CONGRESSWOMAN FREDERICA WILSON: THE 5,000 ROLE MODELS OF EXCELLENCE PROJECT BY BRANDI KELLAM
I nstead of letting go, Congresswoman Frederica Wilson leaned in. That’s how one of Miami’s largest mentorship programs for young Black men was born, driven by her conviction that prevention, not detention, could change the trajectory of their lives. What started in Miami has since expanded beyond state and national borders, but for Wilson, the answer began decades ago inside the walls of her own school. As a Miami-Dade County elementary school principal in the 1990s, Wilson noticed that African American boys were falling behind academically and facing behavioral challenges. Determined to understand why, she began making home visits.
What she found was that many of them lacked a male figure in the home. So she started making calls to lawyers, police officers, pastors, doctors and asked them to come to the school. Wilson arranged a meeting between these men and the boys in the school cafeteria. “They were just amazed,” Wilson recalled of the reaction she noticed from the kids who met with the men that day. “It wasn’t fear, but admiration and joy when they saw all of these Black men in suits and police uniforms surrounding them.” The experience was so powerful that Wilson turned it into a regular event, and eventually a formal program. That effort grew into
what is now the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project, which operates in more than 100 schools across Miami-Dade County from elementary through high school and has expanded nationally to cities like Detroit and Los Angeles, as well as internationally to Nassau, Bahamas, with other districts still on the waiting list. At its core, Wilson says, the project is driven by her prevention philosophy, the belief that putting the right resources, time, and energy into children early can create opportunity before something bad happens and break cycles that have held communities back. That belief shapes everything the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project does, from the mentors it recruits
to the experiences it provides.
Over the years, the program has produced graduates who are now college presidents, elected officials, county commissioners, mayors, lawyers, and judges. Wilson credits that success to the opportunities the program offers, traveling to events, meeting leaders who model integrity and hard work, and learning about healthy living, responsibility, respect, and goal-setting. The project’s work also includes activities including college campus visits, community service projects, and youth and police conferences to address tensions between law enforcement and the Black community.
Wilson also points to the
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