Today we’d like to introduce you to Duran Bowie.
Hi Duran, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started I’m A Movement Not A Monument in Dec 2011 but the vision has been in me years before that. While in college Sallie Mae told me I maxed out on loans and could not continue school unless I had someone co-sign a loan for me. Unfortunately, I did not have anyone that could help me so I had to leave school due to money not grades. Coming from a community where barely anyone seeks higher education it made me realize how hard it is to stride for greatness when the students is the first generation to graduate high school, pursue college, and achieve a career with no guidance or advice from anyone in their family.
I used to be into business for profit and my desire to giveback only grew as my goals were being accomplished, so I hired a lawyer and she filed all my articles to incorporate me as a 501c3. I did not wait to get started I started before I got the clearance from the state or federal and started doing quarterly events with my own funds. Our first event we gave 50 families uncooked meals for thanksgiving. That was expensive and almost broke me off the first event. A few weeks later, we held our first-ever toy festival. We kept those events going annually however we changed up the thanksgiving giveaway to a thanksgiving feast where we have a chef cook the meals and we plate them and feed homeless on skid row and throughout Los Angeles. In 2013, I took a grant writing class because I wanted to understand how to utilize my 501c3 status more. In this class I had fortune 500 nonprofits also seeking these grant writing skills however they all had a service which made them stand out as a nonprofit giving back. SO in that class, I came up with our service offering Free tutoring and mentoring.
Right After that class, I dove headfirst into starting NO MIND LEFT BEHIND tutoring and mentoring program. Instead of just going off of what I thought was right. I studied other nonprofits and found YOUTH POLICY institution which also did tutoring and mentoring and has one of the largest after school grants in LAUSD. I went and worked for them for a whole year tutoring 7th & 8th graders. What I learned is they were a babysitting program and was not truly hands on with tutoring the students. So I took it upon myself to arise as many students that I could while I was there. Those students were my first experience professionally tutoring students and they are now juniors in college!!!! The next school year, I started our tutoring services for FREE. I took the task on to recruit students In Inglewood because it is the city of champions and you did not see the efforts of that being placed into the youth. I went to tons of school and realized the students were saying “I’m BOOL” meaning I’m cool putting B where the C would go in their vocabulary. This was a shock that they were so fascinated with the gang life. Through my process, I would come across parents that would be with their kids and that’s where most of our success started. The parents would make the commitment to bring the students. We were only seeking 7-12th graders however we could not turn down their brothers and sisters that were in grades under that. So we would allow the younger students to attend the sessions as well. The concept was being built I would allow the tutors to teach and I would come in and mentor and keep the energy up when needed. The more we went on through the school year, we realized that the younger students were taking advantage of the FREE tutoring more than the older. What we learned is the younger you can mentor them the more opportunity you have to engage with them and encourage them towards education. The older you are, the more you become inferior towards education you shut down in those grey areas. So the next school year, we planned to open our services PRE K- 12th grade.
We went from a small room at rogers park in Inglewood, CA servicing 30 students three times a week. To a whole building that was given to us by another nonprofit that liked what we was doing and had the space to offer. It was great learning lesson for our organization. You do not budget properly when you do not know what you are getting into. We failed miserably with that growth. It was hard to get our students from last year to the site because they lived in Inglewood and the building was close to Leimert Park. Recruiting new students was hard because of transportation. Then when we got the students printing papers, paying for utilities, paying staff, and still doing our quarterly services broke our piggy bank. We were not getting many donations at the time and I was putting my own money into the organization because it is my vision so I kept going until there was nothing left.
I did not want to fail our staff or community. So we took the summer to regroup and make our services sustainable. We properly budgeted coming up with a price point per student, properly budget our events, and we sought after donations. We started “crash Friday” where we come unannounced to companies and ask for partnerships to better our community. Everything was coming together. We went back to our original location in Inglewood. They gave us two rooms allowing us to tutor 60 students three times a week. It was such a success we started to get an overflow of students which was a good problem to have. You would see aunties, uncles, grandparents, the whole family pitched in to make sure the students received the services. That year took off and we even got a contract with team dream academy a basketball team that was practicing at rogers park. That is a partnership of a lifetime. their athletes were able to get two in one. A workout and their homework done all is one location. The parents love it!!! When we started with them the oldest group was in 7th grade today, they are seniors in high school.
Through our growing pains, we have learned tons. Instead of having a huge overhead in a building, we utilize what has already been built for us!!! such as local parks and schools. The bad part I realized with the school system however is they use organizations as the blame game. We have been offered two contracts to bring our services to Inglewood school dist and Compton unified. Both contracts would of lead us to failing stats which you see the school system pointing the finger at those they hired instead of taking the fault. For example, they offer you to take on students with math problems so we can help them pass the state test and your goal is to have students pass the test at 80% rate. When you assess the students, they are 3-4 grades under their standards so that would mean you have to catch them up in order to learn what they need to pass the test. That task alone will take over one school year and you are required to meet to percentage or it’s a failed task on your organization’s behalf. Allowing the school dist to say we paid you to do a job and you failed our students when all along you were set up to fail. So instead of taking on these opportunities, we just choose to work with the students independently, but the schools still call us to mentor onsite when they face hardships.
