Marquis Taylor, 29, used to be a professional on Wall Street, but he left his six figure gig in real estate finance to fully dedicate his time to youth.

Through his grassroots organization Coaching4Change, Taylor works with low-income adolescents by actively presenting them with a positive black male image.

Taylor works with disengaged high school students who are on the verge of dropping out. Why? Because it was once him at a point in time.

From The Huffington Post:

“Until he was 10 years old, Taylor lived — and shared a bunk bed — with his single mother in a 600-square-foot apartment in South Central Los Angeles. He was exposed to drugs, violence and extreme poverty in that inner city neighborhood. Diagnosed with attention deficit disorder at a young age, he had trouble focusing in school. But basketball offered an escape, a community and a place where he could feel successful. Taylor says the sport not only kept him on track, but helped him to start exploring his own talent and potential as a leader.”

Read more at Huffington Post

In addition to using the sport to light a fire under the tails of young black youth, the program also exposes students to the college experience in order to motivate them to do what they have to do to graduate. Coaching4Change’s goal is to increase high school GPAs of freshman and sophomore males in high school.

Younger kids benefit from the program as well. Last year the organization ran four programs in California. They worked with 22 college students, 40 high school students and 167 elementary students.

Wonderful.

This is a fine example of a young man stepping up to the plate.

Kudos for Marquis’ decision to be active in the lives of young black men.

Thoughts on the program?

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