Brian K. Smith Inspires Expansion of Youth Leadership Program Nationwide
Inspired through the leadership and vision of its founder and CEO, Brian K. Smith, EduSerc has launched new affiliates of its national leadership programs for middle and high school youth in two new locations: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Buffalo, New York.
The Industry Pipeline Leadership Development Program (IPLD) is a national professional leadership and personal enrichment experience that prepares individuals for technical, professional and personal success in prospective careers. This is a multi-year pipeline program that recruits, trains and prepares individuals for their steps toward career success from middle school through college.
Currently, the program is operating in the Washington D.C. area and Chicago, Illinois with several partners such as Northrop Grumman, Wells Fargo, Microsoft, SAP, Navy Federal Credit Union and many other businesses as sponsors.
Due to its overwhelming success from its first year, the IPLD concept has taken off to new heights with various corporations believing in the vision of the program. EduSerc continues to identify, recruit, train and promote quality talent in various cities, businesses are starting to take notice of the opportunity it provides them in areas of community service and talent acquisition.
“We are excited to work with so many great organizations and partner with entities like Northrop Grumman, SAP, Microsoft, Navy Federal Credit Union and others in this initiative,” said Brian K. Smith, Founder and CEO of EduSerc. “As we grow, we hope to expand our efforts to assist more diverse students by providing scholarships, internships and experiences for students abroad in the near future.”
Although the IPLD program started in 2018, this program has been implemented in various ways over the past decade. This concept was inspired from the continual challenges many organizations face at times when gaining the attention of parents and schools during the school year. Smith found a way in the school calendar to partner with the schools by leveraging the days when students were out of school. After its initial success and several tweaks along the way, the IPLD program was born to provide some consistency to leadership development for youth over the term of their secondary and post-secondary education.
As popularity has grown for the program, two new cities have expressed interest in adopting the IPLD program to help its students along the way in Pennsylvania and New York. The model leverages industry professionals as mentors and guides to help students develop a pipeline into their respective field and exposes students to a number of business practices, college admissions processes and project-based learning to develop their technical talents.
Smith has always been a part of strong leadership programs and served in many leadership roles throughout his tenure. Smith was a part of the Leadership Maryland Class of 2013, where industry leaders from around the State of Maryland learn about how to become better leaders by understanding how their state operates. In college, Smith served as the Region II Chairperson of the National Society of Black Engineers and lead the creation of grouping chapters into zones for better management within the organization. Smith currently serves on Congressman Steny Hoyer’s United States Service Academy Selection Board which interviews and recommends candidates for the four military service academies (Air Force Academy, Naval Academy, West Point Academy and Merchant Marine Academy).
Smith is multi-talented as an engineer, entrepreneur and leadership trainer. He is the chief architect of all industry-based curriculums for EduSerc, trains corporate professionals on youth-related initiatives and creates several industry-based initiatives across the country. Smith is also the owner of two successful and award-winning IT and Engineering Firms and has been utilizing his industry and technological skills to help youth all around the country.
For more information about the Industry Pipeline Leadership Development Program and to become a host city or sponsor, visit https://www.eduserc.org/ipld
