Divine Bradley (born October 9, 1982) is a social imagineer, business coach, youth mentor, motivational speaker, community leader, serial social entrepreneur who founded a youth-led non-profit organization at age 17 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

that led to the opening of several community centers with the purpose of providing students recreational activities as well as mentoring programs to promote financial responsibility and community leadership. In recognition of the approach he used for mentoring, he is a subject in ''The Hip Hop Project'', which was produced by

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero a ...

and

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album '' All Hail the Qu ...

. He partnered with organizations, like Ralph Lauren and Doritos, to market their products while spreading messages for positive change. For his work, Bradley has received an award from the city of New York and was a recipient of the Dosomething.org's 2007 Golden BRICK Awards. His community service was also recognized in 2007 by Senator

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

at the Seventh Annual African American Heritage Celebration. He was also made a Community hero by

The My Hero Project The My Hero Project is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization established in 1995 by philanthropist Karen Pritzker, Jeanne Meyers and Rita Stern Milch that promotes the sharing of positive role models from around the world for the online digital story ...

. He is an alumnus of Art Start and Public Allies. He was hired by

The Future Project ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

, and works as Dream Director at

Malcolm X Shabazz High School Malcolm X Shabazz High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, as part of the Newark Public Schools. Founded as South Side High School in 1912, the school was renamed in 1 ...

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.

Early life

Bradley was born in around 1982. His father was Alger Bradley, a footballer and sports commentator on 7 News Belize of

Belmopan Belmopan () is the capital city of Belize. Its population in 2010 was 16,451. In addition to being the smallest capital city in the continental Americas by population, Belmopan is the third-largest settlement in Belize, behind Belize City and Sa ...

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

. He died in 2004 at 46. His mother, Debra Pratt-Miller, is an educator for the NYC Public School System. Before he was a year old, Bradley and his mother moved to the United States and settled in Crown Heights,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York. They later moved to the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of

. Throughout his teen years he attended

Boys and Girls High School Boys and Girls High School, the oldest public high school in Brooklyn, is a comprehensive high school in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York, United States. The school is located at 1700 Fulton Street. As of the 2014–15 school year, the ...

in his neighborhood, where he was mentored by his principal, Frank Mickens. He later attended Repertory Company High School for several months before leaving to obtain his

GED The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills. It is an alternative to the US high ...

in order to start his own non-profit.

Career

Team Revolution

At the age of 17, Bradley resided in the Canarsie area of Brooklyn. He noticed there was a lack of safe places for the young people in his neighborhood to meet, so he opened a community center in the basement of the family home. The center focuses on community service initiatives and activities provided alternatives to risky behaviors, like promiscuous sex, prostitution, violence, gang activity, and drugs. Modeled after Art Start, a program for at-risk youth in New York City, it serves people from 13 to 23 years of age. He was inspired to make a positive impact following the murder of a close friend over a basketball game. By 2002, the number of members outgrew the home and they needed a larger meeting place and raised over $25,000 in two weeks for his nonprofit, Team Revolution, by selling candy. The center offers opportunities for students to practice yoga and meditation, create music at "Hip Hopology" workshops, take trips to the spa, choreograph dances, visit museums, and attend concerts. They had a recording studio and a theatre in their new center. The young people are able to record their own music, and have access to recording industry professionals. Some have released and distributed their music. Bradley developed programs within the organization such as The Bank, to teach teens about how to improve communities through economic and financial literacy. The Fellowship Academy, partners with corporations so that its members could learn about business. One of its partners is

Polo Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren Corporation is an American publicly traded fashion company that was founded in 1967 by American fashion designer Ralph Lauren. The company is headquartered in New York City, producing products ranging from the mid-range to the luxur ...

. The L.E.A.D. program, which stands for Leadership Etiquette and Development, teaches young people how to be successful leaders. Of leading the organization, Bradley said, "My largest passion is making a living giving, working with young minds to assist in developing and nurturing their futures by creating new possibilities today." By 2008, it served 500 participants and remains a student-led organization. By 2014, thousands of kids were impacted and the center became a model around the world. Dr. Doran Gresham, author of ''Why the SUN Rises: The Faces and Stories of Women in Education'' was one of the members of Team Revolution. Bradley said in a ''New York Times'' profile, "You are taught to depend on the councilman, and you are taught to depend on the senator. You pay them with your tax dollars to do things for your community. But sometimes you have to create your own government... The best way to predict the future is to create it."

