L.E.A.D. Center For Youth
Changing the Game
“Where you begin doesn’t determine where you finish” isn’t just something C.J. Stewart believes in. It’s something he’s lived. Through his love of the game and the support of community members, he took his baseball talents from Atlanta’s John A. White Park all the way to Wrigley Field when the Chicago Cubs drafted him as an outfielder in 1994 and 1996.
C.J. wasn’t done changing the game, though. He and his wife Kelli founded L.E.A.D. Center For Youth (Launch. Expose. Advise. Direct.) in 2007 to empower an at-risk generation to lead and transform Atlanta. L.E.A.D. uses baseball and tennis to teach Black youth how to overcome three curveballs that threaten their success: crime, poverty, and racism.
“Atlanta’s vulnerable youth need to have the right social, emotional, and mental capacity to handle all the things being thrown at them,” said Kelli, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, “and that’s what L.E.A.D. offers: a solution where sports are a fun, active, effective means to a life built on integrity, character, service, leadership, and promise.”
While there’s no financial cost to participate, L.E.A.D. youth—from their Rookies (elementary youth) to Ambassadors (middle and high school youth)—retain their good standing through improvement in grades and classroom behavior, mentoring youth in the programs, leading by example, and serving their communities. The results are unmistakable: 100 percent of L.E.A.D. Ambassadors graduate from high school, 93 percent enroll in college, and 90 percent do so on an athletic or academic scholarship.
Building on this success, L.E.A.D. has paid close attention to local trends and extended its programs to be responsive to community needs. Black girls face many of the same obstacles as boys—including racism and disproportionate discipline at school—but they also face burdens unique to their gender, such as “adultification.” This inspired the organization to add a tennis program for girls’ enrichment. And because exposure to crime, poverty, and racism can happen at a very young age, L.E.A.D. programs now begin in 3rd grade instead of middle grades.
The nonprofit is poised to shape brighter futures earlier in life and for more Black youth.
“We need to show poor Black youth in this city that there’s a pathway for them to sit at the decision-making table in their communities,” said Kelli. “Through baseball and tennis, we teach them how to be in that room, to be audacious enough to imagine themselves as leaders at home, at school, on the field or court, and in their neighborhoods.”
From ongoing fundraising needs to their next big opportunity, Coxe Curry is with L.E.A.D. all the way. To learn more about the organization and sports based youth development, visit https://leadcenterforyouth.org/