The Handshake Program focuses on young people in 10th to 12th grade who: Are at risk of disengagement from education, training, and employment Have already disengaged from these opportunities Have post-graduate intentions and would like access to mentors Would like to see what the world looks like outside of Lumberton, but have no means to access it

1. Lumberton Sr. High School
Mentor/Youth Handshake Program

2. Agenda
1. Why We Are Here Today
2. What is the Handshake Program
3. Who We Assist
4. Who We Are
5. What Makes Us Different
6. Our Strategic Aspirations
7. Our Resources
8. Key Performance Indicators
9. Community Benefits
10. Risks
11. Our Commitment
12. What We Are Seeking
13. Summary

3. Why We Are Here Today
• Lumberton Senior High School has an 82.5% graduation rate
• 44% of high school graduates from Lumberton Senior High
School attend a 4 year college
• In contrast, only 12.9% adults over 25 in Robeson County
have a Bachelors Degree (NC Average – 27%)*
*Data from US Census Bureau 2008 – 2012
“After high school, I felt prepared for college academically, and
socially. When I got here, it was tough to adjust mentally and
emotionally.”**
**https://k12.niche.com/lumberton-senior-high-school-lumberton-nc/
educational-outcomes/

4. Why We Are Here Today
• If 82.5% of students graduate from high school, 44% of
which attend 4-year universities, why are only 12% of
people over the age of 25 in Lumberton college educated?
• It is time for those of us who have benefited from being
educated at a U.S. News & World Report – Bronze Rated
high school to give back to our hometown.
• Those who remain in Lumberton should not have to solely
carry the weight to be positive influences. No sector can
tackle deep-rooted social problems alone.
• Those who have left home must explore the potential for a
partnership with the communities, businesses, and youth in
our hometown.
The objective of the Handshake Program is to ensure that all
young people in our region have the ability to engage those who
grew up in a similar environment in order to more successfully
navigate the transition from high school student to post-graduate
life.

5. What Is The Handshake Program
Playtime: How This Should Play Out
Below is a hypothetical story of what we would like to see as an outcome
from a typical youth participating in the our program:
• Jaden was a 10th grade student at Lumberton Senior High School
• He was an extremely intelligent student and scored well on tests, and
his local mentors kept him on the straight and narrow path toward
graduation
• Although Jaden was a good kid and productive member of the
community, there was no one with whom he could ask questions
about what he wanted to do for a living
• Jaden was provided with an online mentor through the Handshake
program, selected from our database of volunteers and given access
to our extensive archive of industry-specific interviews
• Jaden was also paired with other kids in the community who were
interested in similar careers; they were able to build supportive
relationships and networks both on and offline
• Jaden was able to not only improve his self-worth by leveraging the
Handshake Program, he was also able to be more prepared for life
after high school

6. What Is The Handshake Program:
A Volunteer’s Story
I love my hometown. I bet most of you all do too, but being
from Lumberton, we all know how hard it is to get a good
understanding of industries that are not represented in our
hometown. While many of us have gone on to work in fields we
may have never known existed while growing up, most of us
have unfortunately had to leave our great hometown to get
there.
Fortunately in the digital age, leaving it behind only means in a
physical form!
I volunteered for the Handshake Program so I could help us
proud hometown former residents create the "yellow brick road"
for the kids back home who may be interested in an industry,
but have no real world perspective on how to get there.
We are committed to giving back and loving it!
Each one. Teach one.

