By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
Build 2 Lead, a Seattle-based non-profit dedicated to empowering youth and their families, is making significant strides in promoting equity within criminal justice, education, and healthcare systems. Since its inception in 2020, the organization has transformed the lives of countless young people, providing them with leadership skills, advocacy training, and career readiness tools they need to succeed.
Founded by Jimmy Brown, Build 2 Lead emerged from his passion for entrepreneurship and his desire to address systemic inequities. Brown’s entrepreneurial journey began in 2016 with AIP Consulting, a firm focused on understanding the experiences of Black and brown youth in schools.
“In 2016, I went on my first entrepreneurial endeavor, creating a consulting business called AIP consulting that really focused on understanding what Black and Brown youth are experiencing in their schools,” says Brown. “Really gauging their connection, how they felt about the teaching and learning, and really how they felt about their feelings of safety in the school spaces.”
With the help of the data received from AIP and the shutdowns that COVID-19 caused, Brown was able to refine and expand his vision, leading to the creation of Build 2 Lead. The organization now collaborates with schools, businesses, health organizations, and government entities to provide educational opportunities, community outreach, and power-building initiatives aimed at combating systemic racism.
“I am proud of the youth I am working with, seeing their success, the shift in their mindsets, watching how they interact with other adults, says Brown. “Seeing them lead initiatives, watching them grow from becoming participants to interns, and just seeing how they all operate in a lot of our different programs is what I am really proud of, because that is what I did it for.”
Jaxon Rowland, a high school Junior who has been a part of Build 2 Lead for nearly three years, distinctly remembers the day Brown first visited his school to speak to him and his classmates.
“He came to my class and told us today we were going to be doing a circle and talk about what we want to change and how we are going to do it,” says Rowland. “Everybody was like this is whacked, we are not trying to do this, but Jimmy was really talking to us and telling us things that we needed to hear and we all got into real in-depth conversations, and that was the first time I got involved with Build 2 Lead.”
“Build 2 Lead gives you so many opportunities, ways to grow, and different outlets if you didn’t want to go to college,” added Rowland. “I graduated from the pre-apprenticeship class, and I have a certification as an environmental specialist which gives me a different route if I don’t want to go to college, so we have knowledge on many things.”
According to Brown, Build 2 Lead has collaborated with various organizations over the years to help bring his vision to reality. Virginia Mason Franciscan Health is one of the organizations that is significantly impacting youth and supporting Build 2 Lead’s efforts to provide non-traditional pathways to help support Black and Brown students.
“[The students] get to see so many jobs on all of the field trips we do,” says Rowland, who says that the program had 70 students graduate from their various programs and receive pre-apprenticeship certification. “We went to Virginia Mason and that showed us the medical field. We learn about a lot of history, like the Buffalo Soldiers, so if you want to be a historian Build 2 Lead gives you the paths for the next steps in life.”
Brown also emphasized the importance of community and collaboration in sustaining Build 2 Lead’s efforts. The relationships Brown has built over the years is something that he is truly proud of, especially his partnerships with local schools, as they allow him to come in and work with the youth in his community.
In just a few weeks, Build 2 Lead will be helping greet students as they arrive for the first few days of school at local high schools and middle schools.
“What keeps me going is the partnerships and the people who are so dedicated. It is really a village mentality, and the people who are involved really care about it,” says Brown.
This story was produced in partnership with our media sponsor Communities of Opportunity, a growing movement of partners who believe every community can be a healthy, thriving community.