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Street Soldiers

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What I Represent... Mission The Omega Boys Club/Street Soldiers mission is to keep young people alive and unharmed by violence and free from incarceration. We provide youth with opportunity and support to build positive lives for themselves, and move into contributing roles in society. Background The Omega Boys Club/Street Soldiers was founded in 1987 as a program of the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House by Joe Marshall, a middle school teacher and administrator, and Jack Jacqua, a middle school counselor. Both men were concerned about the number of African American youth who were dropping out of school and/or becoming involved in the drug trade. At first, the Club offered tutoring, basketball, and other positive recreational and educational activities. As the founders began to understand the prevalence and severity of the issues these youth were facing, they realized a deeper level of intervention was needed. A culture of violence was deeply ingrained in the youth's lives: in their homes, on the streets, in their neighborhoods, in their relationships with peers, in the movies they watched and the music they listened to. Through their day to day work with youth, the founders of Omega Boys Club/Street Soldiers identified violence as a public health issue, and developed an approach to helping youth move from the culture of violence to safer, more personally and socially productive alternatives. Currently, the Club has four primary programs: The Omega Leadership Academy This weekly program provides academic preparation and life skills education for all Club members. They also receive counseling, college placement assistance and scholarship support. This component also provides non-college bound Club members with social and employment skills necessary to enter the job market. To date 133 Omega students have graduated from college. There are currently 60 Omega college students, all receiving long-distance/in-person counseling and tutoring from Omega. Ten of these collegians will graduate this year. The Omega Training Institute This program trains individuals and professionals in violence prevention/conflict reduction skills, based on the Omega Boys Club/Street Soldiers model. The Institute has three programs. The School Adoption Program works with six Bay Area schools, helping them transform their classrooms so they can achieve a violence-free learning environment and academic success. Omega Training Institutes inform, teach and train individuals who work with youth in the violence prevention and intervention methodology developed by the Omega Boys Club. The Street Soldiers National Consortium is a group of professionals and organizations trained in the Omega violence prevention methodology and dedicated to preventing violence by using and promoting the model. To date, Omega has trained 1,117 adults who work with youth, including police officers, youth development workers, and 756 Bay Area school faculty and staff affecting 12,096 students. The Street Soldiers Violence Prevention Program This project includes Street Soldiers Communications and Outreach: * the Club's Hotline, 1-800-SOLDIER, which provides help and a source for information and referrals; * workshops and presentations for community agencies, schools and other organizations; * presentations to inmates in correctional institutions and training workshops for staff.

About Me The Founders Dr. Joseph Marshall Jack Jacqua Dr. Joseph E. Marshall, Jr. Dr. Joseph Marshall Dr. Joseph E. Marshall, Jr. is founder and president of the Street Soldiers National Consortium, an organization dedicated to fighting violence nationwide, and the founder and creator of the Alive and Free Movement. He is also co-founder and Executive Director of the Omega Boys Club/Street Soldiers, a youth development and violence prevention organization headquartered in San Francisco, CA that emphasizes academic achievement and non-involvement with drugs. This organization, founded in February of 1987, has produced 133 college graduates, all supported by the Omega Boys Club Scholarship Fund. Another 50 Omegas are currently enrolled in college. Dr. Marshall is the first person to classify youth violence as a disease, and his work has been recognized in the 2001 Surgeon General's Report on Youth Violence. As Executive Director of the Omega Boys Club, he oversees the Omega Leadership Academy for academic and life skills education, the Omega Training Institute on violence prevention; and Street Soldiers Communications, which include a nationally syndicated radio talk show, a news magazine, and a local television program. Dr. Marshall left a 25-year career in education with the San Francisco United School District to dedicate his life to understanding and eradicating youth violence. He earned a doctorate in psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA and received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Morehouse College in Atlanta in 2003. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the McArthur Foundation Genius Award, the Leadership Award from the Children's Defense Fund, the Essence Award honoring outstanding contributions by African American men, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Award from the National Educational Association, and the "Use Your Life Award" from Oprah Winfrey's Angel Network. He is also the author of the 1996 best-selling book, Street Soldier: One Man's Struggle to Save a Generation, One Life at a Time. Dr. Marshall is a trustee emeritus of his alma mater, the University of San Francisco, and is a current member of the San Francisco Police Commission. He is an elected Fellow of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, a global organization of social entrepreneurs, who are recognized for their innovative solutions to some of society's most pressing social problems. AWARDS * 2006 Jefferson Award for Public Service * 2006 Community Leadership Award from the San Francisco Foundation * 2006 Angel Award from the Take Wings Foundation * 2004 Ashoka International Fellow-an international organization of social entrepreneurs committed to systemic social change * The 2004 Living History Makers Award from Turning Point Magazine. * The 2003 Human Rights Leadership Award from the Harvard University Alumni of San Francisco. * The 2003 Alumni Educators Award from the University of San Francisco. * The 2002 Ten Most Influential African Americans from City Flight Magazine. * The 2002 HistoryMakers Award. * The 2001 Use Your Life Award from Oprah Winfrey. * The 2001 Exemplary Community Leadership Award for Excellence in Radio Broadcasting from the California Broadcasters Association. * The 2000 Service to Youth Award from the Links, Inc. * The 1999 National Trust Award for the development of African American Men. * The 1998 Candle in Community Service Award from Morehouse College. * The 1997 Congressional Freedom Works Award for "outstanding work in making America's best dreams come true." * The 1996 Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Award from the National Education Association. * The 1994 Leadership Award from the Children's Defense Fund. * The 1994 Essence Award honoring outstanding contributions by African American Men from Essence Magazine. * The 1994 Genius Award from the MacArthur Foundation. * A 1990 White House salute for success in fighting drugs and crime in the community. PUBLICATIONS AND MEDIA * Author of the 1996 national best seller, Street Soldier: One Man's Struggle to Save a Generation, One Life at a Time. * Co-author "The Disease of Violence-A New Public Health Model: Prevention, Intervention and Rehabilitation." The California Psychologist, Volume 39 Number 4, July/August 2006 * Host of the nationally syndicated violence prevention radio talk show Street Soldiers. * Subject of the award winning 1997 public television documentary Street Soldiers. * Subject of the 2004 Black Repertory stage play Street Soldiers, adapted from the book Street Soldier. * Publisher of the Omega Boys Club quarterly magazine Street Soldiers. BOARDS AND COMMITTEES * Member of the Advisory Board for the Community Violence Prevention Program of the Harvard School of Public Health. * Member Planning Board for the Surgeon General's Report on Youth Violence. * Trustee Emeritus--University of San Francisco. * President-Street Soldiers National Consortium EDUCATION * B.A. in Political Science and Sociology from the University of San Francisco * M.A. in Education from San Francisco State University * Ph D in Psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA * Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA

Age 25