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Incubation and the Greatest Love of All

In place of licensed audio content, please hum “The Greatest Love of All” by Whitney Houston while reading this post. “I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way…”


I have just completed my favorite summer activity, volunteering with The NAACP’s Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO), and I can barely sleep! It was such a fantastic few days! I am on an inspiration-fueled high!


As explained on their website, ACT-SO is “a yearlong achievement program designed to recruit, stimulate, and encourage high academic and cultural achievement among African-American high school students. [The program] includes 32 competitions in STEM, humanities, business, and performing, visual and culinary arts. Almost 300,000 young people have participated in the program since its inception. For over forty years, the mission of ACT-SO has been to prepare, recognize, and reward youth of African descent who exemplify scholastic and artistic excellence.”


Each summer the program culminates in 3 days of rigorous competition at the national level, the best of the best share their skills and talents for panels of subject matter experts. Last week, 750 student phenoms from around the country gathered in Detroit to vie for scholarship money and other unique opportunities like start-up funding and incubation support for innovative entrepreneurial ventures. As a judge, I had a front-row seat to witness the magic.


Volunteer work is always fulfilling, but this program takes things to a whole other level! ACT-SO has restored my hope for the future of humanity! My only regret is that I didn’t take pictures with any of the children or get their autographs. I am confident that 100% of them will be household names in their respective fields at some point. Gah! Another missed eBay opportunity.


Sometime soon, I will have an opportunity to interview Larry Brown, Jr., the National Director of ACT-SO, so that we can all learn more about this amazing program. In the meantime, please visit http://naacp.org/act-so/.


2019 NAACP ACT-SO Awards, Detroit, Michigan

For tips, ideas, and inspiration related to volunteerism be sure to check out the links below!

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