2015 Annual Report

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INSPIRE

“Nothing has been more life changing throughout my high school career than joining 21st Century Leaders my sophomore year! I met students who became my best friends, professionals who demonstrated the reality of business careers and decisions, and best of all my new family. There are no words that can describe the excitement and joy a student can receive from participating in 21st Century Leaders’ programs.”

- Richard Nguyen, Morrow High School 20

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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15 Letter From Our Executive

Director34 Our Mission

5 About 21st Century Leaders

8 Program Highlights

11 Financials

15 Our Donors

Dear Friends,

Welcome to our 2015 Annual Report. This year’s report details our organi-zation’s efforts and the impact we’ve had on the lives of more than 1,000 students from over 170 high schools across Georgia. The investments from a broad range of supporters across multiple sectors of our state in 2015 propelled us forward in our mission to prepare the next generation of leaders to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

For the past 24 years, I have had the privilege of serving as Executive Director of 21st Century Leaders (21CL). I am proud of the growth our organization has experienced over the years—from impacting 31 high school students at eight high schools in 1991 to an aggregate total of more than 10,000 stu-dents from 250 schools in 2015. We have accomplished this in large part due to supporters like you who have invested your time, talents, and resources in our mission. I am also thankful for the dedication and passion of the Board of Directors and staff who help support the work that we do each day.

As we begin our 25th year of service to the state of Georgia and its youth, I am excited by new opportunities to expand the reach and impact of our programs. Our new Leadership Connect program is now up and running with a fully realized online Learning Management System that will enable us to reach significantly more students across Georgia each year. 21CL student leaders in our high school Leadership Centers are expanding their already significant impact on other students and the surrounding communities where they live. And our Summer Leadership Institutes continue to impact hundreds each summer; 2015 saw the launch of the all-new Turner Voices Youth Media Institute.

I invite you to get involved in 21CL in a way that is meaningful to you. Your continued support of our organization allows us to ensure that high school students across Georgia are prepared to lead in their careers and communi-ties.

Finally, thank you for your support of 21CL in 2015. Your partnership ensures access to our program for hundreds of high school students each year. Your commitment to help build future leaders makes this possible.

Sincerely,

Robert WatsonExecutive Director

2015 Board of DirectorsKevin Sessions TalentQuestChair

Kathy SolleyNelson Mullins, Riley & Scarborough, LLPSecretary

Mike SzalkowskiSchejola PartnersTreasurer

Steve CaveAGL Resources

Dr. Corey DortchEmory University, Goizueta Business School21CL Alumni

Marty FleischmannFarrago Comics

Jeff GregorTurner

Arden Henderson AirWatch 21CL Alumni

Katrina JacksonUnited Acceptance

Matt JohnsonKPMG

Tyrone JohnsonResidential Design Services

Danny LindseyGeorgia Power

Jim McCaffreyCommunity Volunteer

Mike ParisiAlston & Bird, LLP

Ed RocheCox Communications

Tunstall RushtonBenevolink

Patrick SolomonCARE

Steve StoneCommunity & Southern Bank

Renee DeGross ValdesHome Depot

INSPIRE LEADERSHIP

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21st Century Leaders is a collaboration of business and professional leaders inspiring high school students to take on leadership positions, seek out opportunities, and give back to their communities by connecting them with a diverse group of enthusiastic peers, passionate professionals and powerful ideas, transforming their skills, attitudes, and abilities through training and hands-on experiences.

Our Mission

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Inspire.

Transform.

21CL connects high school students to a diverse group of peers, professionals, ideas and organizations.

21CL transforms student’s skill-sets, ideas and attitudes.

21CL inspires youth to lead.

More than 1,000 high school students across Georgia partcipated in 21CL programs, workshops and training events in 2015.

21CL youth also engaged with more than 500 volun-teers from the business, eductational, and non-profit sectors in over 45 days of interactive business experiences.

Our year-round youth leadership development programming provides critical tools young Georgians will need to be prepared to assume leadership positions.

Through more than 50 corporate partnerships, 21CL provided students with robust and stimulating corporate and professional experiential learning opportunities.

As a result, 90% of students report an increase in their teamwork skills, critical thinking and business knowledge after attending our programs.

21CL provides high school students with the training, guidance, and encouragement necessary to enter college and the workforce with a highly developed set of leadership skills and qualities.

Students leave 21CL embodying our five core values. A leader is passionate, resourceful, service-oriented, able to leverage diversity, and forward-thinking.

98% of students who have participated in our program take on new leadership roles in their schools, places of worship and communities.

21CL students engaged in over 4,000 hours of community service through our Youth Leadership Centers.

