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In an effort to expand his philanthropic footprint and continue to affect positive inner-city change beyond what was possible during his 13 years of professional community policing, former LAPD Officer Keith Linton founded Boys 2 Gentlemen in 2015.
Boys 2 Gentlemen is dedicated to empowering young people to seek, do, and be all the things they once thought were impossible.
After serving 13 years as part of the Los Angeles Police Department, Mr. Keith Linton made the decision to retire early and invest his full pension into the creation of a nonprofit that would be able to work more directly with Watts and South LA youth seeking mentorship.
“When I left the LAPD in 2015 I thought, ‘What if instead of giving a kid a booking number, I give them hope?’” said Linton. “We need to listen more intently to the communities that are in pain. We need to listen and show up for those kids.”
Keith Linton grew up in the often-violent Brownsville projects in NYC and was raised by a black single mother. He knows all too well how hard it is to grow up in a tough neighborhood surrounded by violence and food insecurity. But, he did not let it derail him.
As a young adult, Mr. Linton rose through the police ranks and was one of the first 40 officers chosen by Ms. Constance L. Rice to lead a community policing reform initiative that focused on restorative justice, community connection, and mutual respect. After spending his last few years on the force working within this community policing capacity – he made the decision to retire from the force in order to more directly address the needs of his community. Too many people he knew were deeply struggling due to uneasy race relations, generational poverty, trauma and PTSD due to nightly violence, single parent households due to mass incarceration, severe budget cuts to education and after-school programming, and shortages of nutritional food. Mr. Linton wanted to do more to stop the hurting, fighting, looting, and dying that was taking place on the streets.
B2G’s work has been celebrated via independent news outlets and within articles, a CA congresswoman-led student achievement panel discussion, LAUSD Board of Supervisor meetings, and through a LAPD Foundation educational series.
The organization’s daily motivation is two-fold: its programming serves as a way to bridge hope and peacefully combat the overwhelming sense of despair and desperation that inner-city youth experience, while also serving as a match that sparks a conversation, amidst that chaos, about ways in which we can collectively come together as a larger community to stop the violence, heal, and bring positive change – that will benefit all.
The organization’s passionate commitment and good quality programming has shown tremendous results for enrolled students. They are regularly showing up for school now, their behavioral violations have been dramatically reduced, and these youth are now serving as student leaders on campus taking personal ownership of the ways in which they and the children around them are treating each other, their teachers, and their safety/climate coaches. B2G has created a new type of “cool club for kids” founded on peace, educational curiosity, mutual respect, personal responsibility, and a love for thy neighbor.
Outside program evaluators have observed the organization’s programming and the ways in which its staff interacts with students. The children love attending class, grow and evolve because of B2G’s programmatic work, and then go home and share their renewed hope and learnings with their families and neighbors. The pride these children now show, as it relates to good citizenry, is relayed back to school principals via parent forums on a regular basis. And despite very tight budgets, school principals, over the last nine years, have reserved any available funding for the program because they have seen extraordinary turnarounds in so many of their most troubled students.
Mr. Keith Linton and his Boys 2 Gentlemen team hope that you will also see value in their inner-city youth leaders. There is still a good amount of work to be done and Boys 2 Gentlemen is eager to suit up and get back out on the front lines.
Helping inner-city youth avoid the wrath of gangs and a life of crime so they can lead productive lives as gentlemen and ladies.
Helping transform the lives of elementary, middle, and high school- aged students and families.
Full-year Safe Passage, Peace-Building, Community Development, Mentorship, Health & Wellness, Social-Emotional Learning and Leadership program curriculums are available for LAUSD schools, charter schools, and any other school district.
Join with us in our efforts to empower young people to seek, do, and be all the things they once thought were impossible.
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