Provides guidance and leadership to young men of color

DURHAM, N.C., USA, May 21, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Durham Success Summit, a summit for African-American men between the ages of 18 to 24, will return on September 18, 2021, for its third year.

The Durham Success Summit is North Carolina's leading development program for young men of color. It delivers professional opportunities and helps to level the playing field by empowering college-aged men to take the critical first steps in their unique paths to success.

The Durham Success Summit is a nonprofit organization that provides guidance and leadership to young men of color and introduces them to mentors from different industries. Through the annual leadership development summits, students can cultivate critical relationships with peers and mentors from different industries.

Derek Rhodes, Founder and Executive Director of the Durham Success Summit, is a business strategist, community leader, social entrepreneur, author and public speaker. After graduating from Duke University with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy and Political Studies in 2011, Rhodes became an intern at the Department of Justice, where he developed skills that have enabled him to thrive in other high-pressure, fast-paced environments. He proceeded into a second coveted internship, this one at the White House. It was not long afterward that his life took a drastic turn: at a press briefing in the East Room, President Obama highlighted Rhodes' efforts at Duke and during his internships.

Rhodes began his journey to creating this unique organization after the death of Trayvon Martin. Rhodes experienced a lot of pain because of the many similarities he had to Martin. At the time, he was interning at the Department of Justice. He landed a job at Microsoft eight years later, but similar stories in the news continued to haunt him. He felt that if he wasn't doing anything about the system, he was contributing to it. So after three months, he quit.
Rhodes knew he wanted to be part of the solution.

"I looked into my options and settled on founding a nonprofit that would directly help my community. I wanted to improve the lives of local, young, Black men. Men just like me. Thus, the Durham Success Summit was born," Rhodes said.

The summit began in 2019 with just 75 students and 15 guest speakers. In 2020, the summit partnered with North Carolina Central University's Men's Achievement Center. They hosted a virtual program with 30 speakers and 175 students.

"Success stories began coming out of our program, like those of Jordan Jackson and Tyler Fisher. Jordan went on to start the BLXCK Clothing Company, while Tyler was inspired to follow through on his dream to write children's books and started a social media campaign to inspire others in turn. It was a ripple effect. And I couldn't be happier," Rhodes said.

The 2021 Durham Success Summit will be held on September 18, 2021. This year's keynote speaker is Reggie Love, former aide to Barack Obama. Durham Mayor Steve Schewel will also speak at the event.

For information about individual donations and corporate sponsorship opportunities, visit dssnc.org.
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