Assuming the Best of Others, Expecting More of Ourselves

The following guest column by Gulf Coast President/CEO Mark Pritchett appeared in the September 19 edition of SRQ Daily:

This column is about three things: real leadership, common-sense solutions and believing in the potential of everyone.

I recently enjoyed conversations with two leaders in our community who epitomize and embrace all three. Their ideas and their results renewed my optimism for a brighter future in spite of the noise we are hearing in the news.

Last week, a group of Gulf Coast Community Foundation supporters joined me for a virtual conversation with Neil Phillips. Neil is founder and CEO of Visible Men Academy, a remarkable charter school in Bradenton for boys who live in poverty. He also leads Visible Men, a success network for Black men and boys, and speaks nationally on minority education, character development, and youth empowerment. Neil is a treasure in our community.

We invited him for a frank talk on race relations and leading young men to confidently face an uncertain world. At the heart of VMA’s approach is love. We learned how VMA first helps boys recognize their value and their sense of self. From there, they can acquire the skills needed to lead successful and satisfying lives.

One of our donors asked what’s the most important thing to build up and support children from impoverished families. Neil offered two.

“The first is love,” he said. “If love is not present, none of this works. The second thing is high expectations. Low expectations are dooming these children. We’re making the mistake of assuming that where you come from is where you will go. Until we can elevate expectations for these students, we will not be pulling them up. Believe me, the thing we see is they are eager to meet those high expectations.”

Young boys come to VMA with attributes like resilience, toughness and creativity—many, for example, take on parenting roles at very young ages. “These are wonderful, positive, success-breeding attributes,” Neil said. “We start to develop the conviction in our boys that they will be successful because of who they are, not in spite of who they are.”

Read the rest of Mark's column in SRQ Daily

NOTE: We are sad to share that the day of our conversation with Neil Phillips, one of his Visible Men Academy co-founders, Cindy Cavallaro-Day, passed away. Please see this heartwarming tribute to Cindy from VMA to understand her impact on the "suns," families, and staff there, and how her light will continue to shine on.