Today’s
youth need all the support they can receive to navigate the complex and
often confusing world in which we live. Good role models help,
but they are increasingly hard to find. Case in point: Many
of our youth admire and emulate professional athletes and entertainers.
The
problem is, some of these popular individuals live as though they are
above the law. They often seem indifferent to the consequences
of their actions. The media often make things worse by
glorifying offensive, even criminal behavior. In this environment,
is it any wonder that so many youth are at risk of going down the wrong
path?
One of Dominion’s long-standing diversity initiatives,
the Strong Men & Women: Excellence in Leadership educational
series, seeks to address this imbalance by encouraging young people to
look elsewhere for positive role models.
Tom Farrell
Since 1991, we have distributed these curriculum
sets annually during Black History Month to schools and libraries in the
regions we serve.
Each series profiles the lives and accomplishments
of outstanding African-Americans. In
the past three years alone, more than 80,000 sets have been sent free of charge
to institutions in Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Our goal is to help raise awareness and inspire our youth with concrete examples
of people who have excelled in all walks of life through courage, determination
and effort.
In 1996, we expanded the program to include a writing
contest for high school juniors and seniors as a way to involve them more
deeply in the program. Participating
students research and write an essay on one of the more than 200 African-Americans
featured in the "Strong Men & Women" series. Winners receive
a laptop computer, and their schools get a $1,000 cash award. Over the
past 11 years, we have awarded more than $80,000 in savings bonds, cash and
computers to students and schools in Virginia, North Carolina and Ohio.
When all is said and done, the "Strong Men & Women" program
is about hope and encouraging youth to dare to dream about who they could
be and what they might accomplish in life. Dominion is pleased
to help nurture those hopes and dreams.
