July 30, 2009…The 828 Foundation, organizers of the Grand Gala—a high profile Derby Weekend event that generates national exposure to raise money for charities—has donated $15,000  to the Muhammad Ali Center so that local youth  can  attend Tavis Smiley’s 2009 Leadership Institute (www.youthtoleaders.org)  August 7-11, 2009, in  Los Angeles. This year’s theme is “Find Your Voice—Create Your Imprint.”

Hundreds of high school and middle school students 13–18 are expected to attend this annual conference.
The seven students from the Kentucky area who will be representing the Muhammad Ali Center at the conference—and who were chosen from a broad range of community organizations including the Muhammad Ali Council of Students, the Angela Mason Scholars River City Drum Corps, and the Steward Staff—are:  Jonah Allen, Dominique Boyd, Mareah Madison, Chastity White, Adele Williams, Naiyana Williams,  and Jamila Young.

Chastity White, a member of the Muhammad Ali Council of Students (MACCS) has been selected to be a panelist for the teen town hall. In addition to the town hall, the Institute’s curriculum includes workshops on career and college planning and a service project.

The Leadership Institute, which will take place at UCLA, is a premiere training and development program for African American youth.  In the workshop sessions, participants will learn to assess their strengths and weaknesses, review models of leadership, develop strategic plans, learn conflict resolution and decision-making, and debate and discuss issues important to youth.

Since its inception, more than 6,000 students ages 13 to 18 have participated in the foundation’s leadership training workshops and conferences. Many teens in the program have entered and completed college, organized health fairs and voter registration drives, conducted teen town hall meetings, started businesses and interned with city mayors and presidential candidates.

Greg Roberts, president and CEO of the Ali Center, said, “We are grateful to the 828 Foundation for their support of the Center and our local youth. I have no doubt that their experience at the Institute will stay with them for a lifetime and that what they learn there will be an asset to our community.”

Smiley, who is a member of the Ali Center’s national advisory council, was the first American ever to simultaneously host signature talk shows on both PBS and National Public Radio. Time Magazine selected him as one of America’s 50 most promising young leaders. Newsweek profiled him as one of the “20 people changing how Americans get their news.” And Texas Southern University recently honored Smiley with the opening of The Tavis Smiley School of Communications and the Tavis Smiley Center for Professional Media Studies.   

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