7. Who We Assist
The Handshake Program focuses on
young people in 10th to 12th grade
who:
• Are at risk of disengagement from education,
training, and employment
• Have already disengaged from these
opportunities
• Have post-graduate intentions and would like
access to mentors
• Would like to see what the world looks like
outside of Lumberton, but have no means to
access it

8. Who We Are:
Organizational Structure
Leadership
Mentorship/Volunteer Services
• Virtual Mentor Session Leader (via Google Hangouts)
• Industry Interview Participant
• Industry Write-up Participant
• Internship Partner
• Administrative/IT Volunteer
• Planning & Coordination Volunteer
• Public Speaker
Anthon Braddy – Chair
CEO, SocialGrade
Executive Officer – Technology & Mentorship
TBD Executive Officer – Education & Outreach
TBD Executive Officer – Business & Internships

9. Who We Are:
Industry Focus
• Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals
• Consulting
• Finance
• Sales & Retail
• Legal
• Information Technology
• Social Good (ex. Social Work/Non-profits)
• Housing & Real Estate
• Food, Beverage & Hospitality
• Agriculture, Construction & Manufacturing
• Military
• Cosmetology
• Ministry
• Journalism/Mass Communications, Advertising &
Marketing

10. What Makes Us Different
• We invest in the individual: We see improvements
to achievement, life skills, personal development and
social skills as essential means to an end
• We focus on long term sustainable change: that
targets increased participation in education, training
and employment
• Retention Strategy is crucial: Our program will
have strong retention strategy to provide youth with
a continued connection to home
• Context is key: All of our work is designed to meet
the needs of young people and the community in
which they live – including local industry

11. Our Strategic Aspirations: TBD
We want to:
Improve and expand the current student/volunteer membership base
Expand our scope to include:
Young people transitioning to post-school
Young people who are disengaged from education, training and
employment
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 2nd Qtr 2nd Qtr

12. Our Resources: TBD
Our People
• Staff = TBD
• Volunteer mentors = TBD
• Mentees = TBD
Our Funding
• Total funding = TBD
– By source
Other Essential Partners
• Board of Education – Public Schools
of Robeson County
• TBD
Our Assets
• Computers (TBD)
• TBD
Funding Source Goals
68%
12%
20%
Business
Donations
Grants

13. Key Performance Indicators
Metrics TBD (Samples)
n Measure high-school graduation percentages of kids who participate
in the Handshake program
n Measure college graduation percentages of kids who participate in
the Handshake program
n Measure volunteer hours per month
n Measure volunteer retention percentages
n Measure youth retention percentages
n Measure year-end/exit survey responses

14. Community Benefits
Through working with the Handshake Program, mentors are likely to gain:
• Improved communication skills
• A better understanding of adolescent youth
• An increased capacity to negotiate and problem solve
• A stronger sense of pride in our hometown and hopefulness from active
involvement in fostering a better environment
Through working with the Handshake Program, businesses are likely to gain:
• Raised public profile through our recognition on any materials produced
for this project
• A stronger local community with more young people as active members –
both socially and economically
• Access to talented young people within your local area that could be
potential employees
Working in partnerships is our core business!!!

15. Risks
Risk Control measures
Financial stability TBD
Ability to maintain partnerships TBD
Operational and legal TBD

16. Our Commitment
We will ensure that volunteers and youth
participants receive:
• Recognition and promotion of their
contributions through use of logos and quotes
on marketing materials and hosting of content
created by the program
• Training of all volunteers to work along side
our staff and mentors
• Invitations to events in which the Handshake
Program participates, including launches with
event leaders and their staff
• Community access to the many networks that
we convene or in which we participate

17. What We Are Seeking
• To capture the imagination and support of the corporate
sector as well as our community and volunteers
• To involve young people and volunteer mentors in the
design, development and implementation of the Handshake
Program
• To seek partners to provide assistance in
fundraising, promotion and marketing, participant
identification, event planning and community
engagement
• To increase the attractiveness of our hometown and
create a dialogue around post-high school migration
patterns while brainstorming on how we can reverse
the trend*
*If we could get attract 15% more graduates either
from our own kids who go to college or outside
graduates, how would that impact the tax revenue,
government makeup, social discourse, etc. of our
hometown?

18. Summary
We can work together to create a
great program that benefits local
businesses, our young people and
our community.
n Next Steps:
¨ Internal discussions
¨ Agree date for follow up