Leaders For Life receives $15k donation, 25 laptops

It was like something out of Publishers Clearing House. 

Tuesday morning, Altarik White - founder and executive director of Leaders For Life (L4L) - opened the front door of his South Ward headquarters to find a surprise red carpet affair in his honor. Newark Opportunity Youth Network (NOYN) presented White with a $15,000 check and 25 laptops for students in recognition of White’s years of service in Newark. As a partner of the Newark Youth Workforce Collaborative, L4L is a part of Newark’s first collective approach to creating a school-to-workforce pipeline. And as the backbone of the Collaborative, NOYN works to support its partner programs with data, strategy and fundraising.

“Altarik is a pillar in the community,” said Robert Clark, Chief Executive Officer of NOYN. “Countless families and young people from throughout the city have benefited from the programs offered at Leaders For Life and we’re honored to help support his efforts in whatever way we can.”

White said NOYN’s donation and laptops will go toward supporting programming and upgrading L4L’s technological capabilities.

 “Just supplies for the young people. We’ll use this for our alternative high school that we operate here. We’ve been getting a lot of donations for the younger guys. This goes particularly for the high school. Thank you,” he said. 

Leaders for Life began as a grass-roots mentoring movement out of Malcolm X Shabazz High School. And over the years, it has served more than 32,000 children through after-school programs for boys and girls of color, family outreach as well as Leaders For Life Academy, where more than 140 young people have graduated with their high school diplomas. 

L4L’s headquarters on Clinton Place is a safe haven for many families in the South Ward, offering food, social-emotional support, back-to-school backpacks, clothing, summer camp and wraparound supports for families. But mentorship, White said, remains the cornerstone of L4L’s mission.

“I have a saying here -- We are all in. Are you? That’s what we’re trying to do - to get more people involved in these young people’s lives because there are so many young people that can benefit from mentorship,” he said. 

Like most nonprofits, the pandemic has impacted the way they do business. For most of 2020, White has had a skeleton staff to provide the same quality services that young people and their families depend on. And with the rise of remote learning, it’s been a challenge to bridge the technology divide, continue programming, provide resources and pay his staff, White said. Which is why he secures partnerships with organizations like NOYN, he said, “who bring a specific skill set.”

Leaders For Life is among the nine founding members of the Newark Youth Workforce Collaborative, which brings together leaders in education and workforce development, as well as local employment partners, to create an ecosystem that collectively shares data, creates pathways for career exploration, expands internships and apprenticeships, advocates for policy changes, and addresses wraparound supports for youth as they transition into the workforce.