Exposure to Opportunity is Crucial for African American Boys to Succeed
It’s no secret that Hampton Roads is challenged to attract and retain talent to fill in-demand jobs in such fields as health care, manufacturing, shipbuilding, and transportation. Many pay well and the training to attain credentials is readily available.
African American males are historically underrepresented in high wage positions, particularly in STEM fields, and over-represented in low wage ones. We can do better. The region must develop a talent pipeline that ensures these young men are included and prepared. It starts with accessibility and awareness, a task undertaken by two groups with whom I am involved.
As more young people, in this case Black ones, realize that there are ample well-paying opportunities in their back yard, they may consider staying or returning after graduating from high school or college.
Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, also known as the Boulé, is the nation’s oldest Black Greek-letter graduate-level fraternity. Beta Lambda, its Hampton Roads chapter, organizes and supports a mentoring and career exploration effort for African American males. It exposes students to major industries in the local area where careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) are in demand.
In planning the program, I borrowed from my experiences with LEAD 757 (Class of 2002) and Civic Leadership Institute (Class of 2008) where I expanded my own horizons by visiting workplaces and meeting leaders in government, defense, education, transportation, industry, non-profits and the arts. Boulé Scholars Program employs a similar model. We took our teens on a series of field trips to facilities like NASA Langley Research Center, Newport News Shipbuilding’s Apprentice School Innovation Lab, Hampton University’s Proton Therapy Insitute, Brooks Crossing Innovation and Opportunity Lab and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Jefferson Laboratory. At all stops, students engaged in meaningful discussions with administrators, researchers, engineers, and scientists.
They also engaged in hands-on creativity exercises, used 3D printers, augmented reality training, and performed high-performance computing. Most importantly, they saw professionals that looked like them.
As more young people, in this case Black ones, realize that there are ample well-paying opportunities in their back yard, they may consider staying or returning after graduating from high school or college.
Another men’s group, the 25-year-old Hampton Roads Committee of 200+ Men that I am proud to be president of, also focuses on achieving positive outcomes for African American males. We stage an annual breakfast to spotlight high school seniors who graduate with honors from public and private schools. In 2017, we launched the 200+ Scholars Academy, a multi-year mentoring program. Its mission is to prepare our young men to leave high school ready for employment, enlistment or higher education. There are monthly sessions around personal development and participation in monthly community service activities, plus field trips to such places as the Virginia General Assembly. Five students recently traveled abroad to attend an international leadership program in Paris.
200+ Men needs more awareness and volunteers if we are to meet our mission to funnel more qualified Black males into high demand jobs in our economy. Email me at
Besides his civic involvement described above, Jimmy Gray is Vice Mayor of the City of Hampton.