Oakland, CA

Owner & Chief Strategist

• Youth Serving Non-Profit Consulting
• Graphic & Web Design
• Strategic Initiative Management

Youth Serving Non-Profit Consultant
Having experience working in non-profits ranging from a start-up structure to a premier, industry leading national non-profit, I've acquired a unique set of skills that can prove to be beneficial to a multitude of organizations and needs. Through customized engagements, I seek to partner with organizations to accomplish organizational and program-oriented objectives including youth program planning, program design & evaluation, staff development, program management, strategic planning, youth grassroots organizing initiatives, youth & adult partnerships, & social marketing.

Graphic & Web Designer
From political campaigns to start up small businesses and re-branding projects, I've been able to respond to a demand amongst a small group of contacts through graphic design, web design, and video production services. Bringing a client's vision to reality is priority; so being able to effectively connect with their priorities and ideas up front is key. ​Through a combination of relationship building with clients and content, products are created with a personal touch...kind of like an extension of the clients' own creativity.

Strategic Initiative Management
Helping communities realize their potential through creative, innovated, collaborative, and empowering social impact initiatives. I provide leadership through project, partnership, and logistics management from ideation to execution.

Oakland, CA

Community Programs Manager

• Staff Management
• Program Development
• Partnership Management

Provided leadership for Alternatives in Action's community school vision by supervising staff, facilitating communication, planning services, completing reports/evaluations, and maintaining program spaces. Additionally, he implemented comprehensive programming and services to meet the needs of youth and families served by the McClymonds Youth and Family Center, while also managing a portfolio of community resources and partnerships. Alternatives in Action operates both school-day and after-school programming and is responsible for the implementation and management of 21st Century after-school programming.

Alternatives in Action inspires Bay Area Youth to realize their leadership potential. Each year we prepare over 1000 youth for success in college, career, and community through our high school, school-based Community Programs and Home Sweet Home Preschool.

Washington, DC

Manager, Youth Activism

• National Youth Development
• National Convener
• Technical Assistance & Training Provider

Bennie provided leadership for the Youth Activism department with the management and implementation of their national Youth Activism Programs. These programs focus on tobacco control initiatives through media/technology, guerrilla marketing, grassroots organizing and other tactics on a local, state, and national level. Bennie ultimately helped to guide the direction of the Youth Activism Fellowship and Youth Leadership Institute to ensure that their strategic plans were relevant and timely to today’s tobacco youth related issues. In addition, he also served as a national convener and technical assistance provider for youth-serving tobacco control professionals across the nation.

Bennie brought a wealth of knowledge in the areas of youth development, project management, strategic planning, and group facilitation. He was highly regarded within Legacy (now known as the truth Initative) as the expert as it relates to youth related organizing efforts. His undeniable passion for youth and social justice is exhibited through his many outstanding achievements.

The truth Initiative is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in Washington D.C., the foundation develops programs to address the health effects of tobacco use especially among vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco through grants, technical assistance, partnerships, youth activism and counter-marketing campaigns.

Milwaukee, WI

Youth Engagement Network Director

• Education Reform
• Youth Development
• Trainer

Lead TALC New Vision’s Youth Engagement Network of more than 30 small high schools and managed its Youth Leadership Ally Program & Student Internship Program. Ensure inclusion of youth voice to Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funded schools through various activities including but not limited to: Annual Small High School Fair, structure of internship, marketing material, internal small school initiatives, etc.

TALC New Vision assisted leaders creating new small schools in Milwaukee from the visioning process through the school’s opening and first two years of operation. As intermediary for “A New Vision of Secondary Education in Milwaukee,” a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, TALC New Vision connected schools, workplaces, and other community resources to improve pathways for youth to postsecondary learning, careers, and effective citizenship. TALC New Vision provided and brokered services to new school founders, convened key stakeholders under the grant, monitored fiscal responsibility, measured outcomes of the reform efforts, and promoted policies that sustain effective small school options.

Milwaukee, WI

Student Action Coordinator

• Student Empowerment & Development
• Grassroots Organizing
• Trainer

Recruited and managed network of a half-dozen high school councils, students ages 13-18, that identified issues in their schools and assisted in empowering grassroots organizing initiatives. Provided support for 50-100 students involved in Urban Underground in their academic success. Conducted workshops in dozens of schools, community centers, and juvenile facilities.

Urban Underground is promoting the next generation of leaders committed to building safe and sustainable communities. We advance our mission through youth-led social justice campaigns in the areas of health, education, public safety, and juvenile justice reform.