Building the next generation of leaders is a process that starts with empowering those leaders as early as possible from a very young age. REAP Inc. keys into this vision by establishing a platform committed to empowering the next wave of leaders.
REAP Inc. is a year-round multicultural youth leadership program that empowers young students to become global leaders through civic engagement, entrepreneurship and cooperative management (conflict resolution) for a better future. The platform works with students in grades 3 through 12 who represent the most marginalized student populations.
Since it began operations, REAP Inc. has empowered over a thousand students annually and has remained committed to the cause of building and elevating communities. By working with donors who are equally committed to helping a diverse group of students realize their leadership potential, REAP Inc. has been able to offer its programs virtually while maintaining, developing and strengthening the quality of those programs. REAP has also focused on school communities primarily because they have the highest number of families going through challenging economic circumstances that have profound effects on their children.
REAP Inc.’s primary commitment revolves around elevating youth voices, empowering student leaders with a global mindset, expanding student innovation toward entrepreneurship and engaging students in cooperative management. The motivation to launch REAP Inc. was born out of the desire to help people find purpose early enough in their lives. The founder and CEO Levell Thomas believes that sometimes people need help with finding themselves, thus, he established REAP Inc. with his friend Mark Jackson in 2001 to help as many young people as possible. “Finding purpose and intention is challenging when you’re uninspired. However, purpose and intention can be a significant driving factor that propels students to success, making it vital to launch the next wave of leaders,” he said.
The organization works with philanthropists, CEOs, other humanitarian and empowerment foundations, wealthy people, public offices and every other entity that is committed to a developed world with empowered people living up to their full potential.
REAP Inc.’s goal is to be a part of nationwide programming in all schools in the United States. Plans are also underway to extend its services Internationally and every area in need of help with empowering their youth. “We want to be the leading online leadership academy helping disadvantaged youth globally,” Levell Thomas said. “With the world recovering from a global pandemic, many global issues like systemic racism, poverty, inequity, and social justice have been brought to the forefront. Competent leaders across all facets of life have never been more in demand. There’s much work to be done, and much of it, moving forward. So we want young people to know that they can make a difference and contribute to world class leadership programming.”
