My journey began about 30 years ago in an affordable housing community in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C.  Growing up in Adams Morgan presented me and my peers with hard challenges.  Many were lost in the violence, drugs and redevelopment of a rapidly changing neighborhood.  I believe I made it only because of the many concerned adults who helped shape my life into what it has become today. Whether helping me with school work, encouraging me to achieve my very best, letting me know when I drifted off course or helping me deal with the loss of my mother, I benefited from an incredible circle of mentors who made my life and well-being their priority during my darkest of times.  Simply said, this circle helped me realize that I mattered!  I am fortunate to have had such a strong mentoring, family and friends support system, to travel the country and parts of the world, but most importantly to be in a position to give back to the same community that gave me so much.  

When the doors of a local community center closed in July of 2007, I found myself deeply affected.  It was through this center that I and so many of my peers attended youth service programs, and where I proudly served in volunteer, Program Coordinator and Program Director capacities as a young adult.  I found myself in the midst of making some life-altering decisions.  While I felt fairly confident that the prospects of “finding another job” were promising, I realized that finding something that I cared about as much was unlikely.  It was with this wish to give back that I founded the Adams Morgan Youth Leadership Academy (AMYLA). We opened our doors in 2007 and are fully operational as a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization, with a strong network of youth, families and partners.  Our unconventional, organic approach is AMYLA’s niche--engaging the likeliest and unlikeliest of youth, volunteers and donors. 

We recognize everyone in the community as a valuable asset and a vital component in the building of an authentic community.  Our goal is to establish AMYLA as the communal buffer in Adams Morgan, a safe place in which community members can get to know each other by name, build relationships and help each other grow!  We are creating a culture of positive change: challenging our teens to participate in the “AMYLA Challenge” by posting high achieving and underperforming quarterly GPA’s on our wall display in hopes of inspiring our very capable but underperforming youth to reach their full academic potential; and engaging unlikely youth as participants in monthly civic association meetings. Most exciting of all – we are connecting folks who under normal circumstances would never cross paths – in fact, who often cross the street in avoidance of each other. 

We invite you to join in our efforts and mission, to show this generation of youth that they too matter in order to help build a community that works for all.     

Sincerely,

Nigel Okunubi, Founder and Executive Director, AMYLA