My Brother’s Keeper Youth Leadership Summit

VALHALLA – The Westchester County Youth Bureau, in partnership with Lower Hudson Valley My Brother’s Keeper (LHVMBK) Alliance, the Obama Foundation and SUNY Westchester Community College (WCC) hosted the Youth Leadership Summit aimed at overcoming obstacles and fostering leadership and empowerment for youth of color.

The event was kicked off with inspirational messages from education, community and sports leaders and featured student-led panel discussions on personal branding and the impact of social media on youth culture. Attendees, called “Fellows” also heard from a panel of MBK alumni and members of WCC’s Black and Hispanic Male Initiative who shared their experiences since graduating high school. In attendance were Fellows from Greenburgh, Mount Vernon, Peekskill, Port Chester, Newburgh, New Rochelle, Ossining, Southern Westchester BOCES, White Plains and Yonkers.

The LHVMBK Alliance is a consortium of municipalities, local educational agencies and non‐profit organizations that have accepted former President Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Community MBK Challenge. Since 2018, Westchester County and the Youth Bureau have partnered with fourteen local MBK programs to improve life outcomes of boys and young men of color and help change the narrative too often associated with this demographic.

Westchester County Youth Bureau Executive Director Ernest McFadden said, “The youth-led summit was more than a gathering; it was a spark for the young men who attended. Youth voices were prominent during the three youth-led panels and the feedback session with the LHVMBK leadership. My message to the young men is ‘Your generation is redefining what leadership looks like: collaborative, innovative, inclusive, and unafraid to imagine something better. In a world that often tells young people to wait your turn, you are proving that your turn is now.”

New York State Office of Children and Family Services Commissioner Dr. DaMia Harris Madden said, “It is an honor to be with the talented young men who look so professional, who speak with conviction and have taken the opportunity to lead. Let me remind you all that the trailblazers who are here today like Mr. McFadden, Westchester County Youth Bureau’s Executive Director, and the local MBK Coordinators on the dais who started this movement in the mid-Hudson Valley, have worked really hard to open doors. It will be your legacy, through My Brother’s Keeper, to help your brothers walk through the next set of doors with strength, resilience and purpose.”

Assistant Commissioner for the NYS Department of Education’s Office of Access, Equity and Community Engagement Dr. Anael Alston said, “The Hudson Valley MBK Regional Youth Summit shows what is possible when a community refuses to let any young person’s brilliance go unseen. Nine school districts, civic leaders, and community partners united to create a space of belonging where students are reminded that their potential is limitless. It was a privilege to represent the NYS Education Department and to witness the talent, hope and determination of these remarkable young people and the adults who champion them.”

MBK New Rochelle Program Coordinator Nate Adams said, “It brought me great joy to bear witness to such a dynamic room of motivated young men of color who represented so many communities from our MBK Hudson Valley school districts. The synergy in the room from all participants, students and adults truly displayed what community is all about. We look forward to continuing our work with these young men as we embrace, engage and empower our young men of color throughout the Hudson Valley area.”

New Rochelle High School Junior Kelechi Njoku said, “I honestly loved it. It’s not often where you’re lucky enough to be surrounded by people who think and look like you. There’s no better encouragement than seeing people like you succeeding and thriving in an array of ways. I learned so many valuable lessons from my peers and I can’t wait for another opportunity like this!”