Work / Our Programs
Brother Mike Awards
Investing in mentors who care for Chicago youth.
- 45K Unrestricted Awards to OST Mentors since 2020
- 12 Award Winners since 2020
The Brother Mike Awards (BMAs) honor 3 outstanding out-of-school time mentors with a $5,000 award, no strings attached. The award is named after Mike Hawkins, better known
as Brother Mike. Brother Mike was a loving partner, father, leader at Digital
Youth Network (DYN), member of the Chicago Learning Exchange (CLX)
network, mentor to hundreds of youth, and cornerstone of one of the most
innovative and popular teen spaces in Chicago—the YOUmedia Center at
Chicago Public Library’s Harold Washington Library Center (CPL). The Brother Mike Award is given to mentors who demonstrate excellence in their work with Chicago youth as well as a deep commitment to social justice and racial equity. The Award was created in collaboration with DYN, SocialWorks, and CPL. CLX continues to lead and steward it.
Nomination Process: To honor Brother Mike's impact and support the next generation of mentors, we solicit nominations for the Brother Mike Awards from the Chicago OST community. CLX believes being great isn't always recognized by others. That's why you can self-nominate, have a youth or parent nominate, ask a supervisor or peer, etc. (2025 Nominations have closed. Check back on this page for nomination information and updates).
Awardee Testimonials:
- "To be called in as a nominee, and then to be gifted the honor to be a recipient of the Brother Mike Award because someone sees the embodiment of such an awesome youth ally in me is profound. How can I not be inspired, how can I not be further charged and recharged. How can I not be humbled and fired up?" - Anonymous
- "Thank YOU ... for continuing to honor the spirit and works of such a beautiful human. Thank you for working tirelessly for weeks-on-end to create such an inspiring and loving space for our family to come together to exhale, celebrate, and to say well done. Here's to all the nominees and future nominees who were in the room and those present in spirit. I celebrate and lift up them all!” - l o t i walker, Adler Planetarium
2025 - Knowledge Theodore, Marcus Flenaugh, Jaquanda M. Saulter
2024 - Pinqy Ring, Jeffrey Shelby, Ronnie Taylor Jr.
2023 - Arinique Allen, Maricela Ramírez, l o t i walker