President’s Message

Greetings All,

As I reflect on the past two years as President, One Hundred Black Men of Long Island, I realize that the New York City, Albany, Syracuse, and Long Island organizations have never been more relevant in the effort to drive change for the greater good, in the communities that we serve.

I've come to think of the One Hundred Black Men network as a best in class organization of 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 the communities where we live and work.

As communities change 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 our accomplishments 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 coming year, we will continue these initiatives, as well as add programs designed for various stages of a mentee’s journey. We will do this in collaboration with other community based organizations across the tri-state area and beyond.

Sincerely,

Curtiss Jacobs