Alumni Spotlight: Timothy Parham

Timothy Parham is our alumni spotlight today! Tim is a graduate of Central High School (2004) and of Reinhardt University (2010). He first joined 21st Century Leaders in 2001 as a rising sophomore in high school and has been serving with 21st Century Leaders since 2006, first on the Summer Leadership Team and then later as a Summer Institute Director since 2018. As of September 2022, he is a full time 21CL staff member, serving as the Director of Programs and Operations! “21CL solidified my passion for helping others and gave me the foundational skills of youth development.” – Tim Parham

Paint a brief picture of what you are doing now.

I recently started working with 21st Century Leaders as the Director of Programs and Operations. I began my journey with the organization as a rising high school sophomore in 2001 and to have the opportunity to oversee its programs 20 years later is an honor. I am still soaking it all in!

I am also the founder of The MAP Foundation, a non-profit organization that seeks to equip young men ages 12-22 with a support system to achieve their goals and become self-sufficient adults. I started The MAP Foundation because I know how it feels to want to achieve a goal but need guidance and genuine support. I love the fact that I can utilize my skills and resources to support the next generation.

Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my family, performing on the stage, and traveling.

Which programs did you participate in? How did the skills/tools/perspectives you acquired from 21CL prepare you for your next steps, going into college, taking on new leadership roles in your community, college and after?

I started my journey with 21st Century Leaders in 2001 and during that time it was different from what it has grown to be now. Mr. Bob Watson, the founding Executive Director, had an active role and I always loved listening to his leadership speeches.  He had the confidence in public speaking that I wanted to have. He also always made every student feel special. I learned a critical lesson from those times: the art of building relationships. I’ve used that skill in every new opportunity I’ve been given.

How did participating in 21CL transform you and lead you to where you are now?

21CL solidified my passion for helping others and gave me the foundational skills of youth development. What I learned as a student and while working as a class facilitator during the Summer Leadership Institutes led me to work with YELLS, Inc. for seven years, in all its three programs-Mentoring, Community Action Café, and the Afterschool Program. After, I worked with Communities in Schools of Georgia, where I had a caseload of more than 100 students. This is when I learned a valuable lesson about the importance of data and how it can be used to accelerate student growth.

I believe that the skills I have accumulated along the way have prepared me for my current leadership role serving as the Director of Programs and Operations at 21st Century Leaders.

Do you have a memorable or ‘aha’ moment during your time at 21CL? (Particular program, meeting a professional and diverse peers, speaking in public for the first time, etc.?)

I have lots of 21CL memorable moments! The first was as a student attending one of the programs and realizing that leadership has many definitions.  My opportunity to lead came when asked to publicly speak and at the time, standing in front of a group of people and speaking had always been a challenge for me. After that I got the opportunity to work with the summer staff for the first time. Over the years, I’ve figured out that it’s when you are vulnerable that you are your most authentic self and that’s what people remember.

Another ‘aha’ moment I had was when I realized that networking really works.  I will never forget Jeremy Foreman, one of the 21CL summer staff during my high school years. He had the kind of energy that was contagious. He was just a joy to be around and our relationship grew when I came back as a summer staff.  When I got to the point in college where I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do as a career. I reached out to a lot of people for support and guidance. He was the only one that responded and he introduced me to a person that changed my life. Her name is Dr. Tamara Harper. The networking skills that I learned from 21CL gave me the opportunity to travel the world singing with the Atlanta Opera.

Did 21CL assist you in developing a leadership style that makes you an effective leader? If so , how? And have you recently learned something else about leadership? Please share!

Yes! Over the years I have gained so many jewels that I use daily. I learned that using the 3 C’s of communication, cooperation, and compassion is not just a leadership tactic that 21CL exposes but it should be a lifestyle. Out of the three, the one that I use the most is compassion. I love to motivate people to be the best version of themselves.

In addition, being a part of 21CL always reminds me that great leaders are always great followers of other great leaders. I have had so many leaders I looked up to that paved the way for me to be the Director of Programs for 21CL and I am determined to use all skills that I have learned over the years and impact the world.

