Meet Priscilla Behnke and Brandi Homan of Be Awesome Youth Coalition in South Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Priscilla Behnke and Brandi Homan.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The Be Awesome Youth Coalition started at a local youth center as a campaign by a leadership group. Youth Leaders wanted to present a campaign to the community celebrating positive teens and encouraging their peers to make worthwhile choices. As the campaign moved forward the group developed into a Coalition that focused mainly on drug abuse prevention. Programs have included a youth leadership group, school based mentorship group, 5th grade drug and alcohol prevention classes, and community events. Over the last three years as grant opportunities and Coalition staff and leaders have grown the program we have decided that the mission should benefit youth in all areas of life not just drug prevention. Moving forward the mission for Be Awesome is a local nonprofit made up of a team of people with the audacity to believe that we can impact the world by offering youth family, and community focused services.

Has it been a smooth road?
There have been challenges. No one in leadership is an experienced CEO of a large 501 (c) 3 and sometimes growing the organization has real growing pains. We are quite literally a team of people being led by true grit and self-education. We have behind us degrees in business management, and social work degrees but neither of us believed we would be running our own agency.

Another issue is there can seem to be real apathy towards the cause. Support through volunteer recruitment, and fundraising can be difficult. As a result we have been working on our message and communicating a clear plan for people to get involved and help and stay connected. This can help us reach those who want to make a difference but are overwhelmed with the issues. We have a plan to develop confident, connected and successful youth. We hope as we communicate that plan more effectively in a fun and encouraging way we can gain more support.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Be Awesome Youth Coalition story. Tell us more about the business.
Our company is a nonprofit that believes by developing confident, connected and successful youth by providing programming, and opportunities for meaningful engagement we can change the world. We have a real heart for mentoring. We believe in many cases by stepping in as a meaningful role models we can help a young person navigate the challenges in life and become productive members of our community. We believe by preventing issues by preparing youth to deal with and divert real challenges we can make the biggest impact.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
We see ourselves becoming our own 501 (c) 3 and not a DBA under Maricopa CAASA. We want to offer a wide range of opportunities for our local youth to a wide range of youth. We want to influence the culture of our young people so that they recognize the value they have to offer this world, and take advantage of the resources available to them realize their potential.

We hope to have a strong on line community through social media platforms that can translate into local social events where families are connected, and youth who are missing family in their lives have people who can step in.

Contact Info:

• Address: 18150 N. Alterra Parkway
  Maricopa, AZ 85138
• Website: www.beawesomeyouth.life
• Phone: 520.428.7750
• Email: bhoman@beawesomeyouth.life pbehnke@beawesomeyouth.life
• Instagram: be_awesome_youth_coalition
• Facebook: Beawesomeyouthcoalition

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