INSPIRE YOUTH

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170

Representing over

high schools

51%26%10%

5%8%

African-American

Caucasian

Asian/Pacific Islander

Hispanic

Other

students served this year

50%face barriers to success

21st Century Leaders

Volunteer Engagement45 volunteer training and hands-on opportunities were provided for our corporate and private sector volunteers including:

• 18 days of summer leadership institutes• 15 days of application readings• 4 days of interviews for summer leadership

institutes and youth leadership team

1,034

21CL CREATESFUTURE LEADERS.Marcus joined 21st Century Leaders in 2007 during his sophomore year at Martin Luther King, Jr. High School.

“21CL was truly a unique life changing experience due to the intense training, hands-on leadership workshops, and exposure to a diverse group of peers; there is nothing else like it.”

Two years later, Marcus attended Georgia State University where he became the University’s student body president and received GSU’s highest leadership award at graduation.

“I never would have considered running for President if it wasn’t for the skills and confidence I acquired in 21st Century Leaders,” Kernizan said.

Marcus currently works as a consultant with Accenture in Atlanta.

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“After participating in 21CL, I was so far ahead of my peers when it came to being a leader, working with teams, and professional networking. I wouldn’t be a success as I am today without this program.”

-Marcus Kernizan21CL AlumniAccenture

2014 Highlights

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15 Summer Leadership Institutes

21CL hosted 3 one-week residential summer leadership programs on college campuses in 2015 including • SYLI @Goizueta• EarthCare: The Leadership Challenge of the 21st Cen-

tury (fully sponsored by Georgia Power)• Turner Voices Youth Media Institute (fully sponsored

by Turner).

21CL received 2 or more student applications per program slot for all three summer leadership institutes, and accepted 250 students for the summer program.

21CL engaged over 300 volunteers and created 10 new partnerships with corporations for the summer leader-ship institutes.

Youth Leadership CentersOur Youth Leadership Centers are school-based, student-led programs designed to build leadership and career pathway skills for students housed in Georgia high schools. Formely known as Youth Action Centers, the centers were re-named in 2015 to better reflect the role and responsibilities of our partner high schools.• 11 Georgia high school Youth Leadership Centers• 918 students were engaged through our centers• 643 of those students were engaged through our

online learning platform, Leadership Connect• 4,000 hours of community service were conduct-

ed at 21CL Youth Leadership Centers, such as:- Bulldog Buddies: Students at Emanuel County Institute mentored and read to local elemen-tary school students.- Soap Collection Drive: Students at Westlake High School collected over 1,000 bars of soap to donate to homeless shelters.- Mental Health Awareness Week: Students at North Springs High School hosted a Mental Health Awareness Week at their school which engaged and educated over 100 students about mental health diseases.

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INSPIRE GROWTH

21st Century Leaders launched a monthly #WebinarWednesday series in Spring 2015. Host-ed by 21CL volunteers and business profession-als, this online training platform allows students to learn and ask questions from professionals throughout the year on a multitude of topics ranging from leadership to careers. Some of our guest speakers include CEO of The Greenleaf Center of Servant Leadership, Pat Falotico, Atlanta Beltline creator, Ryan Gravel, Congressman Tom Graves, and President of The Frontier Group, Patrick Lynch.

Webinars

Through your generous support 21st Century Leaders is proud to offer leadership and talent development programs to our students year-round.

2015 Program Highlights

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INSPIRE GROWTH

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Summer Orientation

For the first time, 21CL hosted a summer orientation for all students attending a summer leadership insti-tute to learn more about 21st Century Leaders, network with their peers, and take part in leadership workshops.

21CL welcomed over 120 students on April 18, 2015 at Georgia Power headquarters in Atlanta.

Goizueta Youth Leadership Summit (Theme: “Don’t Wait for Greatness”)21CL hosted its 9th annual Goizueta Youth Leadership Summit on February 6-7, 2015 at Emory Univeristy’s Goizueta Business School. This two-day, overnight training focused on business and entreprenuership and was sponsored by SAGE and Goizueta Gives (MBA stu-dents from Goizueta Business School). Students also heard from keynote speaker, Steven Carse, founder of King of Pops.

77 Students from 35 High Schools Attended71 Volunteers Engaged

Training & Workshops

Leadership exCHANGE Fall Summit21CL hosted a one-day training event, Leadership ExChange on September 26, 2015, with a focus on community and global health with an emphasis on giving back. Partnering with The Clean Air Campaign, the summit was held at GE in Atlanta with keynote speaker Kevin Scott, co-founder of ADDO Institute & ADDO Worldwide and Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 40 Under 40 honoree.

