Written by: Leon El-Alamin, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Program seeks to disrupt systems of inequities. The MADE Institute provides services to individuals returning to Flint, Michigan following incarceration. Flint is the birthplace of General Motors and was the location of the water crisis in 2016 which has dramatically impacted the people who live here. MADE provides job training, transitional housing, access to health programs along with a myriad of other support services to returning citizens. Since 2016, our programs have provided training and services to 1,000 individuals. Programs include our EPIK Life Skills Program, Google Certification and more.
The inaugural Enterprise Ventures of Color (EVC) Fellowship Cohort recently kicked off in Flint and includes several staff members from the MADE Institute. The Community Foundation of Greater Flint, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Ruth Mott Foundation, and the United Way of Genesee County came together through the Greater Flint Coronavirus Taskforce on Racial Inequities to support the Fellowship. The Enterprising Ventures of Color Fund focuses on strengthening the long-term capacity and infrastructure of participating nonprofit organizations.
The project is offered as part of the work of the Greater Flint Coronavirus Taskforce on Racial Inequities’ Philanthropic Subcommittee. The Taskforce is a partnership with the Michigan State University Division of Public Health, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the City of Flint, Flint & Genesee Chamber of Commerce, Hamilton Community Health Network, and Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church. They strive to work towards racial equity in the greater Flint community during and following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Program Cohort
The program brings the MADE Institute together with seven other nonprofits from the City of Flint including Big Brothers Big Sisters of Flint & Genesee County, Center for Higher Educational Achievement, Flint & Genesee Literacy Network, InvolvedDad, Motherly Intercession, Sylvester Broome Empowerment Village, and Voices for Children Advocacy Center.
The MADE Executive Director Leon El-Alamin and program manager, Marsha Thrower, recently started the fellowship program with the EVC. They joined fourteen fellows for the 18-month-long process. Participants will have access to personalized executive-level coaching, socially and culturally tailored technical assistance, and power-building strategies to support their organizations.
The founder and CEO, Lillian D. Singh, recently said, “At Enterprising Ventures of Color, we imagine a future where nonprofit leaders of color deliver impact from a place of abundance and opportunity rather than scarcity and limitation. Nonprofit leaders of color have close proximity to the communities they serve. Along with organizational capacity building, capital is the fuel that drives the operations and growth of any nonprofit enterprise. So, we combine these two powerful approaches — capacity building and enterprise capital — for revolutionary level change.”
The EVC has over a decade of experience working to help transform nonprofits who participate in its program by providing resources for capacity-building along with social network and enterprise capital.
As a participant in the program, MADE will receive support from expert consultants in topical areas, including revenue generation pipelines, strategic planning, financial management, and effective communication. The goal is to advance long-term, sustainable community solutions.
"We are honored to have our staff selected to be in the cohort of EVC fellows this year,” said El-Alamin. “The resources provided to us through the program will greatly help us advance the growth of our programs at the MADE Institute.”
Leon El-Alamin, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Leon El-Alamin is the founder and Executive Director of the M.A.D.E. Institute, that stands for Money, Attitude, Direction and Education. Growing up on the North Side of Flint, Leon was a good kid who took refuge at his grandmother’s house to escape the challenges he faced at home and out on the streets. After graduating from high school, the allure of earning fast money made Leon start selling cocaine. A few years later, a shootout over a drug turf war landed him in the hospital where he spent a month in a coma. The incident led to his eventual arrest and imprisonment on drug and weapons charges. At the age of 30, Leon was released from prison after serving part of his sentence then founded MADE.