Come today we have tutored hundreds of students, hired over 20 tutors, held eight thanksgiving feast, held six back to school events and on our 9th annual toy festival. Have helped students get into college, have arise students to private school, have helped autistic kids that could not learn in school come to our program and pick up the learning skill to help them in school independently. This year we are having our tutoring program virtually through zoom. This year’s theme is “top 100”. We are tutoring 100 students offering them $150 stipend to increase their skill set outside of school. According to what they choose, we make weekly challenges to increase their skill set in that goal. For example, if a student chooses a new skateboard we will make weekly challenges around skateboarding where they film it and show us their progress. It allows us to combine education and social skills to be nourished during covid where tons of social growth has been stopped such as practice with others, or even an opportunity to be great in communities where families can barely afford rent.
It is a blessing to be a blessing. The nonprofit world is like being a rapper or an athlete. It is tons of us out here and there is no guidance to success. Everyone you talk to has a different way to sustain their programs. It is over 599 nonprofits just in Inglewood alone, if they were all actively doing something as they planned Inglewood would not be where it is today. We have tons of folks inspired to help however they have no guidance to provide their service so they hold one or two events and realize they have to build it. How can you build something from ground up when you still have to pay your personal bills, the city funds are distributed to those that help city officials stay in office, school dist have bare min funds, it is really hard to figure out how to sustain your nonprofit. Even with a 501c3 which allows donors to get tax write offs, how do you get donations from local citizens that can barely afford to pay their own bills. A lot of black successful folks start their own nonprofits to save taxes so the donors that would be more willful to donate because they come from the community is not there, the major corporations that come into the community are told by local officials who to donate to. Even the church is a part of this downfall as they receive a lot of these donations because they are where the votes come from in the black community, however they do not offer services outside of Wednesday and Sunday. I have already moved around these obstacle courses however ton of my affiliates are wrapped in the web of lower economic standards that keep up with low outcomes which to me is a part of the design.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Yes it is really hard. In the for profit world you have tons of people who are willing to share their stories of success because there is enough room to give opportunities. In the nonprofit world, there are limited amount of funding opportunities to build your services to even show and prove what you can do. If you apply for a grant, you wait for 6-9 months to be told no. I have paid grant writers and wrote my own, made it to the finals of two grants when I wrote them myself. When we made it to the final round, we get invited to a party and we meet the other finalist, they would be planned parenthood, children’s hospital, and other major organizations that the grant writer who works for the organization make 60 k plus annually!!! I am glad they were getting funded for their services but it was sad to know they were applying for small grants taking the opportunity from grass root organizations. I was even told by one of the grant writers I met at one of the events they were writing the grant to pay for their salary????
Another mountain we had to climb was getting a location just off a vision. I went to Rogers Park first and asked to get the same room we ended up getting however at the time the park staff told me NO. I went to the mayor of Inglewood he told me NO. I seen a guy on an empty lot I always passed by across from rogers park, and I walked up to him and asked him what he was going to build. He told me and asked me what would you build. I told him a building for students focusing on after school programs and told him about the tutoring program. He then said why not use the park across the street and I told him my hardships I was facing. He said give me your number I will call you tonight or tomorrow. He did and he told me to call the park they are going to let you tutor your students!!!! That all came from a wealthy man that had invested into Inglewood and had a good relationship with the mayor. If I never met him NO MIND LEFT BEHIND might not be off the ground still. That is sad that the city does not support you unless you give them money or help them get in office.
Another mountain we had to climb was sustaining our growth. Not only was our tutoring program growing but so was our quarterly events. That meant we were printing more paper to tutor, paying for staff, buying more items which lead me to going broke three times since I have started this organization in 2011. Our 3rd year into tutoring not only did I lose my car, but I could not afford to pay any tutors however we still had students coming and we had a commitment to Team Dream Academy students. So instead of stopping and shutting down. I walked to rogers park three times a week and grouped up the students properly. When someone had a question on math, our math genuineness would help answer the question, and so forth per subject. Peer tutoring was fun and me being the mentor lead us through those unique times.
Building a nonprofit really is one of the hardest things to do. How often do you see nonprofits get advertisements on TV or billboards to promote for donations or even what they do so the retention of students can be acquired? Did you know that cities are allocated a certain amount of billboards to advertise what they want and they always choose the money makers. When it comes to helping nonprofits, the nonprofit has to stand up, be vocal, build its stats and never fold. I have been told by several major foundations that donate to organizations you do not help enough people for us to donate to you? How can you build up your numbers without major donors?
