Today we’d like to introduce you to Allen Lockhart.
Hi Allen, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
God and my family empowered me to start our nonprofit charitable organization known as Stand Tall, Inc… My life journey started with my two amazing parents. Both of my parents were very supportive and protective. of my sister and I. My sister and I were blessed to have parents that loved us and cared for us. We had our family issues, but with a lot of support and encouragement. Unfortunately, growing up as a very young child I was bullied a lot and had very low self-esteem. My dad was a military guy which caused him to spend a lot of time away. I had to depend on my mom, my sister, and my uncles to provide me with support and protection.
I am so grateful that my mom and dad encouraged my sister and I to pursue academic excellence, which prompted me to earn two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. Also, my parents empowered my sister and I to invest our lives in careers that empowers people and communities. I had the privileges of employment in several public schools and alternative schools, adolescent counseling agencies, and mental health behavioral centers working with at-risk youth and families…
Working over the years as a teacher, youth counselor, mental health therapist and now as a school program mentor coordinator, I have been blessed to work with students who have been stricken with mental health issues, self-esteem issues, and crime-related issues. In addition, as a mental health therapist, I have worked with children and teens with a history of violent behaviors and have been exposed to violent related incidents in their families and communities. I wanted to do more than just provide individual and group counseling sessions.
God blessed me to write and publish a life skill workbook for teens called, Stand Tall Against Negativity and Destruction. My beautiful wife, Gloria Lockhart, and I provided group sessions in churches, community centers, and schools using this book. With the success of reaching out to teens and families, we thought it would be impactful if we could do this outreach with the Stand Tall Against Negativity and Destruction workbook as a business adventure in which empowered my wife and I to pursue Stand Tall, Inc. while my family and I lived in Orlando Florida. We provided services in many neighborhoods at community outreach programs and organizations. Currently, in Dallas, we are partnering with schools and communities in Texas to provide the Stand Tall Inc. services. The services we provide are character-building reading clubs in elementary schools, math, reading, and writing tutoring services, a male leadership program in elementary and middle schools, and a community outreach program known as Stand Tall Against Negativity and Destruction.
In addition to God has blessed me with an amazing wife, Gloria Lockhart, He has blessed Gloria and I with three awesome children, Joshua, Candace, and Jeremiah. Our amazing God has blessed me to publish three books – Stand Tall Against Negativity and Destruction, Secret Pain, and Daddy Do You Care If I Perish.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As a young child during my elementary age years my dad spent a lot of his time in the military, I did not have dad around to empower me to stand up for myself. I was bullied a lot and had very low self-esteem. I had to depend on my mom, my sister, and my uncles to provide me with support and protection when I was in elementary school. Even though my dad eventually retired from the Air Force and was able to spend time with me, I continued to experience bullying and low self-esteem.
Unfortunately, I developed an intense facial acne problem in middle school that was so bad the students and teachers use to tease me and called me monster boy. I was in such a dark place at that time that I would hide out by myself at the football stadium to get away from all the teasing and cruel jokes from the students and teachers. My family were very supportive of me and encouraged me to ignore all the teasing and cruelty that I was experiencing at school. But my life was still dark.
Eventually, my skin problems cleared up while I was in high school. So, I decided since I experience a dark season in middle school, I would hang out with the crowd of students that had a troubled lifestyle. I eventually was arrested once, was very mean to females for the way females treated me when I was stricken with my skin issues and hung out with high school students and college students that bullied students with a weaker mentality.
Because of these dark experiences in my life, my passion is to help students from elementary to high school that have experienced bullying, self-esteem issues, family problems, criminal problems, and mental health issues.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Working over the years as a teacher, mental health therapist, youth counselor, and school program mentor coordinator I have acquired the experience to serve as the President and Founder of Stand Tall, Inc. The programs of this nonprofit agency were created and developed to help students who are struggling academically, mentally, socially, and behaviorally. Students who have been stricken with mental health issues, self-esteem issues, anger issues, and crime-related issues. My job working for an outreach center for 14 years have provided me with the experiences of creating and developing successful mentoring programs and leadership programs in the school systems.
My biggest accomplishments were earning a Ph.D. in Leadership and Educational Administration which took me six long years to complete my coursework and dissertation. My Ph.D. dissertation work was The Socialization Crisis of African Middle School Male Students: The Impact of a Social Support System. During my experience earning a Ph.D., My dissertation was developed to help schools were African American male students struggle with staying focused and being actively involved in the classroom. Students who struggles with success academically, behaviorally, and socially as a student in middle school, and the power and effectiveness of having a strong support system to help. In addition, while completing my Ph.D. work, I was blessed to have three published books; Stand Tall Against Negativity and Destruction, Secret Pain, and Daddy Do You Care If I Perish. I am in the process of publishing another book known as The Time Is Now For Us To Stand Tall.
I mentioned earlier that my wife, Gloria, and I would provide group sessions at churches, community events, and schools while living in Orlando Florida. I would provide anger management and conflict resolutions groups to students that were very angry at the world and could not focus and function properly in the classrooms. My wife and I used the book, Stand Tall Against Negativity and Destruction because it is a life skill book with topics such as: Anger and Aggression, Substance Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Violence, and Crime, Dropping Out of School, and other issues that our youth are confronted with. Our passion to serve the communities and schools with our services from Stand Tall, Inc. is to empower families and communities to stand tall against anything that’s negative and destructive in the communities and schools. Our services provides tutoring, reading clubs, male leadership mentoring program, and a community outreach program. Stand tall Inc.’s mission statement is: To empower, educate, encourage, and enhance communities through tutoring, male mentorship, and community activities.
I am a servant! I love to serve in the community. My passion to help people is my life work that God has blessed me with. The programs that I specialize in such as mentoring services and giving and helping students, families, and agencies to succeed is what Stand Tall, Inc. is all about. My passion is to work full-time as the president of Stand Tall, Inc. serving students, families, school systems, and communities with the services that empowers, encourages, educate, and enhances.
I am so proud of my wife Gloria! She is my biggest hero. Her life struggles have empowered me to be a better person in this life journey. In addition, my wife and I are so proud of our three blessings, Joshua, Candace, and Jeremiah. We are so thankful for the relationships we have stablished with them.
What’s next?
My plans for the future is to make sure that everything I do pleases my God and honors my family and country. My plan is to serve full-time in the communities and schools, as the president of Stand Tall Inc providing effective and efficient services that changes lives.
Contact Info:
- Website: standtallinc1.com
- Instagram: @allen1923
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allen.lockhart.98
