portfolio that details the work that is going into making the Glades Teen Summit happen. 

      My goals for August are as follows :

1.  Blogging more often about my ideas for the Glades Teen Summit and the progress updates at least once a week/bi-weekly.
2.  Deciding on the actual date for when I wish to have the summit
3.  Mastering my focus on balancing my academic life ( as a high school senior) and the Glades Teen Summit 

Focusing on What Matters: Glades Teen Summit Focus Group

June 30^th, 2016

Focusing on What Matters: Glades Teen Summit Focus Group

                Today a focus group was held at the Gove Elementary Boys and Girls Club in Belle Glade, Florida. The purpose of the focus group was to gain input from teens from the local area (Belle Glade, Pahokee, South Bay) and surrounding areas (Eastern Palm Beach County). The teens ages ranged from 15 to 20 and they were asked to fill out a questionnaire that focused on pinpointing specific examples of what can be better in their communities. The form had the following questions:

1.       What are three things that are detrimental to the Glades (Eastern Palm Beach County) community?

             1.

             2.

             3.

2.       What can be done to improve your local area?

             1.

             2.

             3.

3.       Do you think that having a summit that addresses these issues will be beneficial to the Glades community?

All in all, 26 teens and young adults took the survey with:

• One being 15
• One being 16,
• Nine were 17 
• Seven were 18 
• Five 19 year olds 
• Three 20 year olds

14 of the 26 teens were from the Glades area and 12 of  26 were from Eastern Palm Beach County communities (Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, West Palm Beach, and Riviera Beach.)

 18 teens believed that violence, particularly gang and gun violence, was a major issue that was detrimental to their local areas with 12 of those teens being from the Glades and 6 being from surrounding areas.

 18  teens believed that drugs/illegal substances was also a factor in that was detrimental to their local area.

22 of  26 teens thought that having a teen summit of the magnitude of the Glades Teen Summit would be beneficial to the Glades area.

Based on the information found from the focus group questionnaire, it can be concluded that there are various issues affecting Palm Beach County communities, with the Glades being in dire need of assistance.

This issue is very beneficial to me and my affiliates in planning the summit because it shows what issues must be focused on and thoroughly addressed at the summit.  It also allows us to estimate teen turn out because we got a glimpse of a general opinion from teens themselves. 

Jocund June: Amazing Summer Ahead

Happy First Day of Summer!! The end of June is approaching and I am extremely excited because we are in Phase Two of the project which is the event planning process.

A process that includes, but isn't limited to:
   - Flyers and Posters
   - Media
   - Invitations
   - Lunch
   - Paper Products and Condiments
   - Facility Rental
   - Rental of Tables & Chairs
   - Rental of Outside Tents
   - Motivational Teen Speaker/Rapper
   - Sound/Video equipment
   - T-Shirts/Uniform ( Volunteers/Staff)
   - Vendors
   - Janitorial Services

This is a lot of work to be done, however, I am aware that with the support of Advisors for Philanthropic Impact,  my mentors Mr. Castronuovo and Mr. Funderbirk,  the assistance from the Boys and Girls Club of Palm Beach County, and the many people in my community who want change, the Glades Teen Summit will be a success.


 

31st National Preventing Crime in the Black Community Conference

Wednesday, May 25th, 2016

Today is a very important day as far as the progression of my project is concerned seeing that my group members and I are leaving today to attend the 31st National Preventing Crime in Black Communities conference which is held in Miami, FL. The past few months have involved the planning and preparation of this trip which was comprised of : choosing members to attend, assigning job roles, registration, and depositing all needed funds to secure a place in both the summit and hotel.

Because the event in Miami is a learning experience, every member of my group will be give a small notebook for the purposes of writing down ideas for pieces of the conference that could be implemented into the Glades Teen Summit which is approaching in a few months.

•  Upon arrival at the hotel, my group registered for the conference and received wristbands and identification lanyards to to show that we were guests attending the conference.
•  There was also a welcome meeting that provided background on what the purpose of the conference was and the lessons intended to be learned by us, the participants of the conference.

The hotel we were booked at was very nice and gave a very good view of the downtown Miami area.

Thursday, May 26th, 2016

     Today is when the sessions began, and all of my group agreed that it was a very eye-opening experience. The topics discussed in the sessions were subjects relatable to teens seeing such as the glorification of violence in music, and the realities of police brutality and gang violence throughout predominantly black communities in America. 

     What may have been the highlight of the day was the teen and chaperone luncheon in which we had the honor of hearing American actor Malik Yoba speak about what it means to promote change and the steps that can be taken in order to achieve success.

Malik Yoba after his luncheon message

After the lunch, we participated in a rally on crime prevention by marching through the streets of Miami chanting "Increase the Peace."

Friday, May 27th, 2016

      This is the last day of the summit and also the last day that my group and I will be in Miami. The most inspiring part of the day was definitely when we were introduced to a young man who was able to transform his unfortunate circumstances of being incarcerated to being educated and employed. His message was one of resilience and showed that many things in life are just minor setbacks for major comebacks. The best piece advice received from him was " No one is as bad as the worst thing they've done."

Speaker Angel Sanchez and Va'Tiyah Brown  (left)

       Another highlight of the day was meeting American actor Thomas Mikal Ford. It was really mind blowing because I am a huge follower of a show he once was apart of.

      The afternoon consisted of more sessions with a session called Youth Speak Up Speak Out created for the purposes of adolescent voices being heard. I overcame my small fear of public speaking once again and was able to finally go up and formally introduce myself to my peers and tell them about why I was here and what my vision for the future of Belle Glade was. It helped that many other groups from my town were there to support me in my actions. 

Picture of me (left) and Jazmun (right) with American actor Malik Yoba 

The aims for our group while at the conference include:

         - Finding out how a summit is ran, and which is the best organizational method

       - Seeing what a summit is comprised of and audience/participant response to summ

Kickoff Month: April Flowers

The Glades Teen Summit

Leader(s): Je’Cynthia Nonar                                        

Purpose: To break down the barriers between residents and law enforcement in the Glades area. It also has a secondary goal of gaining employment for residents, particularly adolescents.

PBPT Tank award: $15,000

The past few weeks have been very interesting for lack of a better word. This is because the planning of my Glades Teen Summit has just begun and I extremely excited to go through with the three phases of my event. Phase One, which is the centered around attending the National Preventing Crime in Black Communities summit in Miami, FL, is going great. My VIP ( Very Important Philanthropist) and I have even decided on a date for the event and are discussing possible locations. The amount of money needed to complete phase one is approximately $6,000, which is the amount required to attend the Miami summit.

The purpose for attending the aforementioned summit is for it to serve as an example to me and my peers what a successful is and how it is operated. As I said in my pitch,  we must lead by example. I am happy we haven't experienced any April showers - setbacks in planning - this month. It's all April flowers for me so far.

My short-term goals for the next month are for there to be an exact location, place, and time for the summit. I also would like to begin working on various marketing techniques in order to get the word around town out about the teen summit.