HBCU Network:
Thank you so much for taking time out to talk with HBCU Network today. I'd like to start by asking you to tell us about the mission of Jumpstart.

Orlando Watkins: ��
Jumpstart's mission is to engage young people in service to work toward the day every child in America enters school prepared to succeed.We accomplish this mission by teaching children early communication, literacy, and social skills. We also help families to support children's learning and train college students to be effective teachers and leaders in early childhood education.

HBCU Network:
What is your role within the organization and what would you say is your motivation for working for Jumpstart?

Orlando Watkins:
I am the Southern Regional Executive Director and Director of the HBCU Initiative.� My primary role is to work with Universities to launch Jumpstart programs on their campuses and to provide them with the support they need to be successful.. This includes securing local funding and being a resource for startup and maintenance of the program. I started my work with young people while a student at Morehouse College.� Inspired by great Morehouse men like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Benjamin Mays (president of Morehouse, not a graduate but a great educator), I along with 5 guys started a private school for children ages 3 to 9 called FreeForm Academy. While I was an Accounting major, my work with Freeform helped me to understand and realize my passion for youth development work. After launching and managing FreeForm for 2 years I went on to start and manage other youth programs.� It has been the focus of my career every since. Jumpstart has merged the skills I've developed doing local community work with my entrepreneurial aspirations and desire to create change nationally.

Orlando Watkins: ��
Jumpstart has been creating amazing change in the lives of young people around the country...working with some of the nations premier institutions. However, the organization was unable to make the jump to Historically Black Institutions until recently. It has been a long time vision of the organization's president, Mr. Aaron Lieberman, to bring the very important work of Jumpstart to HBCUs and the communities they serve. Aaron and I have been friends since 1994 and he has always talked to me about the amazing ethic of service that exists on HBCU campuses and how Jumpstart could provide an additional resource to help students and their institutions better serve their local communities. So with this vision combined with the service ethic in our schools and in our communities, Jumpstart launched the HBCU Initiative. Thanks to very generous contributions from the Gerber Foundation, Jumpstart has been able to hire a Director for this initiative as well as provide additional funding to launch these campus-based Jumpstart programs.

Orlando Watkins:
Morgan State University was the first HBCU; they launched this school year and currently have 50 college students working one on one with 50 preschoolers. Jumpstart is currently in its new site selection process and 3 new HBCUs have received provisional acceptance into the network. Jackson State University, Mississippi Valley State University and Benedict College have all submitted outstanding applications to participate and been able to garner the widespread campus and community support needed to successfully launch a Jumpstart program.

Orlando Watkins:�
We currently have partnerships with Starbucks, Pearson, Highscope Educational Research Foundation, Gerber Foundation, New Profits Inc, American Eagle Outfitters, The Corporation for National Service and several state community service commissions. There are too many funders and investors to list, but those are some of the major supporters.

Orlando Watkins:
Well, I think from my perspective the funding secured from the Gerber Foundation to help launch this program on HBCU campuses is a pretty major accomplishment.� Often times HBCUs are passed over for these types of high quality federally supported programs.�

Recently, Jumpstart received a large funding award from The Pearson Company to have a Jumpstart Teachers Fellowship, where alumni of Jumpstart can choose to work for two years after graduation as a preschool teacher. The Pearson funding provides additional funding to supplement their salaries.

Orlando Watkins:
Yes, and its a huge accomplishment because Jumpstart is addressing yet another need in early childhood education. We believe that this will cause and infusion of talent and energy in preschools around the country.

Also, Jumpstart has granted provisional acceptance to 11 new colleges and universities.� Jumpstart's ability to grow fairly fast and maintain high quality is impressive - an unusual characteristic of many non-profits that try to replicate and grow. Strong leadership, committed investors and universities that believe in the power of their college students to make change is the reason for Jumpstart's success

Orlando Watkins:
Where I see Jumpstart in the future is not so detached from the mission I stated earlier.� Because of my work with FreeForm Academy and with children throughout my career, I know the importance of children getting individual attention and entering first grade prepared to learn. That being said, Jumpstart can play a very important role in increasing the number of children in communities across the country who feel hopeful instead of hopeless.� If you enter 3rd grade and you can't read, you are going to be feeling pretty hopeless as there is not much you can do in this world if you can't read. Therefore I see Jumpstart reaching out to an enormous number of children who are in need of individual attention. Everyone in education knows the difference it can make. If Jumpstart can't reach them all, I think because of the amazing results Jumpstart is achieving, the program will begin a ripple effect, inspiring other programs to follow similar models.� This - in my opinion - will begin to cause some of the systemic change we need in the systems that educate our children.

Orlando Watkins:��
If you already have a Jumpstart program on your campus you should contact your campus coordinator.� If not, I would suggest that you contact me to find out how we can work together to launch a Jumpstart program on your campus. I can be reached at (212) 868-2526 ext. 23 or via email at orlando_watkins@jstart.org

Orlando Watkins:
If you are a professor, student, administrator who is committed to making a difference in the lives of young children and you are looking for a tested, proven way to reach out and make a quantifiable difference, contact me and we can work together to get a Jumpstart program started on your campus.

Orlando Watkins:
Thank you!

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