Country of Residence
United States
Age
15
Project title
The Origin
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
The Origin helps young people see that leadership is built, not born. Through youth-led interviews, small-group Roots Labs and mentorship connections, students uncover the unseen beginnings behind accomplished community leaders, then use those lessons to identify their own story, strengthen their voice and take one concrete next step. We keep showing young people the tree. The Origin shows them the roots.
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/clintjr; https://communitynewspapers.com/videos-2/the-origin-episode-1-clint-john-jr-meets-with-chairman-oliver-g-gilbert-iii/
Project Category
My project is an existing project that I started
Project Stage
Pilot-Stage (We’ve tried an activity or two)
Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?
People sometimes meet me now and see the microphone. They do not see the front door. When I was seven, a candidate knocked on our door. I told her I wanted to be a politician, “but not the corrupt kind.” My mother, a Jamaican immigrant, took her flyer and later threw it away. Government felt distant from families like mine. Years later, that same woman gave me my first opportunity in government. That introduction changed my life. Since then, I have met leaders with impressive titles and discovered something much more interesting than their résumés: their beginnings. The rejection. The teacher who noticed them. The first terrible speech. The parent who sacrificed. The opportunity they almost missed. We constantly show young people the finished tree without showing them the roots. I started The Origin to change that. I recorded my first conversation to uncover who a leader was before everyone knew their name. But I realized storytelling could become something more: a way for young people to understand their own roots, strengthen their voices, meet people who can open doors and leave with a next step. Someone opened a door for me. The Origin asks how we multiply that moment.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
Young people are surrounded by finished products. We see the elected official after the election, the entrepreneur after the company succeeds, the activist after the movement grows and the speaker after the applause. Social media makes the distance between “where I am” and “where they are” look even larger. What disappears is the becoming. We rarely hear who gave that person their first chance, what they were insecure about at fifteen, which failure redirected them or what they did before anyone considered them impressive. For a young person without professional networks or mentors, success can therefore look like something certain people simply know how to reach. I know differently because an adult once opened a door for me before my résumé justified being in the room. Young people do not only need inspiration. Inspiration can disappear by tomorrow morning. They need relatable examples, communication practice, relationships and a next action. The Origin addresses the gap between seeing possibility and knowing how to begin. If young people can see the roots beneath somebody else's growth, identify their own, and leave with one reachable next step, success becomes less mysterious and agency becomes more practical.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
The Origin turns a leadership story into a youth development experience through three connected pieces. Origin Conversations: I conduct youth-led interviews with community leaders, but I intentionally move past titles and accomplishments. I ask about who they were before the recognition: their first opportunity, failures, family, mentors, insecurity and the decisions that changed their trajectory. The goal is to create a library of beginnings, not another collection of biographies. Roots Labs: Small groups of young people unpack those stories and then turn the lens toward themselves. Using a simple tree framework, students identify their Roots, the people and experiences that shaped them; their Trunk, the skills and values they are building; their Branches, relationships and opportunities they need; and their Next Seed, one action they will take. Students practice telling their story through a short Origin Statement so reflection becomes communication. The Seed: I ask participating leaders to turn storytelling into access. When possible, each guest leaves behind something useful: a mentoring conversation, introduction, job shadow, resource, school visit, feedback session or another realistic opportunity for a young person. Students then receive follow-up asking whether they completed the next action they identified. I have already piloted the storytelling concept through an Origin episode and informally mentor younger students. The next step is connecting those pieces into one repeatable model. The origin of one leader can become part of the origin of another.
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
The Origin is early, so I would rather tell you what I can prove than give you an impressive number I cannot. I have recorded the first Origin conversation and already mentor younger students informally. Those experiences helped me recognize the opportunity: students do not just want to hear what successful people accomplished. They ask how they started and what they should do next. The next phase will test whether we can reliably turn that curiosity into action. During the first full cycle, my goal is to reach 100 young people through 10 Origin stories and at least 5 Roots Labs. Every Roots Lab participant will identify a concrete next action and complete an Origin Statement. We will measure communication confidence before and after participation, whether students can identify a goal, obstacle, resource and next step, and whether they complete that action within 30 to 60 days. We will also track mentorship or opportunity connections created by participating leaders. My definition of success is not 100 students saying they felt inspired. It is being able to say what they did because they were inspired.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
There is no shortage of podcasts interviewing successful people. There is also no shortage of motivational workshops telling young people to dream big. The Origin begins where both often stop. A traditional interview usually moves forward through someone's résumé: What did you accomplish? What are you doing now? The Origin moves backward. We reverse-engineer becoming. Who were you before the title? Who opened the first door? What went wrong? What did you need at fifteen? Then we refuse to let the story end as content. Students use the same framework to examine their own beginnings, practice communicating who they are and identify a next action. Participating leaders are invited to leave a “seed” that can create access for someone younger. It does not require a conference center, expensive technology or a famous guest. A student with the Origin interview guide could interview a councilwoman in Miami, a teacher in rural Florida or a business owner in Atlanta. A Roots Lab can happen in a classroom, library, community space or online. That is also where I see its future. I want to develop an Origin Kit that trains young people to become interviewers and facilitators in their own communities using common questions, activities and measurements. The innovation is not the microphone. It is the transfer: Roots become stories. Stories become tools. Tools become action. And people who once received an opportunity learn to become the person who gives one.
How many people are on your team?
1
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
Right now, The Origin has a team of one: me. That is intentional for the pilot, but not the destination. I created and host the project, develop the interview framework and mentor students. As the model grows, I want young people to become interviewers and Roots Lab facilitators rather than building a project that depends on me. Community leaders will contribute stories and opportunities, while educators and mentors can help host small student cohorts.
What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.
My next year is about answering one question: can The Origin become a model other young people can lead without me? First, I will complete an initial season of approximately 10 Origin Conversations with leaders from different professions and backgrounds, focusing on the beginnings and turning points usually missing from their public biographies. Second, I will pilot at least five Roots Labs reaching approximately 100 students. I will test the curriculum, Origin Statement exercise and simple pre, post and follow-up measurements, then improve them based on student feedback. Third, I will formalize The Seed by asking guests for realistic ways to extend access after their interview and tracking the connections that result. Finally, I will turn what works into an Origin Kit containing the interview guide, Roots Lab curriculum, facilitation instructions, student workbook and measurement tools. I want to train a small group of young people to conduct conversations and facilitate labs themselves. Only after proving that model would I consider a larger Origin gathering or summit. I do not want to scale an event. I want to scale the ability to open a door.
How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.
I want people to join The Origin through a question almost everyone can answer: Who helped you become who you are? For leaders, I invite them to tell the part of their story that rarely makes the biography and then consider what “seed” they can leave for someone younger. For students, the invitation is different: you do not have to be accomplished yet. You already have an origin worth understanding. Students can listen to a conversation, participate in a Roots Lab, develop an Origin Statement and choose one next step. As the pilot grows, I will recruit students through schools, youth organizations, community partners and social media, but peer invitation will be central. Students who complete a Lab can return as interviewers or facilitators. The long-term goal is a cycle rather than an audience: leaders share what opened doors for them; young people gain tools and relationships; students take action; and eventually those same young people become door-openers themselves. I do not want The Origin to build followers around me. I want it to build people who no longer need me to lead it.
