Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Frame.
Brandon, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
TheBlackManCan started out as a blog in 2010 and has grown into a Digital media platform and nonprofit organization. I think it’s funny how much God knows the ordered steps we are walking in. When I went to go buy the domain name (dot)com was not available, only (dot)org. God knew that we were to grow into a nonprofit impacting the lives of black men and boys. We now own both (dot) com and (dot) org and we are excited to release the (dot) com where all are digital content will live in February of this year.
It all started by creating a mentoring program called Role Models, Scholars and Gentlemen Mentoring on the east side of Atlanta at Charles R. Drew Charter School. It was there working with young people that I found my passion and purpose for being an agent of change. Big shout-out to Kevin Parker for helping me see the path I needed to follow.
It has been an amazing journey thus far. I have had ups and downs as any entrepreneur faces when building a brand and business. However I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. We have impacted millions of people from all over the world and I have had experiences that are life changing all because I followed the words of M.K. Asante which is “Once you make an observation, you have an obligation!”
I whole heartedly believe that ideas are spiritual children seeded by God inside of us and he gives us the tools we need and places the people around us so that those ideas can become reality. I’m excited for all that is to come in 2019 and beyond because I know I’m walking in ordered steps!
We have held our signature program the Building a Better Brother Summit in Atlanta 4 times and in 2018 we hosted TheBlackManCan awards in Atlanta. We are excited to bringing both events back in 2019 and launching a brand new event for Father’s in Atlanta in the month of April.
Has it been a smooth road?
I wouldn’t call it a smooth road. I would call it a road that has allowed us to turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones. In business you are faced with many challenges and the goal is to fail forward. We have failed forward on many occasions and have learned from each stumbling block. I can remember doing a summit when only 4 boys showed up or another time when the entire website crashed, and we lost all our content. It has been a rewarding experience and I’m looking forward to the next stumbling blocks that we will turn into a stepping stones so we can continue to create collective and sustainable change for communities across the world.
We’d love to hear more about your organization.
TheBlackManCan, Inc. is a nonprofit and digital media platform focused on celebrating, educating and inspiring boys and men of color! We are the #1 source of positive images and narratives of black men and boys.
The Building a Better Brother Summit has traveled to over 14 states and impacted over 7500 young men since 2013. We have our MENtor network of Black men who have volunteered over 10,000 hours of service to young men since our inception.
We have built a large social media following around our mission and vision, we consider it our village! With over 300,000 followers across various social media platforms we are proving daily that people want to see positive images of black men and boys and they want to see Kings celebrated, educated and inspired!
I believe what sets us apart is our intentional and consistent focus since 2010 to be the positive contradiction to the prevailing black male image of today. We sit around and think strategically about the work we do and how it can best impact communities and society as a whole.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Atlanta is the perfect city! For us, Atlanta is largest U.S. city for viewership of our content. We have conducted many sold-out events in Atlanta. The city of Atlanta will always be where we started and will always be a city we do events and conduct business in.
Pricing:
- $5000 for a school/nonprofit to host our Building a Better Brother Summit
- $12My First Tie Children’s Book Myfirstiebook.com
- $15 Define Yourself, Redefine the World: A Guided Journal for Boys and Men Color Edition 2 https://www.amazon.com/Define-Yourself-Redefine-World-Journal/dp/1505708184
Contact Info:
- Address: 280 East 163rd Street Bronx, NY
- Website: www.theblackmancan.org & www.theblackmancan.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblackmancan
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBlackManCan/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/theblackmancan
Image Credit:
New Atlanta Media, Jason Jaboin
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