Getting in the Game. What it means to really lean-in and impact your community.

What does it mean to hold yourself accountable for the well-being of citizens in the community in which you live, work, or were born & raised? That’s a great question to ponder.

Many people generally want to do good and help others. We volunteer our time to various causes, we might make financial contributions when so moved by a cause, and we might be quick to offer a helping hand when we see someone in need. We attend the golf outings, charity outings, and volunteer events. All very important!

Yet, I want to recognize what it means to go above and beyond the actions of an engaged citizen, resident or corporate, to address a community challenge, and particularly when one is fortunate enough to be armed with resources, influence, or both, and to challenge myself and others in the process.

Like many of us, I was intrigued when I heard that Jalen Rose, former UM athlete and Detroit native was opening a high school in the city of Detroit, the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy (JRLA). Was this a situation where he was offering his “name” to the school, or was he really engaged?

I had the opportunity to attend a couple of fundraisers for the school, and engage with the school founder directly. I took advantage of the time together to get some questions answered. After a few obligatory basketball questions (i.e. “Was Bobby Hurley really that good?” In case you are wondering, the answer was ‘Yes’), I went directly for the harder questions about JRLA:

1.      Why did you open the school?

2.      How difficult is it to run a school?

3.      What are your goals/vision for the school?

The school founder proceeded to answer (my abbreviated recollection of that conversation):

“Everyone from Detroit is so proud of our city. We rock the Olde English D ball caps, we shout out ‘What Up Doe’, and are always representing for the D. But at the end of the day, what are we really doing for our city? I had to check myself, look in the mirror, and really answer that question. I concluded I wasn’t doing enough, and I needed to get hands on in working towards a solution for my city. So, I decided to open a high school with a vision of making it the ‘Country Day’ south of 8 mile road. To work towards the day where your zip code doesn’t dictate the quality of your education. Just writing a check didn’t seem like enough. I needed to do more. Doing more for me, meant opening JRLA.”

I was so moved by the conversation. I proceeded to participate in more fundraisers over the years, and then eventually joined the school board, being able to bear witness to what it means to “really lean in” on a community need like education.

Fast forward, 7 years from that original conversation, and yesterday marks a momentous occasion. JRLA graduated its 5th class of seniors (congrats class of 2019), and more importantly, recognized its first college graduates from both the University of Michigan and Central Michigan University. 

While so much work is still required, the vision is becoming reality due to the tireless efforts of the founders, Jalen Rose and Michael Carter, Jalen’s right-hand in Michelle Ruscitti-Miller, JRLA principal, Wendie Lewis, and the incredible staff of JRLA and Promise Schools, and finally and most importantly, the determination of our scholars and parents.

And all of this is possible because our founder decided to “lean-in” on the education challenge instead of observing it from afar, and waiting for someone else to do something about it. 

The lesson here is sometimes if so moved we need to throw ourselves at a community need with full force, beyond the traditional volunteer time and donations. The volunteer time and donations will continue to go a long way, but to solve many of this community’s biggest needs around education, crime, and jobs, it requires more. The impact of individuals “leaning in” plays an exponential role in advancing the cause and plays a multiplier effect on the donations and volunteer time contributions of so many others. Bottom line, it makes solving the challenge possible.

So the real question for you and me to solve for is…

“What community challenge am I going to personally hold myself accountable for solving, and what I am personally going to do to solve it? Where am I going to lean-in?”

We need to find that cause where we are willing to leave the safety of the sidelines and GET IN THE GAME.