In 1997, I was matched with Mike Gandy Auzenne (pictured top left in the PowerUP hat) through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program in Atlanta. I immediately saw a spark in Mike, and I eagerly began imparting the values my father had instilled in me, and I told him he could achieve whatever he set his mind to. 

I was fortunate enough to be able to stay close to Mike despite moving away after two short years with him in Atlanta. He went to class with me in business school, met my friends in New York, and I helped him set and achieve goals in high school after a bumpy start. 

Mike went from the projects in Atlanta to Colgate, then to Wall Street where he endured long hours, stress, and heavy workloads. After three promotions, he applied to business school. Months after Mike submitted his applications, I received a call from the head of admissions at Harvard Business School (HBS). She told me Mike’s admissions essay about our relationship, and the obstacles he had overcome had the admissions department and faculty in tears. She told me that Mike was their number one candidate that year! Thinking about it still gives me goosebumps.

Mike graduated in 2016, which was also my 15 year reunion. So, we were on campus together again. The administration encouraged us to think about what we could do to help change the world based on our experience together. Six months later, PowerUP was born.

Our mission was to build a scalable model to deliver the essence of what Mike got from me to boys and girls who weren’t born lucky. We determined the ‘secret sauce’ was a combination of core values, an expectation that he should aim high in life, and access to people, ideas and opportunities.

With that mission in mind, I had a eureka moment when my wife signed our son up for a karate camp to get him out of the house during his winter break. The instructor sat a group of elementary school children down to start the camp and laid down the rules of his dojo. His rules boiled down to self-regulation, resilience and respect. He went on to say he expected his students to live these values at home and in school as well. 

He was an authority figure who taught these values through martial arts for a living. He was already allowing disadvantaged children to train for free, but he could barely afford to pay the rent for his studio. 

I funded the first class of students myself to test the model. Our instructor’s business improved, and parents and teachers raved about the positive impact we had on our students. We were convinced the model worked. So, we raised money from family and friends and set out to build a process-oriented business with strong data systems that would allow us to scale rapidly.

I’m proud to say we hit a major milestone in 2023, serving 1,000 disadvantaged, at-risk and special needs children. We systematically track attendance, belt rank progression, and survey results, allowing us to measure improvements in self-regulation. We are making a measurable impact on our scholars’ lives!

The next milestone for PowerUP is to serve 10,000 children. I measure success by the goosebump inspiring stories we make possible. I hope you’ll join us on our journey and make a contribution.