Press Releases

Miami, FL – Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24), the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics and the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education will host a roundtable discussion, Mentorship: Supporting the Holistic Development of Boys and Men of Color: A 5000 Role Models of Excellence Case Study. The event will take place Thursday, May 15th at 8:30 a.m. to noon, at Miami Dolphins, Sun Life Stadium located at 2269 NW 199th Street, Miami Gardens, FL.

Stakeholders will study the Role Models, a successful mentoring and high-school dropout prevention program in Miami-Dade County Schools, and share their findings at roundtable discussions in Los Angeles, Denver, and at larger summits scheduled throughout the year.

The discussion is aligned with President Obama's "My Brother's Keeper" initiative to empower young men of color who often face disproportionate challenges and obstacles to success.

Alonzo Mourning will join the discussion along with DavidJohns, theExecutive Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, Marco Davis, Deputy Director of the White House Initiative of Educational Excellence for Hispanics and William Mendoza, the Executive Director for the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education. The goal of the White House Initiatives is to identify the best practices to improve student achievement and then use those findings to dramatically improve outcomes across the country via the integrated powers of the federal government.

In February, the President acknowledged Congresswoman Wilson, as the founder of the Role Models and talked about the program's impact at hundreds of schools in Miami-Dade, when he unveiled "My Brother's Keeper."

"The roundtable discussion regarding the effectiveness of the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project is groundbreaking for South Florida. Mentoring is the bedrock of The 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project which has been transformative in the lives of thousands of at-risk minority boys, by saving them from destitution, drugs and the criminal justice system. Thousands of minority boys –who never dreamed it possible- have received college educations funded by scholarships from the Role Models.

"Through a coordinated national strategy, the Role Models program can be used as a model to boost participation in mentoring programs throughout the nation and ultimately boost high school and college graduation rates among minority boys," said Congresswoman Wilson.

The roundtable discussion will coincide with the Role Models Annual Senior High and Middle School Conferences, May 15thand 16th at Sun Life Stadium. Graduation ceremonies will take place Sunday, May 18th at 3:00 p.m. at Historic St. Agnes Episcopal Church, located at 1750 NW 3rd Avenue, Miami, Florida 33136. The Reverend Denrick E. Rolle is the Rector and Pastor.