Today we’d like to introduce you to Marvin Pierre.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
As the product of Haitian immigrant parents, I spent the early part of my life striving towards better circumstances. My parents spent many years shielding my brothers and me from the gun violence and drugs which saturated our community. I realized at a young age that, in order for me to better my life, I had to put all of my hopes in the one thing I cared about the most – my education. However, in my community, the opportunities were stacked against me, especially as a young Black male. In South Jamaica, graduating from high school was considered more of a dream than a reality. The more common reality of either prison or death, in fact, felt more tangible than that of obtaining a diploma. While I avoided the inner trappings of the prison system, as well as the prevalence of gun violence, both personally impacted and shaped my life experiences. Unfortunately, three of my closest childhood friends were drawn into the very trap I managed to escape. Although we all grew up in the same neighborhood and came from very similar family backgrounds, our journeys into adulthood would differ greatly. I looked on as one friend was arrested during the halftime of his own high school football game for attempted murder. And, before I could fully mourn the loss of one friend to prison, the other two were met with more permanent, morbid fates. They were both victims of homicide, stifled before reaching their full potential and making the idea of graduating high school appear even less tangible.
Fortunately for me, I was given an opportunity to attend a prominent boarding school called Tabor Academy. After seeing the downfall of my dearest friends, I became a firm believer that a quality education would enable me to actually fulfill my potential, achieve my goals, and improve my life and that of my family’s. For years, I’ve credited Tabor with facilitating the most important moment in my life. It removed me from an environment which could have led me down a path of self-destruction. The positive experiences and relationships that I built during my time at Tabor inspired me to give back to inner-city kids, specifically African-American boys. Although I know every boy won’t have the opportunity to attend a school like Tabor, I believe that sharing my story about how I found success despite the challenges in my community, will bring a sense of hope to those being brought up in similar situations. One of the primary reasons I believe African-American and Latino boys don’t succeed is because of their inability to dream past what they see in their communities. They grow up aspiring to become entertainers or professional athletes because they represent the only living examples of success in the inner-city. Sharing my story helps to change the misconception in their minds that success must be coupled with stardom or athletic ability.
Tabor was also the place where I met my surrogate father and mentor, Dr. Samuel McFadden. I honestly don’t think I would have turned into the man I am today if I didn’t have him in my life. His wisdom, love and belief in me, even before I learned to believe in myself, put me on a path towards achievement and changed my life completely. Dr. McFadden used to say, “No matter how high you climb up the ladder of success, always reach back to pull up another”. It was his words that led me to pursue a career in education after spending three years at Goldman Sachs & Co. I found myself at a crossroads, deciding between my passion of working with children and resuming my career in finance. I received a call from my best friend Shante Agard asking me to visit her fifth grade classroom, where the African-American boys in her class were failing. She believed they weren’t reaching their potential because of the lack of positive role models in their lives. This was all too familiar to me. Suddenly, my purpose became clear: to make a difference in the lives of underserved, inner-city children specifically young boys of color.
I am extremely motivated and passionate about closing the achievement and opportunity gap for boys of color in this country, by any means necessary. The high school graduation rate is at an all-time low for young men of color. This leads to a low percentage of boys matriculating and graduating from college and a high percentage sentenced to prison. As an African-American man, this reality is heartbreaking and scary to say the least. Our country is in need of courageous individuals to take an aggressive approach to ensuring that we don’t lose anymore generations of African-American and Latino males, and I have willingly volunteered to join this fight. For young men of color and our nation to win this fight, we need to level the playing field for them, with quality resources and student focused learning approaches to ensure their success. We are losing our boys of color, and I’m determined to find a sustainable solution to solving this national crisis.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Although our program is exceeding expectations, the start to our work was very challenging. We had to effectively manage relationship with various stakeholders, ensure that we had a high level of commitment from our student population and do it with very little staffing and funding.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Eight Million Stories – what should we know?
8 Million Stories (a program of SER Jobs for Progress) is an education program that seeks to upend the school-to-prison pipeline in Houston by supporting previously incarcerated youth as they re-enter their community and curbing unnecessary referrals from schools to the justice system. Working with local businesses and community-based organizations, we will empower vulnerable youth to succeed in school and beyond through a holistic educational experience grounded in academics, vocational skills training and social-emotional development.
The thing that we are most proud of is helping our youth beat the odds by helping them to complete their education (GED), job readiness training (all students get certified in three trades: food handling, customer service and warehouse forklifting).
I think what helps to set us apart from other young-adult programs is that we are taking students that have been turned away from many of their local schools and creating success stories out of them. We tell our students every day that if they commit and do their part they will be able to change how their life story ends.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Harris County Juvenile Probation
SER Jobs for Progress
Contact Info:
- Address: 6500 Chimney Rock Road
Building 5
Houston, TX 77081 - Website: www.eightmillionstories.org
- Phone: 713-222-4577
- Email: marvin.pierre@serhouston.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/8MSHouston/
Image Credit:
Marvin Pierre
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