YOUTH DEVELOPMENT COACH
Mission Statement
VISION Statement
As we Lĭv To Grō, life experiences are sometimes our best teacher. As a Youth Development Coach, our style of vision coaching will inspire, encourage, and empower our young men (middle & high school) by giving them clear direction and strategies for achieving success.
PURPOSE Statement
Principles Of Youth Development
Middle School
High School
College
INSPIRE
GRŌWTH
EMPOWER
The ultimate goal is to EMPOWER young men by giving them clear direction and strategies for achieving success
OUR PROGRAMS
♦ The Jus BLOOM Summit
Imagination is everything. You can be whomever you want to be with a dream, a belief system, and a work ethic to match. The Jus BLOOM Summit will be a 4-day summer camp that exposes 100 middle & high school students to 4 key areas to assist them with defining their purpose & understanding their why. Each day will consist of different speakers, and/or activities to target these 4 areas. Day 1 will focus on mental health, Day 2 will focus on physical health/nutrition, Day 3 will involve exposure to colleges/ military options, and Day 4 will provide a career fair that highlights trades that one can learn if they decide that the college scenery is not for them.
♦ Get Fresh To Go Back
Everyone does a Back-to-School Bookbag giveaway. Lĭv To Grō aims to provide different and unique opportunities with our Back To Skool Kickz & Socks Drive. This initiative will allow families to take advantage of their child being able to get a pair of free shoes & socks to start the school year. This will come with an application process and a select amount of students will receive a pair of shoes with socks.
The Get Fresh To Go Back day will also provide an opportunity to give back to the community by providing 500 toiletry bags for young men in need. These items will include but not limited to hair products, deodorant, combs, picks, sponges, brushes, shampoo, soap, body wash, hand sanitizer, & suitcase/toiletry bag.
Within this same event, Lĭv To Grō will provide Klean Kutz a select number of young men as we know everyone feels better about themselves when they have a fresh haircut! This plan of action partners with a local barber lounge to assist families who may not have the funds to provide haircuts to their child. The idea behind this plan is to identify a select amount of families to get FREE haircuts. The goal is to donate 100 FREE haircuts.
♦ Lĭv To Grō Scholarship & Awards Gala
The Lĭv To Grō Scholarship & Awards Gala will be paying homage to all those who supported the mission. “Jazz For A Kause” will allow us to reward scholarships as well as recognize individuals and/or companies for their contribution to the success of Lĭv To Grō. This event will also allow us to conduct our main fundraiser of a catered dinner, with a keynote speaker, while listening to some jazz as well as host a silent auction along with a raffle for Lĭv To Grō as a whole.
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About
Don’t Ask Me Why…Ask Me How…
Simpkins is a Teacher of the Year recipient innovative leader with 16 years developing the youth of America as a mastered level of education Professional School Counselor with Rock Hill Schools & 12 years of coaching high school football at Independence (NC) & South Pointe (SC). After 12 years of coaching and being a part of 8 State Championships, Simpkins constantly explore various opportunities to speak life into young adults. Over the course of his career, he has developed a passion to help develop student-athletes on and off the football field. His goal now is to help young adults determine their purpose in this world of uncertainty while retooling the mindset for personal growth to maximize all phases of life.
Simpkins is a native of Edgefield, SC, and is married to the former Kesha Bibbs and they have two sons, Braylen & Braxton, and he is the youngest son to the late Deacon Willie & Rev. Carmilla Simpkins. Simpkins is a 1996 graduate of Strom Thurmond High, a 1999 initiate into the Kappa Lambda Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., a 2001 graduate of Clemson University with a Bachelor Degree in Marketing, and a 2014 graduate of Liberty University with a Master of Education (M.Ed.) in School Counseling. Simpkins is currently working on his state licensure to become a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC).
Frederick Douglass said it best… “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
Lĭv To Grō, Inc. Partners:
Love. Teach. Serve. is an educative movement that is the personal growth entity of the parent company, Lĭv To Grō. This initiative is a plan of action that are formatted as workshops that cover up to 20 topics on how to Lĭv To Grō that will be offered as group sessions for athletic teams, youth group organizations, and/or at-risk middle or high school male students. If the efforts of developing young men at the middle and high school level is implemented thoroughly, it can change the trajectory of what these young men can accomplished.
Love. Teach. Serve. provided services to these Schools/Organizations:
Meet the team
Board of Directors
Trina Ricks
Chief Administrative Officer (CAO)
Mrs. Ricks once held an Executive Director position for a Non-Profit organization called The Youth Source from 2013-2019. The goal was to invest in the youth and their families by giving them V.O.I.C.E.S to make positive decisions through Volunteerism, Outreach, Information, Character development, Education, and Support.
Currently, Ricks is a Board Director at Family Trust Federal Credit Union and Heart2Heart Foundation.
