SR 147: Launch, Expose, Advise, Direct Center for Youth; recognize
Enrolled version, the latest LegiScan holds · Last action February 11, 2025 · Passed
The text as LegiScan holds it, read from the PDF the legislature publishes with its margin line numbers, running heads, and page footers removed. Line breaks are joined into paragraphs here; no word is changed.
Senate Resolution 147
By: Senators Esteves of the 35th, Orrock of the 36th, Brass of the 6th, Echols of the 49th, Rhett of the 33rd and others
A RESOLUTION
Recognizing and commending the Launch, Expose, Advise, Direct Center for Youth; and for other purposes.
WHEREAS, founded in 2007 by Atlanta native and former Chicago Clubs outfielder C.J. Stewart and his wife, Kelli, the Launch, Expose, Advise, Direct (L.E.A.D) Center for Youth aims to empower Atlanta's Black youth through the methodology of sports-based youth development; and
WHEREAS, L.E.A.D. helps participants build sustainable, meaningful lives and break inter-generational cycles of poverty and trauma by using sports to foster leadership, civic engagement, and community service; and
WHEREAS, through direct service programming, L.E.A.D. uses baseball for boys and tennis for girls to equip students in Atlanta Public Schools and metro Atlanta with the confidence and skills needed to overcome crime, poverty, and racism; and
WHEREAS, L.E.A.D. bridges a critical gap for vulnerable families in inner-city Atlanta by offering high quality sports-based youth development programs that are paid for by the participants' commitment to their grades, attendance, behavior, and community service, thus removing the barrier of monetary cost; and
WHEREAS, through exceptional coaching and mentoring, L.E.A.D. youth develop social-emotional learning and executive functioning skills that prepare them for success athletically, academically, socially, and career wise, with 97 percent of participants showing improvement in at least three social-emotional learning capacities by the end of one annual programming cycle; and
WHEREAS, in the near future, L.E.A.D. plans to create a $12 million state-of-the-art sports-based youth development complex in the heart of the Bankhead community, which will enable L.E.A.D. to empower more than 1,000 young people annually; and
WHEREAS, L.E.A.D's dedication to empowering youth and connecting communities strengthens both Atlanta and Georgia, making it abundantly fitting and proper to recognize the accomplishments of this extraordinary organization.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the members of this body recognize and commend the Launch, Expose, Advise, Direct Center for Youth for its valuable contributions on behalf of the youth of this state as well as extend best wishes for its continued growth, development, and success.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed to make an appropriate copy of this resolution available for distribution to the Launch, Expose, Advise, Direct Center for Youth.