 

Alumni Spotlight: Emily Jackson

21CL Alumna Emily Jackson, better known by her artist name EmmoLei Sankofa, is our Alumni Spotlight for October 2021. A graduate of Westlake High School (2008), of Hampton University (2012) and of Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) (2014), Emily is an emerging talent and active voice among the next generation of music industry leaders. She and her work have been featured on various platforms, including Lyrical Lemonade, LANDR, Saint Heron, OC Weekly, The Recording Academy, Gender Amplified, Billboard, and more. She is an alumna of The Recording Academy’s 2021 NEXT program. In her post, Emily says that she is grateful to 21CL for creating a hub for future leaders to grow and learn from each other. She was one of the 21CL Alumni who volunteered at the 2021 Charity Golf Outing this month and was one of the sponsors of the game!

Paint a brief picture of what you are doing now.

I am Emily Jackson, better known as EmmoLei Sankofa, an American composer, producer, musician, and artist whose work stretches across music, visual media, and fine art. A 2021 Sundance Composers Lab Fellow, I had the opportunity to work closely with Film and Television composers on my craft. Creative Advisors for the intensive include Kathryn Bostic, Laura Karpman, Blake Neely, Heather McIntosh, George S. Clinton, Mychael Danna, Jeff Rona, and Christopher Willis. I have collaborated with some of the best emerging and award-winning filmmakers, including Rhea Dillion, Jonathan Lewis, Imani Dennison, Sekani Solomon, Ajiri Akpolo, and more. My original music has been heard via screenings at HBO, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Lionsgate, Warner Bros., the Oakland Museum of California, and film festivals in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, Savannah, Baltimore, Las Vegas, Laughlin, and beyond. I have also worked with top brands like Nike, Vans, Buzzfeed, Pandora, Kamala Harris for the People, Pulse Films, and more via my creative audio company, Bèl Son.

My discography encompasses over twenty-one independently released albums, EP’s, and singles collectively and embodies a mixture of genres but often integrates soul, jazz, classical, and rhythm and blues. My single, “Don’t Fight,” was recently included on Adult Swim’s OPUS compilation album. As a musician, I have performed with Nelly, Ella Mai, Kurt Schneider, and more and recently had her debut performance as a solo act on Mobley’s “Devil in a Daydream” Virtual Tour. I was invited to participate in the 2021 “Songs of Pride” songwriting camp, hosted by Universal Music Publishing Group, where I collaborated with emerging songwriters/artists Amanda Cygnaeus and Nate Traveller.

I just wrapped the score for Horror Noire, a six-story anthology film, due to release on Oct. 28th on Shudder, the upcoming season of Step Up: Highwater on Starz alongside Stephanie Economou, and I am currently working on a docu-series at Amazon.

How did participating in 21CL transform you and lead you to where you are now?

During my high school years, I participated in the Winter Summit, Fall summits, in the 21CLub at Westlake HS and in the Summer Leadership Institutes. 21st Century Leaders was a step in the journey and a piece of my story. It gave me a space to nurture relationships, refine my leadership skills, and get in the practice of giving back to my community.

How did the skills/tools/perspectives you acquired from 21CL prepare you for your next steps, going into college and taking on leadership roles, heading into a new era of professionalism?

21st Century Leaders really taught me the importance of and connection between leadership and service.

What is your memorable or ‘aha’ moment in 21CL? (Particular program, meeting a professional and diverse peers, speaking in public for the first time, etc.?)

I do cherish all of the community service events we did. The one that jumps out at me immediately is when we repainted the main stage at Dad’s Garage Theater and now, my fiancé has a mural on the side of their building – Full circle moment! I also really cherish other simple projects that made big impacts like clearing Kudzu at the Atlanta Food Bank and painting single family homes with Habitat for Humanity.

Did 21CL assist you in developing a leadership style that makes you an effective leader? if so how? And have you recently learned something else about leadership? Please share!

I’ve always been a leader, so I believe the most important thing 21st Century Leaders did was to connect and expose me to future leaders and people that I could look to as I refined my leadership style. Creating a hub for future leaders to grow and learn from each other introduced a synergy that the world is feeling the impact of today.