“21CL is where you'll meet new friends, high-level executives, and other successful people. You come expecting to learn business and leadership practices, but you learn so much more from the diverse student body.” –Matthew Carpenter, Savannah Christian Academy

“I learned that my personality may be different from others, and that my ideas aren’t always the same as theirs, but we can work to-gether and be friends despite the differences we share.”–Nataleigh Long, Murray County High School

73 Students Attended 15 Volunteers Engaged6 Corporate & Non-Profit Sector Partners 3 Hours of community serivce, as students completed a project along the Atlanta Beltline with Trees Atlanta

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15 Corporate Sponsors

210 GYLA Attendees $71,045 Raised

In October 2014, 21CL hosted its 2nd annual golf outing, Leaderboard at East Lake at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. 21CL’s special event is hosted by the Chair of the Board of Directors to bring awareness to potential sup-porters and thank existing 21CL supporters in a fun networking and competitive atmosphere.

Georgia Gives Day For the second year, 21st Century Leaders took part in the state’s largest online fundraising event for non-profits, Georgia Gives Day. On November 13, 2014 21st Century Leaders supporters raised $6,232 from 51 donors. In addi-tion to 21CL parents, volunteers, and corporate partners donating on Georgia Gives Day, 21CL students also got involved. We’re proud to share that 21CL student leaders from our Youth Leadership Team (Youth Ambassadors and Youth Leadership Council) together raised close to $500.

LEADERBOARD AT EAST LAKE

GEORGIA YOUTH LEADERSHIP AWARDSThe Georgia Youth Leadership Awards is 21st Century Leaders’ signature fundraising event honoring and celebrating 20 outstanding high school lead-ers from across the state. The 7th annual Georgia Youth Leadership Awards was held on Thursday, February 26, 2015 at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in downtown Atlanta.

Over 200 business and civic leaders from metro Atlanta, including our GYLA presenters and members of Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 40 under 40, came together to celebrate 20 outstanding youth leaders. Through all of our corpo-rate sponsors, each winning youth leader was awarded a $250 mini-grant. One special youth leader, Ima Christian, from Parkview High School, was awarded the distinguished Turner Voices Innovative Leadership Award and a $1,000 grant for her extraordinary work. Ima, the co-founder and CEO of Pinetart, Inc. developed the nationally recognized mobile app, Five-0, an app designed to encourage partnership and accountability of law enforcement.

In total, the Georgia Youth Leadership Awards raised more than $70,000 to support youth leadership development programs for 21CL.

2015 Special Events

With 12 foursomes/sponsorships, $30,000 was raised - a $10,000 increase over the first year. All proceeds go to support 21CL leadership development programs.

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Your Investment at Work

91 cents of every dollar given to 21CL is directly invested in the mission

Direct Youth Program Expenses: 52% Program Staff Expenses: 39%

Administrative & Resource Development: 9%

10%

2015 Income

INSPIRE SUPPORT

Contributions Corporate Special Events Grants & Foundations

10%

58%

17% 15%

TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS - $708,072

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15 Statement of Activities

*For the Year Ending September 30, 2015

REVENUE AND SUPPORT Contributions $ 353,426 Grants $ 220,191 Program sponsorships and income $ 133,734 Other $ 721Total revenue and support $ 708,072

EXPENSES Programs $ 633,522 General and administrative $ 33,664 Fundraising $ 3,033Total expenses $ 700,219

Change in net assets $ 7,853Net assets- beginning of year $ 211,874Net assets- end of year $ 219,727

2014 $653,832

2015 $708,072

*A full copy of our Independent Auditors’ Report performed by Reed, Quinn & McClure, LLC is available online at www.21stcenturyleaders.org

TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS

“21st Century Leaders changed the course of my life by seeing potential in me when I didn’t see the potential in myself.”

-Stacia Burke 21CL Alumni Georgia Tech, ‘16

21CL CREATESFUTURE LEADERS.A graduate of South Gwinnett High School, Stacia joined 21st Century Leaders in 2012.

“21CL gave me the professional development and leadership skills that prepared me for internships at five dif-ferent companies and securing a full time job in investment banking.”

Stacia graduates from Georgia Tech in Atlanta in May 2016. From there, Stacia is taking her talents to New York City where she has accepted her first corporate job working for JP Morgan.

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21CL CREATESFUTURE LEADERS.Growing up in Gainesville, Georgia, Kelcie’s plans beyond high school were nearly non-existent. After join-ing 21st Century Leaders in 2008 and attending the programs, Kelcie’s outlook on life forever changed.

