African-American Leadership Program A Family Tradition
By Rita Wold

It was the ‘90s and Denver’s Black community was coming together to rebuild both spiritually and economically. Two girlfriends, Norma J. Paige and Rosalind “Bee” Harris, were finding their spot in the movement.
Bee was in her fourth year of publishing the Urban Spectrum, when the African-American Leadership Institute awarded her the Media Mountain award at their first adult leadership program graduation ceremony in 1991.

“I was really surprised to get the award,” she said. “I didn’t feel that my leadership skills were where they should have been.”
So, she contacted her good friend Norma, who was a budding entrepreneur, to go through the institute’s leadership program with her.
Last month, 15 years after graduating from that program, the two women watched their sons, Samir A. Paige and Donald James, follow in their footsteps as they graduated from the AALI leadership program on Nov. 11 at Kimball Hall. 
AALI is a Denver nonprofit organization focusing on adult and youth leadership development since 1990. Students must be a minimum age of 25 to take part in the 10-month adult leadership program, which meets once a month on Fridays.

“It is more of a personal growth and development as well as community-orientated program,” said Linda Williams, the retiring president of the institute. “Many of the graduates of this institute now function in high executive positions. They are entrepreneurs and they provide leadership where they are.”
Most companies pay the $4,250 program fee for their employees to go through the leadership training.
“Companies believe in the program and they understand the concept of leadership,” Williams said. “It is worth every penny.”
Seminar topics in the program include the criminal justice system, history and religion of the Black family.

 “The facilitators that we had dealt with dynamics topics,” said Norma, who is now the institute’s director of community relations.
Norma, who calls herself a “city slicker,” recalled the Outward Bound weekend during the program where she was required to climb an 80-foot cliff. Scared of heights, she said, “I was going down, boo-hooing all the way because that was how frightened I was. I was shaking. But, I did it with the support of my classmates.”
“I found something in me that I didn’t know was there,” she said of her overall experience, and that is why “I am so committed to this program today.”
Bee jokes that the alumni who participated in the program with her called themselves the “bomb class”
Donald, who owns and operates Stick It 2 Me Catering, said he decided to attend the institute to become a better leader for the community and himself.
“The institute opened my mind and allowed me to be myself. I am not as timid or worried about what lies in front of me,” he said. “I’m a leader and I am ready to take action.”
Samir is owner and CEO of Paige’s Place Catering whose motto is “Italian with a Touch of Soul.“
“There was a lot of negativity in the community when I was growing up, and the institute represented a platform for positive change,” he said.

At the end of each annual program, the graduates implement a project designed to benefit the community. The class of ‘92 coordinated Expanding The Visions, a program where positive Black male role models mentor boys grades 5 to 12 for a day.
Norma, who calls her son her “twin,“ said she was able to step back from Expanding The Visions because Samir has taken a very active role, but she said, “I still see some of my ideas being carried out because I left something there.”
Norma attributed a lot of the problems that exist in the Black community to a lack of generational pass down of values.
But Samir is already making efforts to keep the value of “helping the community” in his family, saying about his kids, “Little do they know they’re already involved. I’m planting that seed into their heads.” 
He wants to expand his role will the institute, he said, and wants Black people to know they are not alone.

“The main goal is to educate and unite our community,” he said.  “Knowledge is power; and knowing yourself is a powerful thing.”
Last month’s graduation ceremony included motivational speakers, spoken word, drumming and dance performances. The annual “mountain” awards were also given to individuals who have excelled in the community. Some of those awarded were youth leaders like Rebekah Johnson, who shares her talent of dancing with the community, and Denice Edwards, who has volunteered her time to increase economic and educational empowerment in the community.

“They don’t have to be high profile. We actually prefer that they are not,” Williams said about the people who are awarded, adding they just have to be “people who give up themselves to others.”

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