The Legacy Continues
Leadership does not end with the Academy. It grows through careers, communities, families, mentorship, and lifelong service.
The Academy's Impact
Alumni Spotlight
Marcus Johnson
Beautillion Class of 2015 · “Heirs to the Throne”Marcus Johnson walked into his first Academy session as a quiet fifteen-year-old who had never worn a tie. He left the program four years later having debated on a state stage, coordinated a canned-food drive that fed dozens of families, and decided — for the first time with real conviction — what he wanted his life to stand for.
"The Academy didn't just teach me how to tie a bowtie," he says now. "It taught me how to walk into a room I didn't feel ready for and stay anyway." That lesson carried him through Howard University and into Georgetown Law, where the same discipline the program instilled — show up prepared, listen before you speak, represent something larger than yourself — became the foundation of his legal career.
Today Marcus returns to the Academy each fall to run a mock-trial session for the newest class of Beaux. He credits the program's mentors with showing him what was possible before he could fully see it himself, and he's committed to doing the same for the next generation.
Read More →Dr. Jordan Wells
Beautillion Class of 2011 · “A Few Good Men”Growing up, Jordan Wells rarely saw a doctor who looked like him. During his Academy years, a community-service placement at a local clinic changed the direction of his life — he still remembers the moment a pediatrician there let him sit in on a well-child visit and explained, patiently, what she was doing and why.
"That afternoon planted something," Jordan says. "The Academy is what gave me the confidence to think a kid from my neighborhood could actually become that person." He carried that conviction through Morehouse College and Meharry Medical College, and after his residency, he made a deliberate choice to open his practice back in the community where he grew up.
Jordan now hosts an annual health-and-wellness session for current Beaux, walking them through basic health literacy and answering the same kinds of questions he once had no one to ask.
Read More →Malik Anderson
Beautillion Class of 2017 · “Young, Black & Gifted”Malik Anderson was the Beau who fixed the projector before every Academy session — not because anyone asked, but because he couldn't help himself. A mentor noticed, connected him with a summer coding camp, and by the time he graduated high school he'd already built his first app.
"The Academy taught me that being the person who solves the quiet problem in the room is its own kind of leadership," he says. That mindset followed him to Georgia Tech and into a career building software used by thousands of people who will never know his name — which, he'll tell you, is exactly the point.
He's currently developing a beginner coding session he hopes to bring back to the Academy, so the next kid who can't stop fiddling with the equipment has somewhere to point that energy.
Read More →Xavier Brooks
Beautillion Class of 2009 · “The Year of the Gentleman”As a member of one of the Academy's founding classes, Xavier Brooks didn't have many alumni to look up to — he was becoming the example he wished he'd had. The community-service requirement that once felt like an obligation became, over time, the thing he cared about most.
"I learned that leadership is really just a decision to stay accountable to people who are counting on you," Xavier says. After Georgetown, he came home rather than staying away, eventually running for city council on a platform built around the same neighborhoods where his Academy service hours were logged years earlier.
He now sits on the program's advisory committee and makes it a point to attend as many gala ceremonies as his schedule allows, telling every new class that the Academy's real test comes long after the ceremony ends.
Read More →Alumni Across Every Field
Choose a field to meet the alumni shaping it.
Yesterday's Participants Become Tomorrow's Mentors
One of the Academy's greatest traditions is that yesterday's participants become tomorrow's mentors.
Many alumni continue investing in future classes through mentoring, scholarship support, professional networking, internships, and volunteer leadership. This is how the Academy's legacy continues to grow.
Become a MentorLife After the Academy
Timeless Stories
Alumnus Named Partner at Law Firm
Marcus Johnson (Class of 2015) has been named partner, becoming one of the Academy's youngest alumni to reach the position.
Read Marcus Johnson’s Story →Former Participant Opens Medical Practice
Dr. Jordan Wells (Class of 2011) has opened a family medicine practice in the same community that raised him.
Read Dr. Jordan Wells’s Story →Academy Graduate Receives Fulbright Scholarship
Elijah Carter (Class of 2015) was named a Fulbright Scholar before beginning his career in the Foreign Service.
Read Elijah Carter’s Story →Local Business Founded by Academy Alumnus Expands
The company founded by Andre Whitfield (Class of 2021) has expanded to a second location, with plans to hire from the local community.
Read Andre Whitfield’s Story →Alumnus Appointed Judge
Robert Sims (Class of 2009), one of the Academy's earliest graduates, has been appointed to the municipal bench.
Read Robert Sims’s Story →In Their Own Words
Your Academy Family Is Still Here
Every Generation Builds the Next.
The success of today's participants is made possible by those who came before them. Together, we continue building a legacy of leadership, scholarship, service, and excellence.