“I had only left Hall County once before in my entire life before 21st Century Leaders,” Evenson said. “21CL inspired me to look at my life and see the po-tential in myself that I didn’t see before. If it wasn’t for 21st Century Leaders, I would not be where I am today,”

A graduate of Georgia State Univer-sity with a Masters of Arts in Inter-national Eduction, Kelcie accepted a position with AirWatch (located in Atlanta) in 2015 as a University Relations Specialist.

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“Before spending a week in Atlanta in 2008 during my first 21CL program, I hadn’t given much thought to life out-side my rural hometown, but now at 25 years old, I’ve visited 25 countries and used the skills that the program instilled in me to be an ambassador to each new community I visit.”

-Kelcie Evenson21CL AlumniAirWatchA

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2015 Donors

CorporationsAGL ResourcesAT&T Benevolink Corporation Catlin GroupThe Coca-Cola Company Community & Southern Bank Cox Enterprises, Inc. Eres, LLCGE Power SystemsGeorgia Power FoundationGoizueta Business School Hunter Technical ResourcesKPMG KrogerKSU Coles College of Business McGuireWoods, LLPNelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough, LLP Northwestern Benefit Corporation of GeorgiaSage Slalom Consulting TalentQuest Time Warner Employee Grants ProgramTurner UPS ZeroChaos

FoundationsThe Kiwanis Foundation of AtlantaThe Nordson FoundationTunstall P. Rushton Charitable FundThe Sessions FamilySunTrust Foundation

GovernmentCobb County Nonprofit GrantFulton County Department of Human Services

21CL regrets any inadvertent omission of donor names.

21CL is proud to manage the SCANA Energy Homework Centers.

INSPIRE CHANGE

In-Kind DonationThe Arby’s Foundation Chick-fil-A Foundation Cox Enterprises DeNyse Companies Goizueta Business School GE CapitalGeorgia Clean Air Campaign Georgia PowerIntellumMcGuire Woods, LLP Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP Society of Human Resource Management, AtlantaSoulSpinTurner

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Individuals **100% of the Board of Directors made a financial contribution to 21CL.

Mark AbernathyDennis AdamovichRyan AndersonYvette AskinClint BaileyBenita BairdCathy BarnardDavid BarnardJada BinghamAbigail J BogostJuanessa D. BookerJohn BuntingKristen BurtonSteve and Maren CaveLeon ChristianKenneth E. ColemanThomas ConneffJason CummingsCharles DavisYvonne R. DavisJohn Del SantoAndie DerrichoCarlye DooleyFabiola DormeusSharifa EbrahimiTodd and Lori EdlinDavid and Louise EvansSherri FallinDavid FelfoldiMartin FleischmannEdward and Mary FloydKimmie FloydBill FordMaimuna GassamaGigi GiannoniDr. Tim GiannoniAdam & Kristan GoldfeinJane GoldsteinMargarette GoldsteinBrenda GreeneJeff GregorSusan GroszkiewiczMary HallKylon HarrisArden R HendersonKate HewittWilliam K. Holley IIITravis HolmesChris Horacek

Cassandra SmithKathryn B. SolleyPatrick SolomonSteven M. StaesJody Steinberg Priscilla StewartSteve StoneYolanda StrayhornTometrice StricklandShanae StoverTonya L. StrozierCatrice SwannMike SzalkowskiJoy Taylor RobertsJessica TricheRenee ValdesRobert WatsonRalston WellsMichael WerblunCynthia WhiteheadScott WhitneyLeah WilliamsonAlvin Winston IICecelia R. WrightVictor YanceyYouth Ambassador MembersYouth Leadership Council Members

Kristi Hullum Katrina S JacksonJamison JeffersMelissa JerniganMatthew JohnsonTyrone JohnsonBryan JonesMatthew A JordanScott KilburnMichael KulpRobert and Kathryn LarsenRachel LeducDanny and Vickie LindseyDeidre LongeGlenn MackWilliam and Linda Kay MangenGina MartinJames and Susan McCaffreyJonathan McCoyCarey McElroyTarrie McDanielJuanita McDowellAnne McKillipsR. Clay MillingDianna MogelgaardDzauya NkuchwayoJames NixonBridgette O’NealParesh I PatelJanet PetersLaShaun PolkKevel PurcellAdriane RandolphDara and Dan RedlerJoy M RobertsSamuel Atere RobertsEd and Stephanie RocheKantrice RoseTravis RoseJoe RountreeTunstall RushtonBen SamuelLawanna SaxonPaul SchurThalia ScottPatrick and Ashley ShippeyKate SolleyNeena SeniorMollie Simon

2015 Donors21CL regrets any inadvertent omission of donor names.

www.21stcenturyleaders.orgtel 404.373.7441 fax 404.373.7442P.O. Box 1125, Decatur, GA 30031

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