NULITES19 “GOT DREAM?”
If you weren’t in Orlando July 27-29th for NULITES19 “Got Dream? See It, Own It, Do It!” you missed a HOT ONE! The National Urban League Incentives To Excel & Succeed Youth Leadership Summit, better known as NULITES was the talk of Orlando.
Forget what you heard about NUL Annual Conference the NULITES Youth Leadership Summit is where you wanted…no…needed to be. Young people representing 24 cities, from 14 States and the District of Columbia (Alexandria, VA; Baltimore, MD; Bronx, NY; Buffalo, NY; Colorado Springs, CO; Columbia, SC; Detroit, MI; Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Indianapolis, IN; Hartford, CT; Houston, TX; Jacksonville, FL; Los Angeles, CA; Memphis, TN; Miami, FL; Oklahoma City, OK; Orlando, FL; Peoria, IL; Portsmouth, VA; St. Louis, MO; St. Petersburg, FL; Tallahassee, FL; Tampa, FL; Washington, DC; West Palm Beach, FL) converged on the University of Florida for 3 full days of events and activities.
We started the Summit with the 2008 Hip Hop Extravaganza sponsored by the Orlando Magic. Joining in the activities this year are former Orlando Magic stars now Magic Ambassadors… Nick Anderson and Bo Outlaw and bringing a bit of spark to the event are the Magic Dancers. (Check out the NULITES Photo Gallery for all the pictures).
Following the Extravaganza we officially opened the summit with the NULITES Opening Dinner Ceremony sponsored by State Farm Insurance Companies. Providing greetings were representatives from the National and local Urban Leagues, State Farm and other sponsors and friends of NULITES. There was a special presentation by Orlando’s own “The Mime Boys”. Setting the stage for the summit was our keynote speaker for the evening OTIS SMITH, General Manager for the Orlando Magic Basketball Team. Mr. Smith challenged the young people to not only dream but make goals that they could reach. He told them that their future would depend on their ability to adapt to the world around them and not letting their pride keep them from succeeding.
We got rolling first thing on Monday morning with our “How To Make A Living” Day and our 10th annual Behind the Business Tour. The tours this year were hosted by: The Marriot World Center; Walt Disney Company; R&B Radio Station Star 94FM; State Farm Regional Office ; Omni One Realty Group and the Offices of the Orlando Magic. Hospitality, real estate, and entertainment …local businesses showed us why Orlando is fast becoming the city where the world comes to do business.
Tuesday morning was “PLAN YOUR DREAM: BUILD A BLUE PRINT FOR SUCCESS” DAY. To get us ready for the day’s event we began with our “Start Making Choices” 2 MILE WAKE UP AND WALK and breakfast sponsored Con Agra Food’s.
After we’ve got our bodies energized we started the working portion of the day with the Opening Plenary sponsored by Best Buy featuring a panel discussion lead by Byron V. Garrett, first African American and MALE to be named president of the National Parent-Teacher Association. Byron is also the author of the book the “ABCs of Success”. His distinguished panel includes invited guest, star of stage and screen and regular on on Tyler Perry’s House of Payne; Demetria McKinney; Dwayne Edwards -Footwear Design Director for NIKE’S Jordan Brand; Dr. Christine Ruth Crawford is an owner/operator of five South Carolina McDonald’s restaurants and Nicole Lauria, Facilitator & Content Specialist from the Disney Leadership Institute. We also featured a special presentation by Poet, Comedian and Edu-Tainer. “Devin T. “Robinson X.
Following the opening plenary session young people and chaperons engaged in workshops sessions provided by our sponsors. Immediately following the workshops will be a special wrap up session called “THINKFAST” sponsored by the team that brought you “Planning for Life”. This interactive plenary session challenged young people on their knowledge of what they just learned in the workshops as well as contemporary trivia questions. Young people participating in teams won prizes for their knowledge. After the workshops we celebrated the 2008 NULITES Youth Leadership Awards Dinner Ceremony. “Succeed in Your Dream…Get A Return on Your Investment” Sponsored by Major League Baseball.
This annual event highlights the best that NULITES has to offer as we award our 2008 NULITER, Chapter and Caring Adult of the Year. We also recognized individuals that have been Leaders of Achievement over the years as well as our sponsors. The highlight of the awards ceremony other than the awards themselves was our highly anticipated speaker this year - Actor, Youth Activist and funny man Tommy Ford. Tommy Ford may best be remembered for his role on the ‘90s hit sitcoms MARTIN, the Parkers and police drama New York Undercover.
Now that’s a lot to do in 3 days! If you missed it just check out more of the recap including the $300,000 grant NULITES received from Sprint to continue the work of Youth Development throughout the movement and the announcement of the new VP of Education at the National Urban League.
