Inspiring change in one’s own community, according to Weaver, is done by asking: How does one bring about change effectively?
As an example, Weaver recalled a conversation he had with the public health director about a partnership proposal.
The public health director said that while the organization’s results were what they were looking for, they had to decline the proposal because they are charged to achieve community-wide impact and, as such, their policy only allows them to invest in opportunities that serve more than 1,000 people. Yet, despite funding more than 200 initiatives, not one had been successful in achieving their desired results.
Weaver asked the public health director if she had ever considered that those goals and policies in place don’t align, and cannot co-exist if successful outcomes are to be achieved. When she asked him to explain further, he spoke about partnerships Brotherhood Crusade formed with NBA stars Paul George and Chris Paul and how they continually support a small number of people in a deep, meaningful way.
For the last two years, Brotherhood Crusade has partnered with George to send high school-age youth from Brotherhood Crusade to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. They have also partnered with Paul and his family foundation to send Brotherhood Crusade high-school-age youth to the Club 61 Leadership Summit.
Space Camp is the most developmentally beneficial vocational preparation summer camps for individuals interested in aerospace, defense, energy, education, biotech, technology, astrology, engineering, aeronautical careers, medicine and similar STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers; connections made there often set up networking and mentorship opportunities. Club 61 is a leadership alliance whose mission is to enhance and support the growth and development of future leaders.
Each experience has life-changing benefits for participants, but is also cost-prohibitive for many participants. George and Paul understood that substantial, sustainable change is a product of three factors, none one of which involves starting with a multitude of individuals or an exorbitant amount of money:
- Mindset (attitudes, behaviors and beliefs) change
- Access and opportunity
- Multiplicative influence
The first was reinforced by feedback from every Paul George Space Camp scholar and Club 61 leaders, the second was access to state of the art (Space…
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