''The Hip Hop Project''

About the time that Bradley began Team Revolution, he mentored middle-school students through the Americorps Public Allies program, and helped 30 students through the "Hip Hop Project" approach so that they were able to succeed. Bradley states, "I feel that music is something that a lot of young people are into and it's a good method to communicate the work that we're doing ... Young people need that creative outlet." Bradley was a subject in the film, ''The Hip Hop Project'' in which

and

were the Executive Producers for the Pressure Point Films project.

Chris Rolle Chris Rolle, also known as "Kazi" (a shortened form of "Kharma Kazi"Art Start Trustees
, ...

, a musician and mentor who gained direction from New York City's Art Start program, was also a subject of the film. He founded in 1999, with Art Start's support, and according to Cassandra Lizaire, "has been encouraging impressionable young minds towards meaningful and positive musical messages ever since." It was filmed between 2001 and 2005, and was shown at the

Brooklyn Museum of Art The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Cro ...

during "VH1 Hip Hop Honors Week" in 2006. The film debuted at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...

Campaigns

Bradley was designated as a Polo Ralph Lauren "Role Model" for its G.I.V.E Campaign. Bradley has promoted the brand with his image and quotes, like—"The best way to predict the future is to create it, for which he is known. The G.I.V.E. campaign messages have been promoted through commercials, apparel, in-store promotions, online, magazine covers, billboards, packaging and posters. He designed the Trademarked Graffiti G.I.V.E Tee, which were sold worldwide and all of the profits were donated to the purchaser's charity of choice. Bradley's Team Revolution and POLO Ralph Lauren created a Limited Edition Member's Jacket and other products and all of the earnings went to Team Revolution, for its upkeep and continued development. Bradley was also hired as a creative consultant by RODALE Publishing and the Ralph Lauren Cancer Center to arrange a team of youngsters who would create the content of the Better Health Book-a-Zine Project. Bradley was a campaign spokesperson for

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi wa ...

's "Refresh Everything" project and was hired by Pepsi as Training Consultant & Outreach Coordinator for a six city tour throughout

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, New York,

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

. He has also partnered with

Doritos Doritos () is an American brand of flavored tortilla chips produced since 1964 by Frito-Lay, a wholly owned subsidiary of PepsiCo. The original Doritos were not flavored. The first flavor was Toasted Corn, released in 1966, followed by Taco in ...

. His image and story were printed on the back of the snack food bags.

The Future Project

'' Fortune Magazine'' reported in 2015 that Divine was hired by

, and worked as Dream Director at Malcolm X Shabazz High School in Newark, New Jersey. The Future Project partnered with the school's principal, Gemar Mills, to address what is identified as one of the "country's most troubled high schools". It was dubbed "Baghdad", was being considered for closure, and had four principals in as many years. Newark school's had been part of an unsuccessful $100 million effort to improve the schools. Venture capitalist Ted Dintersmith and Tony Wagner wrote the book ''Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era''. In it, they look at how the Shabazz High School students are being prepared through innovative methods to be successful. Divine reaches out to students on an individual basis and asks, "What's something big and bold you'd like to do with your life to make your world better? I'm here to help you." Dintersmith and Wagner state that "Most students have never been asked about life goals before. As a result of this kind of engagement, students at Shabazz rise to challenges, take on ambitious projects, and approach education and life with newfound purpose." That kind of change required a paradigm shift. "We made a culture where young people felt like they didn't need permission to be great, to do great things." He helped the girls' basketball team develop a plan to engage Shaquille O'Neal, born in Newark, to become engaged with the school and sponsor the trip for the team to a national tournament in California. This event was transformational for the school, and helped students see a correlation between their activities and possibilities for success. Now, school attendance has improved and students participate in programs during lunch, and outside of school hours, like classes that develop writing, communication, and collaboration skills.

Other

Bradley has been CEO of Divine Bradley LLC, BE IT LLC, The Network Carnival, and Speaker Concert. He is the founder of Project F.O.C.U.S. He speaks to groups, like

Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and go ...

students, with whom he discussed "Be Empowered to Make a Difference!" in 2009.

Awards and recognition

He was a 2002 recipient of the Mayor's Volunteer Service Award in New York City, presented by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, for his efforts in the founding of Project F.O.C.U.S. He was a recipient of Bank of America's Youth Entrepreneur of the year Award. Bradley was honored for his role as a youth activist by Senator

at the seventh Annual African American Heritage Celebration in April 2007. That year he was the recipient of the Golden Brick Award, in the Community Building category for his development of Team Revolution. In 2007, Bradley was the grand prize winner of the Do Something Award for establishing his youth-led organization. He was named a Community hero by

References

External links

Team Revolution Website

Divine Bradley Website

For the Fathers Project Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Divine 1982 births Living people People from Belize District American motivational speakers American community activists