A fun fact about Mrs. Ricks is she served as a historic interpreter for over 13 years and showcased her talents at the MLK Prayer Breakfast for 8 Years in Rock Hill, SC.
James N. Sweeney, Jr.
Executive Board Member
James and his wife Jennifer are the proud parents of two girls and currently reside in Greensboro, NC
He has been involved in several civic & professional organizations for over 20 years and is a Life Member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
James has built his career by residing professionally in 3 countries and working in countless others. His travels have strengthened his understanding of global people and cultures, but more importantly they have made him keenly aware of the enormous opportunities which exist in his home country.
Dr. Dwella Moton Nelson
Executive Board Member
She obtained a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Analytical Chemistry in 2006, then completed two fellowships at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (2012). She became an Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 2012.
Dr. Moton Nelson has authored and coauthored 15 peer reviewed journal articles on topics in the physical sciences and cancer therapeutics. She has presented her research at numerous national and international scientific conferences.
Dr. Moton Nelson creates K-12 S.T.E.A.M. curriculum for S.TE.M. educators and S.T.E.M. programs.
Dr. Moton Nelson owns a nonprofit organization, Kids Can Help 2, that focuses on teaching financial literacy to K-12 youth while offering opportunities for kid-driven philanthropy.
Dr. Moton Nelson enjoys writing, real estate investments, and traveling.
Dr. Charles Randle
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Dr. Randle’s research interests include stakeholder responses to auditor communication and exploration of demographic differences among institutions in higher ed. His research has been published in the Journal of Accounting and Finance, Research in Higher Education, with works in progress that will be submitted to accounting, education, and auditing journals.
Dr. Randle has taught both undergraduate and graduate accounting courses for a number of years. He is a CPA licensed in the state of Mississippi. He is a member of the American Accounting Association, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and a host of other organizations. He currently serves as the Treasurer for the South Carolina Association of Accounting Educators. He also serves on the Academic Relations Committee of the National Society of Black Certified Public Accountants.
Dr. Randle is a native of Meridian, Mississippi. He and his wife have two sons, Edward Jr. and Benjamin. In his free time, he enjoys reading, exercising, and spending time with family.
Board of Advisors
Jimmy Leach
Board Advisor
In 1995 he earned the title of Mr. South Carolina. Over the years he has competed in numerous other body building shows and has obtained many other titles. Having competed in bodybuilding competitions local and nationally, Jimmy gathered an enormous amount of knowledge and certifications. He has Master Level Certification through Precision Nutrition, and currently studying for a Bachelors of Nutrition from Huntington University of Health Sciences. He has been a speaker for the diabetes program at Prisma Health of Columbia and McCloud Health in Florence SC. As a body transformation enthusiast for nearly thirty plus years, Jimmy lives his passion every day by training and educating his clients on healthy sustainable living.
Jimmy Leach is the owner and founder of New Body Fat loss & Fitness in both Columbia and Florence, SC. He is nationally certified and well respected in the fitness industry. He received the Registered Trademark name “The Fat Burning Coach” because that is precisely who he is for his clients. Jimmy would say: achieving personal fitness goals is certainly more attainable when we know exactly what our body is doing and how it is going to respond. You don’t want to lose just weight. You want to lose FAT! He is extremely knowledgeable about the process of fat loss and how eating healthy combined with the correct strength training exercises can reshape a body.
Dr. Russell McElveen
Board Advisor
He currently practices with Southern Illinois Health. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his
family and friends, staying active and mentoring future physicians.
Thai Randolph
Board Advisor
Laugh Out Loud now reaches 100 million consumers through LOL Network, with a streaming ecosystem that includes NBCUniversal’s Peacock, PlutoTV, Roku Channel, Bell Media, Snap, YouTube, Facebook, and more – creating an opportunity for diverse, emerging comedians to bring their comedy to a massive, global audience. The company also hit a major milestone of 2.2 billion content views across its portfolio from 81 countries, which includes 22 original series, over 300 original stand-up specials and more.
Continuing her mission to carve out spaces for overlooked – yet influential – voices in the industry, Randolph and co-founder/actress Tika Sumpter launched Sugaberry in March 2020 – as the pandemic caused the world to shut down. Sugaberry is a multiplatform media company created for and by Black and Brown moms. The company gives spotlights to Black Moms and Women across the industry – entertainment figures like Kelly Roland, Dr. Jackie Walters, Kandi Burrus have all joined in on the conversation. Thai also co-hosts podcast ‘The Suga’ alongside Sumpter.
In addition to her roles with Laugh Out Loud and Sugaberry, Thai serves as COO for Hartbeat Productions, where she leads strategy, operations, and corporate development for the company. This past year, she also joined the board of LL Cool J’s Rock the Bells. Thai has been named to AdAge’s 40 Under 40 list, Variety’s Silicon Valleywood Impact Report, Cynopsis’ It List, Cynopsis’ Top Women in Media, and Multichannel News’ Wonder Women in Streaming “Women to Watch.”
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