Eagle Academy for Young Men of Harlem welcomed, André Taylor, chief executive of Manhasset-based, leadership development company, Taylor Insight Worldwide, LLC, this week, to deliver the firm’s “I AM A Leader” seminar program. The event was part of a groundbreaking initiative aimed at enriching inner-city students through a combined program of academic, leadership, music education, and entrepreneurship studies. Taylor was called in to develop the leadership component as a model that can be delivered with partners, to other schools in the New York City area.
The project spearheaded by Eagle Academy’s director of programs, Christopher Graham, Harlem School of the Arts, director of music, Yolanda Wyns and author and entrepreneur, André Taylor is a pilot designed to tackle the challenge of delivering academic excellence in an innovative fashion, blending multiple disciplines and introducing students to top professionals engaged in these disciplines. In addition to Taylor, the program will bring top musicians, and administrators to the Harlem campus to help students better understand the subjects being taught, and how those professionals engage in their subject matter on a day-to-day basis. Eagle Academy, focused solely on the success of young males, has been working on addressing the broader educational needs of this student population in an effort to prepare them for success in a highly competitive society.
“This initiative is aimed at challenging our young men to think bigger, broader, and reject any notion that it’s inevitable they’ll underperform academically and financially,” says Taylor. “As the father of two young men, I know the impact we can have by demonstrating our interest in their success, broadening their awareness of the opportunities in our society and introducing them to, and helping them develop their innate talents and abilities.”
The program will impact dozens of students in the near term but could be rolled out to thousands of New York City students in years to come. More about the partners can be found at eagleharlem.org, hsanyc.org, and andretaylor.com