Alumni Spotlight: Rance Nix

21CL Alumnus Rance Nix is our spotlight for September 2021. A graduate of Henry W. Grady High School -now Midtown High School (2010) –  and of University of Georgia (2014), Rance is a stage actor from Atlanta who is currently preparing for the release of a new show titled The Kings of Napa, on The Oprah Winfrey Network; he also works as a real estate agent in New York City. Rance says that during his 21CL years, he learned how to pitch himself, how to be confident, how to stand out, and more… and that those foundational skills have made a profound impact on him at personal and at professional level. He believes that anyone can be a leader if they take time to develop their confidence, excellence in whatever they do and if they have a genuine heart for others!

Paint a brief picture of what you are doing now.

I’m an actor from Atlanta, Georgia currently holding it down in New York City. Before acting full time, I worked a variety of jobs as an account management intern at the ad agency BBDO, a junior golf instructor, a cashier at a quick service biscuit shop, a sales advisor at Warby Parker, and most recently a real estate agent in New York City. I chose real estate because there’s unlimited upside if you put the work in, I could potentially have more flexibility financially to pursue acting, and it could be a career that I could have regardless of whether acting worked out or not. Gratefully, acting has worked out and I’m currently preparing for the release of a new show that I’m in, The Kings of Napa, on The Oprah Winfrey Network.

How did participating in 21CL transform you and lead you to where you are now?

Participating in 21st Century Leaders was the start of my leadership and business professional journey. Full transparency, in high school I remember at first I didn’t think dressing up to go to meetings and doing 21st Century Leaders was the coolest thing to do. That was totally silly! Through 21st Century leaders I learned how important it is to be able to handle myself as a young professional. The programs also prepared me early on with the skills and the confidence to navigate networking and also prepared me on how to look for opportunities as I started to think about life after high school and then later on after college. In fact, many years later, I still use many of the skills that I learned through 21st Century Leaders as I hustle in New York City. I’m not exactly doing anything in the traditional “business” field but while attending the events I learned how to pitch myself, how to be confident, how to stand out, and more. In a super crowded field of actors, having the skills and confidence to pitch myself and put myself out there has really helped me stick out above the rest.

How did the skills/tools/perspectives you acquired from 21CL prepare you for your next steps, going into college, taking on new leadership roles in your community, college and after?

21st Century Leaders was my first intro into the world of being a business professional. Through the programs and events I essentially learned, “This is how it’s done ‘in the real world’ and this is why it’s important.” I’m grateful for my experience with 21st Century Leaders and the lessons learned in high school. I was able to put those lessons and skills to use early on and refine them through college and in my 20’s. Now, my business acumen is second nature while a lot of peers of mine in their late 20’s and early 30’s still don’t like networking and/or have very little business professional skills.

Which programs did you participate in? What is your memorable or ‘aha’ moment in 21CL? (meeting a professional and diverse peers, speaking in public for the first time, etc.?)

I participated in the Summer Leadership Institute and three Winter Leadership Conferences (GYLS) in addition to the smaller school club meetings (21CLub) throughout the year. My most memorable moment is: finally winning the Winter Leadership Conference business case competition in our third year. My sophomore year we placed 3rd, my junior year we placed 2nd, and my senior year we finally won! We won with the same group of classmates from the original group which was awesome too. The process of going through two years of losing then finally winning was a great lesson in resilience and how to keep learning, keep improving, and keep aiming for my goals until they become a reality! Another memorable moment is the Chick-fil-A lunches at the networking roundtables!

Did 21CL assist you in developing a leadership style that makes you an effective leader? if so how? And have you recently learned something else about leadership? Please share!

Confidence, confidence, confidence. I’ve noticed that people who don’t consider themselves “leaders” or who say they “aren’t good at being a ‘business professional'” just don’t have the confidence. Through the networking roundtables, resume building workshops, practicing our 30 second elevator pitches and more, 21st Century Leaders gave me the tools and thus the confidence to be successful in my career. Moreover, I’ve discovered that anyone can be a leader if (in addition to having confidence) they are excellent in everything they do and genuinely have a heart for others. Those three qualities: confidence, excellence, and caring for others, not everyone has or takes the time to develop, but for those that do, they are often leaders in their professional and personal circles.

