I am the founder and Executive Director of a youth, family and community empowerment organization called Higher Hopes. My life has become being a spokesperson, advocate and facilitator of our mission. We believe that young people come to experience pivotal moments in their lives that ultimately influence the development of their self-identities, relationships, choices, goals and futures. It is crucial that our youth have the right support systems in place during these times. Higher Hopes embraces the "Kids At Hope" framework which suggests that the most important system of support as a youth would involve having access to a group of caring adults who believe in my success, help me form meaningful and sustainable relationshipsand facilitate a journey where Iam able to articulate my future. This is where the rubber meets the road in youth development and these support systems can influence decisions that often times have life changing implications. With the right training and support, every challenging experience and dilemma can provide opportunities for our youth to make the type of decisions that lead to transformative outcomes and at the same time build resilience. At Higher Hopes, we define resilience as having the inner strength to make the right choices, especially when these choices are not the most popular or "cool". Higher Hopes has developed and tested an empowerment (MindSweep) and engagement (IDEAL) methodology that together build the type of resilience that leads to positive and lasting transformation.