How Time Flies! Reflecting on the last year with Donell Morgan

We can’t believe that a year has passed since Donell Morgan became Elevate’s Executive Director! What a year it has been. We sat down with him to find out how it’s going and what he’s excited about this year. Here some are excerpts of that conversation:

Congratulations on completing your first year! Tell us how it’s going so far?
It’s just been an amazing year. I have such a talented group of people that surround me. I love the team that we have, and I love the energy that we have. Being promoted was really a dream come true.

What are you looking forward to this year?
I’m looking forward to seeing this senior class that came in with me as 9th graders graduate and cross the stage. To show that the model works, that the vision is clear: having a positive adult mentor in your life truly helps kids navigate, truly helps break down barriers, and truly works for the good of the school.

What is your biggest inspiration in this work?
My biggest inspiration is taking a kid that wasn’t being successful in school for whatever reason, bringing them into our program, and turning their lives around. That’s the biggest inspiration for me, watching kids take their success personally, and equipping parents with the knowledge of how to help their kids.

What do you do in your spare time, for fun?
Once I leave here, I go to coach basketball. I miss the interaction with the kids on a day-to-day basis, so it lets me be a mentor again. I do love to cook. And, in the rest of my spare time, I decided to start a Masters program. (He laughs.) But the fun things I like doing still come back to helping people. After all the people that took the time to shape my life, to give me an opportunity to excel, I just made it a point that, no matter what, the work that I do is about giving back.