Having a good revolving group of skilled people willing to work almost full time for free is not gonna be found??? How do you staff quality people at a small budget? I hired fresh out of college. Helping those that wanted to teach build their resume in the educational field, then added interns come in that are studying education get volunteer hours needed to achieve their degree, and when we didn’t have no funded we came up with peer tutoring. It is really hard to hire full-time staff at $20+ hourly when you are just building. This year we are hiring 20 tutors at 20-25 hourly!!!!! WOOOOOOOO
It has been such a rough road to get to almost ten years in service, but I am thankful of every bump and bruise because I gained ton of knowledge and inspired tons of others to start nonprofits. I have helped seven people start organizations and have helped tons more sustain their programs. This year alone, we have been called by capital record to do their artist back to school event, we held a save the babies drive with artists from empire, and all Inglewood artists partner with me on the community events, I even created a program with 211 called “level up” where we honor students weekly with clothes from his store in Inglewood. The way I see I had to go through all these growing pains to shed the light for others.
One of the saddest things is seeking help from those that have had success. They try to use you for what you wanna do and put it under their organization to show what they used the funds for they got. If the city likes your program or event instead of highlighting your organization, they say we can partner with you but your logo has to be small and it has to be a city event not your event anymore, and they come with tons of restrictions and guidelines changing your whole event/ program. Even on the county level, they are funding people just off of name no stats are coming out showing they are great for our community. It goes back to the artist reference, you go from an unsigned artist with no partners, create a great opportunity for the community then here comes all the partners out of nowhere watering down your brand but you take it on because you want the help not realizing you hindering your career because after three years you lost your funding and those partners are onto the next organization for pictures and highlights. All a scam on the people!!!!
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about I’m A Movement Not A Monument?
We offer great services for the community.
Programs
With creativity and drawing from experience, we are able to fill in the missing educational or stewardship gaps that are commonly found within underserved communities.
The Gauntlet
I’m a Movement Not a Monument’s “The Gauntlet”, is a program designed to provide youth mentorship that strengthens academics, career goals, and life skills. This program is an innovative and unique way to assist high school students in fulfilling graduation requirements while introducing them into different careers. Participants will develop leadership skills, team-building skills, entrepreneurial skills, and organizational skills. In addition, participants will be building rapport with the community by completing tasks that cater to the community’s needs.
More about the Gauntlet:
It is a year-round program
The program serves 25-30 students each quarter
It is divided into four quarters/themes: 1)Business, 2) Environment, 3) Society and 4) Science/Technology.
Each quarter will consist of ten weeks.
The participants will meet with influential mentors/instructors once a week.
Each meeting will discuss a core concept and a career related to the theme of the quarter.
The division of themes will allow the participants to explore different fields in order to find their passion.
No Mind Left Behind Tutoring Program
I’m a Movement not a Monument promotes academic excellence by mentoring, empowering the youth and instilling core values. The No Mind Left Behind Tutoring program has three components: 1) Tutoring during the school year, 2) Real Talk mentoring and discussion and 3) Review and Preparation for the upcoming school year during the summer. This program is designed to foster and engage each individual student academically and socially, which will provide them with the necessary skills to succeed in future endeavors.
Real Talk
Students who participate in the Real Talk sessions test and strengthen their critical thinking skills by being involved in sensitive discussions about politics, social issues, religion, and cultural ideologies. Students learn to approach issues with an open mind that receives information while at the same time questioning it. They learn to development critical solutions to real-life problems.
Review and Prep Sessions (with sports teams)
Summer tutoring services are aimed to help students retain information. Students review the information they learned in the previous school year and they prepare for the upcoming school year. Every academic curriculum is based on the grade level of the student. A professional teacher prepares the curriculum.
Safe Haven Fridays
During every Friday, I’m A Movement holds Safe Haven Fridays. Safe Haven Friday’s aim to keep the youth out of trouble by giving them a safe place to do homework, play games, or watch movies.
Lift Them Up (not held yet)
The Lift Them Up program rewards students who are exceeding academically by creating a free concert just for them. The concert serves to connect music and education to make learning fun.
Summer Fun Series (not held yet) (book created for this event)
The Summer Fun Series consists of two events aimed for students in elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools within the Los Angeles County. The events provide educational workshops followed by safe and fun activities. The workshops are designed to provide mentorship in social, life, and educational skills. The dates for this year are to be announced.
Level Up Challenge
This program is a partnership between The Level up store and I’m a movement not monument two companies that are established in Inglewood and really want to see Inglewood students LEVEL UP in education & life. This program is an innovative and unique way to assist teenage students in fulfilling graduation requirements.
The Village
Providing the less fortunate with quality food and brand new clothing and necessities needed to help them feel like an active member of the community. Treating underserved individuals as human beings when the world around them shuns them, the individuals feel a sense of normality and sense of worth.
© I’m A Movement Not A Monument 2011-2020.
How do you think about luck?
No luck at all. Hard work, endurance, care, tons of consideration, compassion, teamwork, and tons of energy played major roles in the success of our organization. GOD is the head of it all. I am very thankful to be alive and giving back. I live by the quote from jay-z “difficult takes a day, impossible takes a week, I do this in my sleep”!!!!!
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: imamovement.org
- Instagram: imamovement
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100013706761271
- Twitter: imamovement
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVt3DGSSp76zzLFxeOYMKiA/featured
