University of Maryland, College Park Youth Leadership Symposium Event Cancelled

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, March 29, 2019

Washington, D.C. – The DMV Youth Leadership Coalition announced today that its April 20, 2019 youth leadership symposium event at the University of Maryland, College Park Stamp Student Union has been cancelled due to low pre-registration numbers. Event organizers are currently working to identify an alternate venue for event hosting in the Fall of 2019.

The DMV Youth Leadership Coalition was formed by the principals of Everyday Mentorship, LLC and ACHIEVEMENT SQUARE Development & Training Centers, Inc. in September 2018 for the purpose of bringing the leaders of youth-serving organizations together to collaboratively develop offerings that provide area youths with a more accurate definition of Authentic Leadership.

According to the 4-H National Youth Survey on Leadership (2016), ninety percent (90%) of young people say they are concerned about the future leadership of America, and two-thirds are more confident in the next generation of leaders than in the leaders they see today. More specifically, the online Harris Poll of 1,501 of the nation’s 9th through 12 grade students revealed the following:

Most youth (81%) think leaders today are more concerned with their own agendas than with achieving the goals of their organizations.
Seventy-six percent (76%) say leaders are focused on different priorities than what matters most to them.
Half of youth rate government and political leaders as having weak leadership (51%), among the highest relative to other groups of leaders examined in the survey. Overall, weak leadership is related to not accomplishing what is promised (59%); not working collaboratively (56%); and not offering new solutions (53%).
Most youth (96%) think leadership is important to addressing the country’s most pressing issues; but only one in three young people says they have the skills they need to be prepared to lead.

All donations previously made in support of the cancelled University of Maryland College Park event have been earmarked to support the planning, coordination and hosting of the Fall 2019 event.

To make a tax-deductible monetary donation to ACHIEVEMENT SQUARE Development & Training Centers, Inc.’s charitable oversight of the DMV Youth Leadership Coalition’s efforts, please visit the Organizational Storefront.

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About Jeffery "J.A." Faulkerson

Jeffery "J.A." Faulkerson is the Executive Director of ACHIEVEMENT SQUARE Development & Training Centers, Inc. Through his Northern Virginia-based nonprofit corporation, he strives to help economically disadvantaged individuals increase their capacity to become great nurturers, great learners, great workers and great leaders. Jeffery is also a Nonprofit Strategist | Book Author | Motivational Speaker with Culturally Coded Content, a for-profit creative writing and strategic planning firm. He is the author of Adinkrahene: Fear of a Black Planet (fiction) and Real Men Raise CHAMPIONS: Unleashing Your Inner COACH (nonfiction). In July 2015, Adinkrahene: Fear of a Black Planet was named one of three finalists for a Phillis Wheatley Book Award (in the First Fiction category). The Phillis Wheatley Book Awards are held annually in conjunction with the Harlem Book Fair in New York City. A certified parent educator through Active Parenting Publishers, Inc., Jeffery is committed to showing all parents how to positively influence their children’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors. He earned his Master’s of Science degree in Social Work from the University of Tennessee, and has worked with professionals in both the public and private sectors for over 20 years to improve outcomes for low-income children and their families. Jeffery is available to speak about his insights and experiences as an author, child and family advocate, philanthropist, and former TRIO Upward Bound and YMCA director. He also offers fee-based services for individual and corporate clients and facilitates fee-based workshops for parents who understand the importance of honing their skills and learning from other people’s experiences.

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