In the early days of COVID, when the world was deeply uncertain, I received a cold email from a man named Tom Rawls. His introduction was so humble that it would have been easy to dismiss the call, but he was passionate about martial arts and helping children who weren’t born lucky. So I looked him up on […]
A Powerful Force: Remembering Tom Rawls’ Impact Read More »
PowerUP board directors Stéphan Donzé and Mike Auzenne recently sat down Zoom-style with our Senseis to talk about what martial arts has meant in their lives, and what they are teaching our kids. Each of our Senseis shared their story, and the common themes were self-confidence, survival skills, and self-control. Sensei Richard Trammell’s father put
Sensei Roundtable Discussion Read More »
We are excited to add Richard Trammell to the PowerUP family as our second sensei. Richard is a 3x world champion in the art of Shidokan, and has been training kids and adults in Atlanta at Trammell Fitness and Martial Arts since 1999. Richard is mentoring 16 scholarship kids in partnership with LaAmistad.
PowerUP “Kicks” Off with LaAmistad Read More »
At a martial arts gym in Atlanta, kids sit in a semicircle around their sensei. He talks to them about persistence, about trying their best and about managing their feelings.
PowerUP receives coverage from national youth-focused magazine, YouthToday. Read More »
We had a successful fall camp in October when the Atlanta Public Schools were off. We had a total of 16 kids join us throughout the week, half of which were scholarship students. As always, in addition to learning karate, and burning off some energy, Trey talked to the kids about doing their best, even on days when they don’t feel like it.
PowerUp Fall Camp – Trey’s Talk Read More »
Meet some of our scholarship students as they share their experiences from this summer.
PowerUp Interviews End of Camp Read More »
TechBridge Blog Today we’re excited to kick off our brand new #StoriesofImpact series. Over the next few months we’ll bring you the inspiring stories of individuals whose lives have been touched by the important work that nonprofits do in our communities. Our first story is about Michael Gandy, a former “Little” at Big Brothers Big
Michael Gandy: What one man can do Read More »
Proud moment! Our first group of scholarship students at Power Up Martial Arts passed their Belt Test. Congratulations!
We’ve got 11 kids on scholarship – they’re learning respect, self-control, integrity and academics!
Tomorrow wraps up week two of PowerUP. Meet Sensei Trey Lambert talking about teaching kids self-control and integrity.
Mike is currently a senior director in strategic marketing at Buffalo Wild Wings, and Inspire Brands company. Previously, Mike was a consultant for The Boston Consulting Group (“BCG”), and an investment banker at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Mike was matched as a Little Brother by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Atlanta with Austin in 1997, and has been a Big Brother himself twice. Mike holds a BA from Colgate University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Mike is married, and lives with his wife in the Old Fourth Ward area of Atlanta. He enjoys training for marathons.
Mike is currently a consultant for The Boston Consulting Group (“BCG”). Prior to BCG, he spent several years on Wall Street with Bank of America Merrill Lynch focused on the insurance industry. Mike was matched as a Little Brother by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Atlanta with Austin in 1997, and has been a Big Brother himself twice. He is also a member of the Young Leaders Council with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta. Mike holds a BA from Colgate University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Mike is engaged to be married, lives in the Old Fourth Ward area of Atlanta, and enjoys training for marathons.
Donesha brings over 25 years of dedicated experience working with youth and young adults. With 18 years of teaching experience both domestically and internationally, she has cultivated a deep passion for empowering students of all ages to reach their full potential.
Donesha proudly serves her country as an Army Instructor and OC/T in the US Army Reserves. She actively supports her community as a Girls Scout troop leader and an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Donesha holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from Mercer University and a Master of Science from Walden University. Donesha resides outside of Atlanta with her daughter, with whom she shares a passion for traveling and exploring new cultures.
Richard Trammell is a world champion in Shidokan Karate and Kickboxing. He has won national and international titles in Kickboxing, Judo, and Tae Kwon Do. Richard started Trammell Fitness and Martial Arts in 1999 Shidokan Atlanta in 2001. Trammell Fitness and Martial Arts provides services in fitness and martial arts. Richard has promoted amateur boxing, kickboxing, karate, judo and professional MMA events. Richard is also the author of “How To Be A Champion”.
Joshua White is a multiple time national champion in Judo. He hold black belts in in Judo, Ju Jitsu, and Karate. He is the NFC Welterweight MMA Champion. He is a volunteer coach for Boys and Girls Club in Atlanta. He has coached kids in national and international championships for Judo and promotes annual youth tournaments.
Stéphan is a software entrepreneur with 20 years of experience, first with Exalead (founded in 2000 and acquired by Dassault Systèmes in 2010), and now as founder and CEO of AODocs, a new generation cloud document management platform. Born in France, Stéphan moved to California in 2009, before relocating to Atlanta in 2019. He has two passions in life, entrepreneurship and martial arts, and earned his karate black belt in 2018. His three children are all martial artists as well.
Tom spent his legal career in Atlanta focusing primarily in the areas of video entertainment, internet and cable TV law. He retired in 2015 after 30 years as in-house counsel for AT&T and Bellsouth. In addition to his work with PowerUP, Tom serves on the board of Tapestri, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to supporting immigrant victims of human trafficking and domestic violence. Tom also serves as an advisor to New American Pathways, Georgia Asylum & Immigration Network, and Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta. Tom earned a B.S. in Management from Georgia Tech and a J.D. from Emory School of Law. Tom is married with three grown children. He enjoys martial arts and is a black belt in Taekwando.
Over the past 20 years, Austin has split his time roughly evenly between running software companies in different operating roles and buying software companies. Austin founded Razorhorse Capital in 2012, and since that time has acquired or invested in over 60 companies with several different private equity sponsors. Austin has been a Big Brother in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program twice and has served on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Atlanta. Austin holds a BA from Brown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Austin lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and middle-school aged son. He and enjoys martial arts training.
Tom spent his career in investment banking and venture capital in Atlanta. He retired from Raymond James in 2016. In addition to PowerUP, Tom is on the board of KIPP Metro Atlanta (Knowledge is Power Program). KIPP is an open enrollment charter school dedicated to preparing students in underserved communities for success in college and in life. Tom earned a BS in Industrial Management from Georgia Tech, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Tom is married with three grown children, and lives north of Atlanta. In addition to serving his community, Tom is enjoying traveling the globe with his wife.
Mike is currently a consultant for The Boston Consulting Group (“BCG”). Prior to BCG, he spent several years on Wall Street with Bank of America Merrill Lynch focused on the insurance industry. Mike was matched as a Little Brother by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Atlanta with Austin in 1997, and has been a Big Brother himself twice. He is also a member of the Young Leaders Council with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta. Mike holds a BA from Colgate University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Mike is engaged to be married, lives in the Old Fourth Ward area of Atlanta, and enjoys training for marathons.