Three out-of-school time leaders receive $15,000 at the 2024 Brother Mike Awards

(Chicago, Illinois) September 20, 2024 — On September 17 at Second City, Jamila Woods, Chicago-native singer-song writer, shared with a sold-out crowd of 200 at the 5th annual Brother Mike Awards that “Mentorship is a sacred act, and Brother Mike was one of the greatest to ever do it.”

The evening continued with her soulful lyrics, magnetic sounds from the band, and a heartfelt tribute where Jamial talked about her own encounters with Brother Mike when she was an mentor and arts adminstrator at Young Chicago Authors (YCA); and how the 2024 Brother Mike Award nominees do critical that is rooted in love that they pass along to Chicago youth.

The Chicago Learning Exchange–a backbone organization of 150+ youth development organizations—brought together the most oustanding out-of-school (OST) mentors in Chicago its annual awards where three recipients receive a no-strings attached cash awards of $5,000 each.

Local urban historian Shermann “Dilla” Thomas hosted the festivities. With the food, drinks and laughter overflowing, three exemplary mentors—Ronnie Taylor Jr, Jeffrey Shelby and Marisol “Pinqy Ring” Velez–were named the winners of the $5,000 no-strings-attached financial support for the categories of Emerging Mentor, CLX Member Award, and Brother Mike Award respectively.

Ronnie Taylor, the emerging mentor award winner, shared in his speech that, “One of the things that fuels me is that I wanted to be the mentor and person that I needed when I was younger.” He continued in disbelief, “Is this real? Someone pinch me!” The award winners are secret and announced the night of.

This year’s winners emerged from an outstanding group of OST leaders working in neighborhoods throughout Chicago. With 43 nominations submitted in total, this year proved to be the most competitive one for the Brother Mike Awards since its inaugural year. Nominations were received from an eclectic and diverse group of leaders, mentors and educators who were nominated by colleagues, supervisors, youth mentees and even through self-nominations.

The Brother Mike Awards was formed in 2019 through a collaboration with the Chicago Learning Exchange (CLX), SocialWorks, the nonprofit established by former Brother Mike mentee, Chance the Rapper, Digital Youth Network, and the Chicago Public Libraries—all institutions connected to Brother Mike’s life and work. The awards fill a gap and provide recognition and financial support to exemplary members of the Chicago youth development workforce. Similar to the Golden Apple Awards for in-school educators, the Brother Mike Awards recognizes excellence but outside the traditional classroom where students spend 80% of their time. These mentors often work with youth in out-of-school spaces such as churches, libraries, museums and scientific institutions, in the boxing rings and gyms, as well as art studios and other creative environments. The list below shows all nominees and their organizations.

The 2024 Brother Mike Award Nominees

Alina Hernandez - Chicago Youth Boxing Club

Apostle Dr. Darris Lewis - Temple of Praise Apostolic Faith Ministries, Inc.

Bertina Booker - Butterflies 'N Effect

Cache' Binion - CMB: Investments & Consulting Inc.

Calvin Jordan - Think Outside da Block

Corey Turner - Urban Male Network

Cortez Watson Jr. - Marillac St. Vincent Family Services

Cyndi DeLira- Code Your Dreams

Darren Bell - "Kokoro"

David “Rob Smooth” Robinson - Made In Chicago

Delawntae Hill - Think Outside da Block

Dondre Smith - CRE8 Space & ALMVGHTY

Ericka Johnson - Breakthrough

Janeicia Williams - Project Exploration

Jazmyne Walker - The Covenant House International

Jeffrey Shelby - New Life Covenant Church Southeast

Jerry Taylor - Distinctive Schools CICS West Belden

Jessica Alcazar - Art Institute of Chicago

Jim Kropp - Shine On, Chicago!

Johnathan Campbell - Intonation Music

Jorge Alaves - Lindblom Math and Science Academy

Jutoria M. Aaron - Future Founders

Kasandra Newsome - Chicago HOPES For Kids

Katie Andorka - High Jump

Kristen Wykret - Chicago Center for Arts and Technology

La Toia Brown - Nerdy Media

Luis Castro - SGA Youth & Family Services Gage Park

Mario Mena - Yollocalli Arts Reach

Marlon Haywood - Urban Male Network

Matt Muse - Love & Nappyness

Monique Gaston - Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation

Nichelle Etheridge - Chicago Center for Arts and Technology

Nicole Fanelli - Field Museum of Natural History

Pinqy Ring - John Walt Foundation, Collaboraction, Next Level USA

Rafael Huerta - Marwen Arts

Ronnie Taylor Jr. - Center on Halsted

Shyretha "Shy" Brown - Building Bridges, Inc.

Sydney M. Perez - Northwest Center

Tanesha Peeples - The Roots Initiative

Treazure Owens - Treazure LLC

Victor Spencer - Youth Advocate Programs

Vondale E. Singleton Sr. - Champs Male Mentoring Program

Winther V. Polk - Chicago Public Library

Winners were selected through a detailed review process and notified at the ceremony. With heightened anticipation, the nominees appeared at Second City’s Up Comedy Club with family, friends and even current mentees, to find out who will receive the $5,000 of no-string-attached financial support. The winners were announced after a warm introduction by Dilla and performances by Chicago’s hip-hop and spoken word community from the past and present, including a tribute to Brother Mike from PHENOM– former BMA winner and member of Brother Mike’s arts collective POETREE. Ronnie Taylor Jr, the Youth Culture Coordinator at the Center for Halstead won the Emerging Mentor Award; Jeffery Shelby, the Senior Director of the New Life Covenant Church Southeast won the CLX Member Award; Marisol “Pinqy Ring” Velez, hip-hop artist, activist and Community Alchemist for the John Walt Foundation received the Brother Mike Award. Brother Mike had many memorable teachings he would share with his mentees, “mentorship, at its core, is an act of love” is one statement that continues to resonate with the OST community and could be seen, heard and felt by everyone in attendance.

The Brother Mike Award is presented by the Chicago Learning Exchange (CLX) in recognition of outstanding mentors and named after the late Brother Mike Hawkins. In addition to being a Chicago-based poet, activist, digital media educator, and mentor—Brother Mike was a loving partner, coordinator for Digital Youth Network, and member of the CLX network. He was also pivotal to the foundation of two of the most innovative and popular teen spaces in Chicago—YOUmedia Center at the Harold Washington Public Library and MetaMedia in Evanston, where he mentored hundreds of youth from middle-school to high-school and beyond. Some of his former mentees—such as Chance the Rapper, Vic Mensa, NoName, to name a few—credit Brother Mike for transforming their lives.

About the Chicago Learning Exchange

Chicago Learning Exchange (CLX) is a nonprofit organization that cultivates a growing community of more than 200 organizations to remake learning so that it is driven by learners’ interests, enhanced by technology, and connected to opportunities. For more information specifically on the Chicago Learning Exchange, visit www.chicagolx.org or follow CLX on Twitter (@CLXchange), Facebook (@CLXchange), LinkedIn, and Instagram (@CLXchange).

The 2024 Brother Mike Awards was sponsored by

PRESENTING SPONSOR:

The Field Foundation of Illinois

Kirkland & Ellis | WF Fund

INNOVATOR SPONSOR:

The Chicago Community Trust | Huron Consulting | Wintrust

Julia Stasch & Connie Yowell

MAKER SPONSOR:

Digital Youth Network | Valerie Chang Family | Polk Bros. Foundation

FRIEND SPONSOR:

Roger Tye and Family | Comcast