Last Thursday, Youth Guidance, a provider of outcomes-driven, school-based programs serving more than 14,000 at-risk youth in Chicago, participated in an event at the White House with President Obama to help launch his new initiative, “My Brother’s Keeper,” which seeks to better the lives of young men of color and help them reach their full potential.

Three students from Chicago Public Schools’ Hyde Park Academy in the organization’s Becoming a Man (“B.A.M.”) program were invited to visit the White House and B.A.M. student Christian Champagne had the honor of introducing President Obama prior to his remarks.

“Introducing President Obama and spending time with the President and his team was such an honor,” Champagne said. “It means the world to me that we have a President who understands how we live. He gets why B.A.M. is so important to us.”

The President visited B.A.M. students at Hyde Park Academy in February 2013, and then invited the same group of students to a Father’s Day luncheon at the White House in June 2013.

“This was a tremendous opportunity for our B.A.M. students and their counselors in recognition of their hard work and dedication to improving lives,” commented Michelle Youth Guidance CEO Adler Morrison said.

Founded in 2001, Youth Guidance’s B.A.M. program is a school-based counseling, mentoring, violence prevention and educational enrichment program that promotes social, emotional and behavior competencies in at-risk male youth.