Success Story

Diane Thomas, MD

Alive, Free, & Paying It Forward Dr. Diane Thomas’ story was not uncommon for the Hunter’s Point neighborhood where she was born. Witha father on drugs and a single mother parenting four children, the neighborhood pressure of gang violence, deaths of friends, and the threat of teen pregnancy were all too real. Then, just as…

Growing up in East Oakland, Michael Gibson’s childhood was marred by drug related violence in his community and in his family. Caught up in the streets and entangled at a young age, he was serving a sentence in a youth correctional facility when he was introduced to the African American Males Transition Program there. That…

Daija S. Foster in the Making Alive & Free and Educated Daija Foster is a 2013 graduate of Spelman College with a degree in Psychology with a concentration in Neuroscience and is a proud Alumni of the Alive & Free’s Omega Boys Club. In fall 2013, Foster began her four-year journey at the Chicago School…

Kai Smith was recently featured in her local magazine as a result of her successful business endeavors! Kai is currently the founder of 2 small businesses, KTL Insurance Services (13 years) and Kai’s Koffee (3 years) in Pelham, Alabama. “I didn’t want to go to college, I didn’t have the grades. I barely got out of high school,” said…

Before I started coming to Alive & Free, I was going through a really tough time. The day of my first Leadership Academy meeting was actually the same day as my father’s memorial service. I decided to come to Alive & Free the same day, right after the service, because I really needed a change.…

Bold, Brilliant, Beautiful and All About Her Business Have you ever wondered what it takes to become a gatekeeper of a company? If so, Alive & Free alumna Vanita Williams, Vice President of Small Banking at Bank of America, can tell you. When her journey at Omega Boys Club began in 1997, Vanita knew even…

Today an author and community outreach counselor, Nzinga Mpenda explains the impact of Alive & Free on her education and career path. How did you first come to Alive & Free? In 2001, during my freshman year of high school, the mother of one of my friends told us, “You need to go. It’s a…

“It feels like a family. They put you on a better path. I want something better for myself now. They give chances to people that other people would just write off,” says Rashad. THREE JOB CORPS MEMBERS TALK ABOUT ALIVE & FREE How did you come to the Job Corps and Alive & Free? K.P.…

Leading By Example In order to lead you must learn how to follow. Shamann Walton, newly elected School Board Commissioner, Executive Director of Young Community Developers and Alumni of the Omega Boys Club, learned the true meaning of being a leader through mentorship, grit and ambition. Shamann says that mentorship and education have shaped him…

Taking the Lead Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, College of Law. I was born and raised in one of the toughest cities in California, Richmond. I knew early in life that I wanted more than what I saw growing up. I am a first generation college graduate and I will be the first attorney in…