Today we’d like to introduce you to Elaine Smith-Poyourow.
Hi Elaine, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
HOW TLT-TOMORROW’S LEADERS TODAY IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN NORTH TEXAS YOUTHS’ LIVES
Stress isn’t just for adults. Our youth are being impacted every day. Each year the Beyond ABC report put out by Children’s hospital evaluates the wellbeing of the kids in six of North Texas’ counties. This year the report showed for 2022 that for youth 9-17, the number of children with a mental health diagnosis under the Medicaid managed care program was 38,824, with 22% of middle and high school students across the country contemplating suicide in 2021. Mental health struggles exposing children to higher risks of drug abuse, contracting STIs, HIV, and becoming pregnant. All the stats most people don’t want to speak about.
Elaine Smith-Poyourow saw an opportunity to provide growth, opportunities, and change programs as one way to fight this. As a parent herself, Elaine established the 501c3 “TLT-Tomorrow’s Leaders Today, Inc.” (TLT) in 2019, to provide programs focused on real-life skills, soft-skills, higher education, and career readiness. Our programs are based on the needs of the youth in the situation they are in. It is our responsibility to listen to the needs and we owe it to the youth in our community to listen and find solutions.
Out of covid, then came the inception of the TLT online library of free short presentations and courses in many subjects from How to do laundry to completing applications when no one was meeting in person. Our Mission: TLT – Tomorrow’s Leaders Today, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to helping develop youth leaders through education, collaboration, and mentorships with community & business leaders for the collective benefit of the students and their communities.
The same year when employers were not bringing their employees into the office the TLT Leading Leaders Intern program was created, which strives to provide each young adult participant, ages 15 and older, in Texas, the hands-on opportunities to gain valuable experience to integrate with their career path in mind while developing leadership qualities and skills with hands-on curriculum-based opportunities. These eighteen positions are all REMOTE, which allows us to serve many young adults three times a year in many locations across Texas and is inclusive to all. Many students are even earning class credit for their time with us.
The Unlocking the Future program was created through working with youth in homeless shelters and recognizing they were in need of the basic skills to be self-sufficient. This program is built to fit the need of the group it is brought to. A 6 or 12-week program covering basic real-life skills, soft skills, higher education, career readiness, financial literacy and includes the class participating in a community project. Through group discussions, hands-on exercises, speakers, and presentations about civic, corporate, charitable, and educational opportunities, they learn what resources are right in their community.
Newest to the list is the TLT Kids Serve program; TLT Kids Serve is a volunteer program where youth from 5th grade to 9th grade participate in volunteer projects. These projects are in partnership with other nonprofits, completed in a classroom setting, and include a financial literacy lesson and/or a real-life or soft-skill lesson.
Youth 10th to 12th grade participate in these sessions as project lead assistants building on leadership skills in identifying projects, coordinating and planning for the session, and assisting with the facilitation of the project.
Later, in 2024, the TLT Bridge programs are designed to support active duty, veterans, and retired military dependents as they transition from youth into adulthood. Continuity of programming between their moves can help the youth feel part of the community and make the transition to a new community smoother.
In 2023, we served 912 individuals, 576 from low-income areas, in one or more of our online, in-person, and/or remote intern programs. This results in 59.26% of our participants coming from low-income communities.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
TLT has grown organically, so I would say that was the smooth part. One door has led to the next being opened.
The challenge is bringing awareness about our programs to the community for participation and the business community to get involved. We embrace collaboration to enhance community growth. We are fortunate that 51 universities, colleges, and many high schools are recognizing our intern program; however, because it is fully remote and a non-compensated curriculum-based program, finding funding to hire a program coordinator and allow for intern stipends has been difficult.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
The Founder, Elaine, has always wanted to foster or adopt children. While the opportunities came close, they never quite worked out. After taking the Frisco Leadership Program, Class XX, it was clear her passion was to help youth, and many of them, as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit TLT-Tomorrow’s Leaders Today.
Her own children, both grown, had very different college experiences. As much information as they had, about building relationships, visiting the career center, and with counselors, one was unable to secure internships or mentoring relationships while working on his degree program; the other, however, had both mentoring and internships. Results? One graduated already hired by one of the companies he interned with, while the other was without a position relating to his degree plan for a year.
The career path that led Elaine along this journey includes retail, entrepreneur of three successful businesses, nine years in health care admissions and physician’s care technician/radiological technologist, ten years in corporate mortgage, legal, risk, compliance, quality control, and seven years in the nonprofit sector. Her vast work experience has led to significant relationships within the for-profit and nonprofit space, which she founded TLT-Tomorrow’s Leaders Today and believes is critical to making connections for the youth participating in the TLT program.
Elaine is committed to make sure she can reach as many youths as possible and share the importance of relationship building and having strong life soft skills that lead to success. She resides on the county lines of Denton and Collin County, Texas.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
We would not change the way we have grown; we bring the programs to the youth, and as we grow, there will be additional volunteer, sponsor, and board member opportunities to get involved. Seeing the development, self-confidence, and skills our participants demonstrate pre and post the programs is amazing. Once a participant goes through a TLT program, they are invited to connect with our TLT Alumni group through LinkedIn. We are not just a program, we are building a networking relationship and offering our assistance even as they go on to their next life’s experience.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tltleaders.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tltleaders/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TLTLeaders.Org
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tlt-tomorrows-leaders-today-inc
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TLTLeaders
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrPNTIq4_oBKrM3QvTJR0Ww
- Other: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/TLTLeaders
Image Credits
Elaine Smith-Poyourow
