L.A.M.P. Mentor Program

The main topic for the January 2020 GZBF’s L.A.M.P. Mentor Program activity was “Mock Interviews.” Since the inception of the L.A.M.P. Mentor Program, this subject has been one of the most popular sessions with students. GZBF recognizes that many students will soon be new entrants into the job market and they may lack experience in interviewing skills. GZBF believes strongly in the benefits of practice interview sessions and has included mock interviews in the L.A.M.P. Mentor Program curriculum each year in order to ensure that students are well prepared for the future. Ten Gamma Zeta Boulé members volunteered their Saturday morning to participate as interview panel members. It was pointed out [...]

Our next LAMP event is the Annual Holiday GZBF LAMP Mentor Program Alumni Reunion and Toy Drive. It will occur on December 15, 2018, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm, at the home of Drs. Maurice and Dawn Cashie Hale. This event will feature a panel discussion by GZBF LAMP Mentor Program Alumni, who will share their respective college experiences with mentees and provide critical advice that can help each of them achieve in college. Each mentee will bring an unwrapped toy to donate to St. Vincent de Paul of Los Angeles and we encourage everyone who will attend to do the same. If you are interested in attending this festive [...]

In November, we had a very meaningful and informative event. On November 17, the LAMP Mentor Program and the Good Man Movement met at Polytechnic School Upper School Library. We had a discussion of the theme for the 2019 Luncheon and watched the movie BlackKKKlansman. For most of the young men, this was their first exposure to the specific perceptions, views, language and actions of white supremacy and the Klu Klux Klan. The movie also provided a picture of the Black culture and Black Power movement of the 1970s. After the movie and over lunch, we met in small groups to discuss the movie and the book The Lies My Teacher [...]

The October LAMP Mentor Program activity was another spectacular event. We joined The Good Man Movement for their Speed Networking activity on October 13, 2018, at Mt. Zion Church of Ontario, in Ontario, CA. The program introduced the Mentees to six (6) young (40 and under) successful African-American men. The speakers represented a number of careers. They included a fire fighter (Gary Clark), a doctor (Larnell Ferrell), a celebrity barber (Fred Hawkins), an electrician (Lonal McKnight), an engineer (Ferris Harvey) and a hotel and casino executive (Howard Taylor). The Mentees spent 15-20 minutes with each speaker and rotated through all the young men. The speakers talked about their careers and how [...]

The 2018-19 LAMP Mentor Program has picked up and continued the momentum of last year’s fabulous program. In seeking to enlarge our outreach, we have entered into a partnership with the Good Man Movement, a similar program to LAMP based in Ontario, CA. We see this arrangement as having the potential to expand the LAMP Mentor Program into the Inland Empire and to open up new pipelines for young men to participate in LAMP. We have also added a new component to the Program. Volunteers, mainly from Gamma Zeta Boulé, will serve as mentors for specific grade levels. We are looking to establish one or two Mentors for each grade level [...]