America's Promise The Alliance for Youth grew out of a national meeting in Philadelphia that was held in April of last year.  Thousands of concerned Americans including 30 state governors, 100 mayors, federal officials, corporate CEOs, heads of non-profit and service 
organizations, religious leaders and community activists answered a call issued by every living President of the United States and First Lady to redouble our efforts on behalf of youth. 

In Philadelphia, we determined the five fundamental resources that at-risk youngsters need to turn their lives around.  These five resources are: (1) an ongoing relationship with a caring adult mentor, tutor, coach; (2) safe places and structured activities during 
non-school hours; (3) a healthy start; (4) a marketable skill through effective education; and (5) an opportunity to give back through community service.  It is the mission of America's Promise to provide at least two million at-risk youth with access to all five resources by the end of the year 2000. 

There is nothing intricate or exotic about these five resources; every successful adult American can relate each one of them to his or her own experience in growing up.  We know that they work.  Moreover, they form a coherent whole each of the five reinforces the other four.  If we can provide two million youngsters with all five resources we can give them the keys to success in life. 
 
To deliver these five resources, we have been assembling a massive coalition that includes the public sector, the business sector, the non-profit sector, service organizations and other concerned Americans. Big Brothers Big Sisters of America has pledged to double its outreach in the next few years, and other youth-service organizations have made similar commitments.  The Boys & Girls Clubs of America will create safe places for at least half a million more youngsters.  The YMCA, the Salvation Army, the American Camping Association, and other youth-service organizations and programs will swell that number. 
 
Hospitals, doctors, and medical associations are coming forward to help provide a healthy start.  LensCrafters, for example, has pledged a million free eye exams and, in addition, has so far provided over 150,000 pairs of free eyeglasses.  Major pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and Eli Lilly have provided free medications. 
 
Businesses, large and small, are taking an enlightened interest in their future workers and customers by providing job training, tutoring, and other stepping stones to marketable skills.  The high-tech industry has been particularly responsive.  Cisco Systems, the computer software company, is creating 2,000 academies in high schools across the country to help prepare young people to enter the digital economy.  Oracle, another high-tech giant, has created a hundred-million-dollar foundation to make computers available to needy students. 
 
Commitments in cash and in kind are essential to us in fulfilling our mission, but we need above all a dramatic increase in the number of people who are willing to give their time.  Being a mentor or a role model is a one-on-one proposition; it is a need that can't be filled by writing a multi-million-dollar check or delivering a consignment of essential supplies.  It can only be filled by caring individuals who are willing to give of their time to help a struggling young person cope with the trials of growing up. 
 
Mentors can be successful adults. 100 Black Men of America, Inc. made an early commitment to America's Promise to mentor 120,000 youths by the year 2000.  This meant doubling the number of their mentoring relationships.  By increasing the number of chapters that have mentoring programs they have already met their pledge. 
 
Mentors can also be young people on the way up like Black collegians. In fact, Black collegians and graduates can be particularly effective mentors for African-American children and teens, because you have a credibility that other mentors may lack.  Who can say to minority youth with more authority than yourselves, Sure you can make it!  Look at 
me.   I could say it I have said it, many times but I think the message is even more potent coming from someone closer in age and experience. 
 
One of the most important things we need to do within the African-American community is to create expectations of excellence for our children and teens.  When I was a boy, growing up in the South Bronx, I was not considered especially promising.  Had I been screened for membership in the talented tenth in childhood or my early teen years, I doubt that I would have made the cut. 
 
What made all the difference in my life was that my family had expectations of me.  When I say my family, I am not talking about my parents alone.  I am talking about a whole tribe of aunts and uncles who were determined that I would do better than they did and let me know it every chance they got.  In my family, it was taken for granted that I would go to college; I don't recall ever having any say in the matter whatsoever. 
 
We need to create the same kind of expectations for African Americans and indeed for all at-risk youngsters today.  We also need to provide mentors and role models for these young people to encourage them and to help them meet those expectations.  The National Urban League, for example, has joined with the Congress of National Black Churches to 
create the Thurgood Marshall Achievers Society to encourage academic achievement among African-American youth.  The NUL/CNBC campaign will work with America's Promise to help inspire minority youth to succeed, and to help provide them with the five fundamental resources that will make success attainable. 
 
America's Promise is building a national network to help connect youngsters with resources at the grassroots level.  This network includes Communities of Promise, which are committed to providing the five resources to at-risk youngsters on a community-wide basis, and Schools of Promise, which are committed to doing the same thing at the level of the neighborhood schools.  Recently, we have been recruiting Universities of Promise, which help to provide the five resources to young people in surrounding communities.  One way participating universities do this is by encouraging their students to volunteer as tutors and mentors for local youth. 
 
We can develop the talented hundred percent; we can turn young people at risk into young people of promise.   But to do that, we are going to need mentors and role models to motivate these young people and help them to realize their inherent abilities.  Black collegians and graduates have a vital role to play.  I hope you will join us in this effort.