07/25/2026
Six weeks from now, we will open the doors to another year of the Saturday Leadership Academy.
But before we welcome the next group of young men, we want to show you where this journey can lead.
Over the next several weeks, we are going to introduce you to some of our graduating seniors - young men who once walked through our doors for the first time, not knowing exactly what the years ahead would bring.
They came to us at different ages, from different schools and different communities across the DMV. Some were quiet. Some were already confident. Some were still figuring out who they wanted to become.
We watched them grow.
We watched them build friendships, find mentors, discover new interests, travel to new places, learn how to walk into rooms with confidence, and begin seeing possibilities for themselves that may not have been visible before.
At our Closing Ceremony, we asked them to tell their stories in their own words.
No script. No statistics. Just young men reflecting on what this experience has meant to them and who they have become along the way.
For every young man considering the Saturday Leadership Academy - and every parent, guardian, mentor or family member encouraging him along the way - we hope you'll listen closely.
Because every graduating senior you'll meet in this series had a beginning.
A first Saturday.
A first conversation with a mentor.
A first experience that challenged him to see something more in himself.
That is the beauty of mentoring. You don't always see the transformation happening in the moment. Sometimes you have to look back at where a young man started to fully appreciate how far he has come.
Six weeks from now, another journey begins.
And somewhere in our next class may be a young man whose story we will be sharing years from now.
What They See Is What They'll Be.