Alumni Spotlight: Jordan Schwartz

21CL Alumna Jordan Schwartz is a graduate of Atlanta Girls’ School (2011), of Bryn Mawr College (2015) and of University of Oregon (2017). She is a veteran stage actress and producer that began acting in 2nd grade and has appeared in about 32 productions. She is the founder of The Children’s Bilingual Theater, a student run theatrical outreach that since 2004 has been bringing bilingual programming to venues in the metro Atlanta area. The Children’s Bilingual Theater has produced 6 bilingual musicals and 15 storytelling and literacy events and has lead more than 200 volunteers as cast and crew that have reached over 6000 audience members. Jordan is also one of our 2008 Georgia Youth Leadership Award recipients and currently works as Associate Producing Director at Fonseca Theater Company in Indianapolis.

Paint a brief picture of what you are doing now.

I am Associate Producing Director, Fonseca Theater Company. In addition to logistical support of our main season (contracts, schedules, etc.), a lot of my focus is on nurturing our community and educational programs. Right now, we offer a youth drama class for ages 6-12, where students develop their own original play based on a theme – our most recent class focused on mysteries and detective stories. I also handle a range of daily administrative things within finance, development, and marketing.

How did participating in 21CL transform you and lead you to where you are now?

I was a Georgia Youth Leadership Award recipient in 2008; a lot has happened since then. After graduating from high school in 2011, I went to Bryn Mawr College from where I graduated in 2015 and then went on to the University of Oregon and in 2017 received my Master’s in Arts Administration with a concentration in Performing Arts Management.  After graduation, I joined the Phoenix Theatre in Indianapolis as Director of Literary Programs and Outreach. In 2018, Bryan Fonseca the Producing Director Emeritus of the Phoenix Theatre launched Fonseca Theatre Company and I joined this venture as Associate Producing Director and have the honor of also being an artistic director. The innovative structure of the company includes four artistic directors working with Bryan to bring diversity and inclusion from the arts community. The mission of the new theater is to “give voice to the disenfranchised in our community. The sharing of culture is essential to our nation’s health, and we will focus on work by and/or about minority artists to bring together the city’s growing minority communities.”

How did 21CL prepare you for your next steps? Going into college and taking on leadership roles, heading into a new era of professionalism, etc. What skills/tools/perspectives have helped you along the way?

The experiences and opportunities from 21st Century Leaders gave me the tools to continue on my learning and career paths. Leveraging Diversity is the most important skill I learned from 21CL. My work with The Fonseca Theatre Company brings my vision and work with The Children’s Bilingual Theater to a wonderful intersection. Our educational program is roughly 60 percent Latino, 30 percent African American, and 10 percent White/Other. Being culturally-focused, our shows have also brought together some of the most diverse audiences in the city and engaged a lot of first-time theatre-goers. Our collective reflects the community, and it’s important for folks to be able to see themselves reflected in an organization and on stage and being well received by minority artists’ community is very fundamental to my driving force. Art and culture are so deeply connected and working on a project rooted in your own experience makes for a better artistic product and a more satisfying process. Several of our artists have identified their experience with us as among the most impactful in their careers, both artistically and professionally.

What was a memorable or ‘aha’ moment in 21CL? (Particular program, meeting a professional and diverse peers, speaking in public for the first time, etc.?

It was wonderful getting to meet all the other motivated high school students across Georgia and hearing about the amazing work they were doing! Digging into community work and specific projects can be all-encompassing, and 21CL was an important reminder of the other talented young people working to make the world better. The experience was both motivating and empowering, but also humbling and I just know everyone from 21CL has gone on to do amazing things!

Did 21CL assist you in developing a leadership style that makes you an effective leader? if so how? And have you recently learned something else about leadership? Please share!

Leveraging Diversity has been my foremost guiding principle. As an arts advocate and community leader and especially as a young woman of color that lives with a congenital disability (I was diagnosed with Turner’s Syndrome when I was 12 years old) I have a unique voice and have acquired a body of experience to share with other youth! I continue to use art to advocate and to give voice to the disenfranchised in our community. The sharing of culture is essential to our nation’s health, and I focus on work by and/or about minority artists to bring together minority communities. I have lived in Philadelphia as a college undergraduate, had jobs, volunteered, had fun, moved to Eugene Oregon for grad school, worked, volunteered and went to football games, traveled to seminars in Portland, St Louis, Chicago, Boston, Orlando and have always found a way and that is what I would like to convey to future 21CL youth. Find a way and find your way!