Black History Month Spotlight

By
Amy Schiffman

This blog post was originally published by Giving Tree Associates.

As Black History Month comes to a close, we want to highlight one of our clients doing impactful work in one of Chicago's predominantly African-American communities. Bernard Lilly, Sr. is a leader in the Austin neighborhood and Executive Director of College Mentoring Experience, an organization with the vision of helping Chicago’s youth gain the experience, mentoring, and exposure they need to graduate from college. 

Through one-on-one mentoring, school-based programs, college tours, and more, CME is helping hundreds of students unlock their potential. Virtually all (98%) of CME’s youth participants report a positive relationship with their mentors, and 100% go on to graduate high school and attend college all over the country – well beyond the 71% of black students in Chicago Public Schools who complete high school. 

We spoke to Bernard and are inspired, as always, by his wisdom. Thank you for all you do to impact our local communities.