As a new school year begins, R CITY would like to thank the many interns and staff who blessed our community this summer. Bryanna, Jesus, Sanrenity and Zarriona all brought dedication and expertise that built up our programs and inspired our youth!
Every February, R CITY honors one person who has been heroic to the work of R CITY. Awarded at the Black History Celebration, R CITY's Distinguished Award for Foundational Contributions recognizes an individual whose work has been integral in the success of R CITY. This year's awardee is Pastor Antoine Taylor.
A published author and educational consultant, whose work with R CITY extends back to its beginnings, Dr. Rivera conducted research through R CITY's very first programs and was integral during our founding. She continued her investment in 2020 as a board member and joined the staff of R CITY serving as the Director of Strategy, Research & Partnerships from 2021-2023.
Dr. Rivera exemplifies the absolute best of OUR CITY and we are honored to celebrate our 2024 recipient of the Distinguished Award for Foundational Contributions.
In January 2024, I will step out of the Executive Director role, remaining with R CITY as Finance Lead to continue managing R CITY's grants and finance. At that time, the Executive Director role will be filled by the magnificent Charnesha Collier. She will be supported by myself, our board of directors, and Michelle Johnson, Director of Administration. This role is the culmination of years of leadership development for Char, who began as a youth in the Harambee program. Having served as R CITY's Director of Programs for the last year, Char has shown herself to be an excellent leader for both staff and youth. It is my great honor to place the role I love so much in her hands.
At R CITY our mission is to bring the BEST of our city to build a path for families to walk from cradle to career to the glory of God. As we prepared for our very first Black History Showcase, we knew it would be a great evening to celebrate our beautiful children and youth but also, we didn’t want to pass up an opportunity to celebrate and honor some of the VERY best of R CITY whose contributions support our youth, our programs and our community, and this year we had the immense privilege of bestowing our first Distinguished Award for Foundational Contributions to Phaedra M. Leslie from ALL Construction.
For teens in our community to feel hopeful about their future as adults, they need a healthy sense of competency, a confidence that when they put their hands, minds and effort to something, they can achieve success. Building this confidence requires a deep investment of resources for the hours (and years) spent in job training.
