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Giving Out Gold Stars PHOTOGRAPHY BY RICK CRANK PHOTOGRAPHY
Youth Mentoring Collaborative held its inaugural Champions of Mentoring
Awards Ceremony and Reception on Jan. 17 at the North Carolina Executive Mansion, where Gov. Roy Cooper recently proclaimed January to be National Mentoring Month in North Carolina. The 2022 Mentor of the Year finalists included Sidekicks Academy Inc. Founder and Executive Director Freddie McNeil and Derek Rhodes, founder and executive director of the Durham Success Summit. YMC’s mission is to increase the number of Black and brown youth in identity-affirming mentoring relationships while working to dismantle the systemic barriers that they and their families face on a daily basis by providing training, resources, public awareness and advocacy.
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1 Youth Mentoring Collaborative President & CEO Atrayus O. Goode, Freddie McNeil, Tyson Ashe and Derek Rhodes. 2 Erroll Reese and Dudley Flood. 3 Marcel Anderson, Andrea McCullough and Marquis Buford. 4 Saxophonist Collin Williams performed during the reception.