(ThyBlackMan.com) Detroit native Jarvis Brown is a dedicated hard worker who loves to help his community and have fun. As a youth development specialist for Youthville Detroit, Brown is able to live out his passion, with a little help from one of the most dynamic entertainers on the planet—Usher.
Among the many hats Brown wears at Youthville, he serves as the Detroit program coordinator for Usher’s New Look Foundation.
“I facilitate the youth and make sure we meet certain goals,” says Brown of the program, which is in its first full year in Detroit. “For example, with our 
service projects students receive $500 mini grants and our told to go out and create change in the community. They learn that you don’t have to be a megastar to create change, it starts with you.”
The program Brown coordinates is an outgrowth of the musical icon’s non-profit charity organization, which aims to provide young people with a new look on life through education and real-world experience. Established in 1999, Usher’s New Look Foundation certifies youth in four leadership pillars—talent, education, career and service.
In Detroit, New Look Foundation participants ranging in age from middle school to college students have helped improve the quality of life on the local, national and international levels. The critical issues that have been addressed include bullying in schools, healthy eating and fitness, voter registration, Haiti relief and youth leadership development.
“If you take steps in the right direction, people will follow you,” says the 24-year-old Brown who has been a part of the Youthville Detroit family since 
he was 13. “You don’t have to be rich to lead, these students are leading by applying their talent and creativity to make a difference.”
One of the many difference makers in the Detroit program is Rebecca Williams, who recently visited Nairobi, Kenya. Williams was selected to make the trip due to her total commitment to the New Look Foundation’s mission.
“Anything I do I have to put my all into it; my parents (Dollie and Eugene Williams) raised me like that,” says Williams, who will attend Grand Valley State in the fall.
In the days following her return from Kenya, Williams was still in awe of what she experienced. Working with youth who live in Kibera, located in southwest Nairobi, Williams helped roughly 30 Kenyan youth to identify their “talents and sparks” as a gateway to becoming future leaders.
“Some of the youth thought they just had one talent, and came away knowing they have several,” says Williams, who took away much from the interaction as well, including respect for the youth from Kibera, an area often stigmatized by outsiders as one of the world’s largest slums.
“The talent, unity and knowledge they have is amazing,” she said. “They have so little, but they take pride in what they have and that makes me even more grateful for what I have.”
Williams, who was part of a U.S. contingent which included youth from Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta and Washington D.C., said the most difficult part of the week adventure was leaving her new brothers and sisters. However, she says the bond will always remain.
“I want to help them with any needs they may have, because I literally see them as my family,” Williams says. “ I want to help them raise awareness of their conditions and I want to change the stereotypes that people have here of Africans.”
Knowledge of Williams’ enthusiasm and passion brings a smile to the face of Dee Dee McKinney Odom, MGM Grand Detroit’s director of Public Affairs. MGM Grand Detroit hosted a gala fundraiser to help kick-start the New Look Foundation in Motown, and has provided ongoing support since.
“Just as music fans become excited when they hear the name ‘Usher,’ we were equally excited to help bring his program to Detroit for the benefit of our youth,” Odom says. “We so often talk about preparing future leaders, but Usher’s program is teaching us that our young people are actually prepared to lead today.
“Rebecca had an incredible experience, but the beauty for our community is that she returned home with leadership skills that have been sharpened on a global stage. Every project she becomes a part of, and all the new people she meets will benefit from her exposure to this program.
“It drives home the point that an investment in our youth is the best investment we can make.”
To learn more about Usher’s New Look Foundation, please visit http://www.ushersnewlook.org.
Staff Writer; Scott Talley
This talented journalist is owner of a public relations firm; Scott Talley & Associates, Inc….
