More than two dozen young African American men got the opportunity of a lifetime during the Humbl Hustlr Community Clean Up, an entrepreneurship workshop cultivating the next generation of leaders.
The young men, ages 11-17, were paired with 35 men representing black owned businesses across various industries came together at the Russell Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
During the session, the groups shared ideas on how to build on the ideas and concepts of entrepreneurship and learn what it means to make an impact in the community.
Lorenzo Gordon, CEO of Humbl Hustlr, spent several weeks preparing for the July 13 event.
“I created this event to connect young entrepreneurs with Atlanta businessmen. Our goal was to cultivate the next generation of male leaders while cleaning the Vine City community. Being a man of color isn’t easy. When you turn on the TV it’s always negative stories about us,” Gordon tells The A-Scene. “The media will make it seems as is the black man is to be feared and not trusted. I wanted to connect black brothers from different backgrounds together for networking, fellowship and service with our youth. My goal is to curate more of these type of events to uplift and celebrate being a black businessman.”
The event consisted of a workshop where the mentors helped the young men create a mission statement, social media marketing and branding plans for their business or service.
Kayla Hutchinson, social media manager and event manager, oversaw execution of the workshop.
At the end of the workshop each group came together to pitch their project and share the new ideas they will be implementing. In other words, they learned the true meaning of “boss up or get bossed around” as the men of the Future CEO and S.Q.U.A.D. say.
Elite Mobile Parties shuttle services then took the young men for a fun ride to the Vine City Center where they were met by music from Praise 102.5, their mentors and Bishop Lewis, the Chairman for the Vine City Civic Association Center to learn about the historic importance of the area. Bishop educated and motivated them saying, “whatever it is you want, you can do” before sending them off to clean the area. Marquise McAlpin of The Build Up LLC led the team in execution of the clean up.
“It’s important for our youth and businessmen to know the history of Vine City and the historical impact it has made in our community. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr very last Home is in this community. Alonzo Herndon, who was born into slavery and became the very first African American millionaire in the US, foundation is in this community,” Lewis said.
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