MY BLOCK, MY HOOD, MY CITY
Jahmal Cole is a leading figure in the Chicago social justice sphere. He aims to work on the interconnectedness of various communities across the city through education and service.
His expertise in the area is evident by the fact that he leads one of the fastest thriving organizations in the country. His organization, "My Block My Hood My City," is exactly what the name implies, a collective space to provide education and exposure to the youth.
Through this space, Jahmal Cole has had an impact on thousands of teens across the city, and he surely doesn't seem to be stopping any time soon. "My Block My Hood My City" works all year round to serve several communities across Chicago and is one of the very few platforms of this nature. The primary purpose of his highly acclaimed organization is to erase the differences between several communities and educate the masses on how to spot and deal with injustice.
When it comes to Cole’s speeches and books, he makes sure to touch upon the themes of mentorship, community organizing, and traveling. However, he doesn't believe in limiting his work to teens or high schoolers only. Over the last few years, he has addressed several, from youngsters to people as influential as the Mayor of Chicago.
Jahmal has several awards, mentions, and nominations to his name, and there's a lot more he wishes to conquer in the field of social justice. Crain's Magazine named him as one of the most powerful Chicagoans out of the other 25 candidates. One of his most recent achievements, however, has been the American Red Cross Community Impact Hero Award that he bagged in 2020.
Two years ago, he was also named as the most influential people under 40 and also received the Champion of Freedom Award in the same year. Some more achievements he has been able to bag over the years include the 2018 Chicago City Council Resolution Award, the Chicago Defender Men of Excellence Honoree Award, his name in the list of the most inspiring Chicagoans, and also the Chicagoan of the Year by a magazine.
As the Executive Director of his organization, Jahmal Cole takes care of several operations round the clock. Some of them include:
Ø Creating and carrying out policies and plans
Ø Providing leadership in the financial, organizational and developmental aspects of the program
Ø Evaluating all the programs
Ø Engaging board members, funders, and volunteers
Ø Tracking scaling progress and measuring success to gain the trust of the funders and board members
Ø Fiscal management and ensuring that operations are being carried out within the budget
Ø Ensuring that resources are utilized to the maximum capacity
Ø Maintaining the organization’s financial status positively
All in all, Jahmal Cole is the organization's primary spokesperson to the general public, the media, and also the constituents of the organization itself. From external relations to online presence, Cole takes care of any and everything to ensure that he’s able to garner new relations and opportunities for the growth of his platform.
