The Lead Change Project

Leverage Corporate and Community Partnerships

Founded in a belief in the power of sport, The Lead Change Project© is a non-profit 501(c)(3) that partners with urban schools and school districts, to provide opportunities for personal development, community engagement, and academic support to youth in inner-city communities across the country.

We work to build positive communities in and around inner-city public schools by providing competitive, successful extracurricular programming, including interscholastic athletics, arts and music by developing a culture that connects the resources of the community to the needs of inner-city youth.

What We do

Alternative discipline, school attendance, graduation rates, as well as a need for mentors, tutors, and academic support have all been an area of concern for school districts across the country. The Lead Change Project (LCP) addresses these issues thru three strategic objectives

  • Increase the number of youth (both boys and girls) who participate in a sport or extra-curricular activity.

    55% of high school students nationally participate in a sport or extra-curricular activity. Unfortunately, that number dips below 25% for most inner-city urban school districts. This translates to thousands of young people who miss out on the intangible benefits that sport and extra-curricular activity provide.

  • Increase the school districts community and corporate footprint through community engagement, volunteerism, mentoring

    By pushing our student-athletes to give back to the community, The Lead Change Project anticipates (1) a greater appreciation for the potential of our student-athletes from our community and corporate stakeholders, (2) an increase in the level of productive and positive exposure our student-athletes receive, and (3) most importantly, a better appreciation for life and respect for community by the students themselves.

  • Facilitate partnerships between higher education and local urban school districts

    The Lead Change Project will establish partnerships with surrounding Colleges and Universities to institute an internship exchange program whereby college students will serve in various capacities to help realize the goals and objectives of The Lead Change Project.

Board of Directors

  • Jamal L. Smith
    Founder & President
  • Daniel Lopez
  • Micah Smith
  • Chris Barney
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