Eugene Shelton, 14, a freshman at Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy, navigated the various tables at the 100 Black Men of Western Pennsylvania’s 13th annual mentoring roundtable like a pro. In his suit and tie, Shelton asked questions that prompted mentors to share their own experiences growing up and took the initiative to ask the questions he was curious about.

His confidence stood out to many of the mentors at each table. Shelton also attends 100 Black Men’s Saturday Academy each weekend at the Community College of Allegheny County and aspires to build rocket ships to send astronauts to space.

“I absolutely enjoyed the event. I made some great connections and received really good advice,” Shelton said.

Al Valentine, president of the 100 Black Men of Western Pennsylvania, said that when Black students are asked what they aspire to be, they often point to an athlete or an entertainer. While those professions are valuable, it is “also important for them to see Black lawyers, doctors and accountants and then go a step further and be able to interact with them. It makes a difference,” Valentine said.

The free event was held Feb. 1 in the Africa Room at Duquesne University. It brought together young mentees and established mentors who are making strides in their careers.

The focus was on the idea that representation matters and can be the catalyst that changes the trajectory of a young person’s path. Students rotated around different tables to have small group conversations with leaders in industries ranging from hospitality and law to technology and consulting.

“The theme of the 100 is ‘What they see is what they’ll be,’ and we get this opportunity to bring in African American professionals from the Greater Pittsburgh area and allow them to network with students from various professions. If they can connect with an entrepreneur a banker, technical writers … then they can see themselves being exactly that,” said Michael Carlisle, the chairman of mentoring for the organization.

The mentoring roundtable included Jason Jones, vice president of community development at Dollar Bank, who is passionate about financial literacy.

“I wish I would have had someone to have these conversations with — I wouldn’t have had to bump my head so hard against the wall,” Jones said.

Jones spoke about walking on to the baseball team at Penn State University and related to Shelton, who plays football and is trying to balance that schedule with schoolwork.

Keynote speaker Michael Booker II, a senior technical writer for artificial intelligence and machine learning at Apple, was part of the 100 when he was in high school.

“The success that you will find isn’t often what you think it will look like when you are in middle and high school,” said Booker, a Penn Hills native and Carnegie Mellon University graduate.

When there are setbacks, Booker said, perseverance is key and continuing to push forward is essential. “The failure doesn’t define you, but how you respond to it,” he said.

Ethan King-Vincent, 21, is an information systems major at Duquesne University. Over the summer, he was a classroom facilitator for the mentees at the roundtable.

“It was nice seeing them being able to engage, but it was also a great opportunity for me to network,” said King-Vincent, who will graduate in May.

Marc Williams, senior vice president of operations at Federal Express Corporation, started out working part time at FedEx while going to school. He reminded the students of the importance of creating valuable connections and maintaining them.

“You have to understand how to leverage those connections made. Your skill set may open the first door, but to get to the next level, you cannot do it on your own. You need advocates, mentors and sponsors,” he said.

Rodney Morrow spoke about making use of skills from every time in life, emphasizing that no job was without value to him. While studying at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Morrow worked as a valet, an opportunity that led to the hospitality field. He embarked on a management career in luxury hotels and today is director of sales and marketing at the Fairmont Pittsburgh.

Arthur L. Baldwin has a background in microbiology, chemical engineering, chemistry and business. He worked with former President Bill Clinton to create regulations to reduce pollutants in the United States. He later worked with former South African President Nelson Mandela. Along with his wife, Cynthia A. Baldwin, a former justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, he is dedicated to mentoring the youth.

“I used to teach math and science, and that is where it started for me. We will always mentor students, and we have informally adopted young people over the years,” said Baldwin, also a member of Sigma Pi Phi fraternity, which was invited to attend the roundtable.

Though many of the conversations were centered on professionalism and trajectory, the importance of reading, writing and taking initiative, Bryan Brantley brought a different perspective to the discussion.

Brantley is a litigation partner and leader of the transportation industry team at McGuire Woods and also a member of Sigma Pi Phi fraternity. He attended with his 10-year-old son, Bryan Brantley II. He spoke to Shelton:

“Not any one thing that you are doing is more important than the next, and it is also important to embrace the moment, the joy of being a Black boy. That is sometimes taken away from us for various reasons. Enjoy your life, don’t be in a rush to grow up so soon. Steal time for yourself to just enjoy being a boy and a freshman in high school.”

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