President’s Message

Greetings All,

As I reflect on the past two years as President, 100 Black Men of Long Island, I notice that our New York Chapter, the Founding New York City and Syracuse Chapters, and the 100 Black Men of America at large, has never been more relevant and important for those of us looking to drive change for the greater good in the communities that we serve.

I've come to think of the 100 Black Men network as one very large, multi-national, best in class organization community servants.  A team that creates abundant opportunities to fellowship, teach, mentor, and more importantly learn from our constituents.  A team of nationally recognized thought leaders that enables us to advocate, brainstorm, give back to our communities.

As a communities changes around us—whether social, political, technological, economic or otherwise, we play a role in helping our mentees and the broader communities that we serve navigate through this new and ever increasingly complex eco-system.

I'm proud of the Long Island Chapter's successes over the past 5 years since our organizational  refresh, particularly in the areas of mentoring and leadership development.  The pandemic presented challenges that many of us could have never predicted.  However, there are always opportunities to identify rainbows within the clouds, by providing more opportunities for meaningful engagement of our members, mentees and sponsors, introducing innovative programming formats and topics, and providing professional development and outreach opportunities.  

In the year ahead, we will continue these initiatives, as well as adding programming designed for various stages of a mentee’s academic journey, in collaboration with other 100 Black Men chapters across the tri-state area and beyond.  Thank you!

Sincerely,

Curtiss Jacobs

President

Long Island Chapter, 100 Black Men of America