Lenny McAllister – Educator Biography
Lenny McAllister works to improve the lives of at-risk youths. Through his involvement with the Hill House Association and MEN At Work in Pittsburgh, Lenny led initiatives to train the unemployed, create safer neighborhoods, encourage teenage fathers to become better fathers and men, and encourage urban economic development. Upon returning to Charlotte, Lenny served as a tutor/mentor for the Boys and Girls Club of Our Towns and the After School Program at the Ada Jenkins Center in Davidson. Previously, Lenny has served on the Mecklenburg County Domestic Violence Advisory Board and Succession (a Mecklenburg County-based service organization. Lenny contributes as a member doing youth ministry for Return Ministries in Charlotte, North Carolina and the Mecklenburg County Domestic Violence Speakers’ Bureau. McAllister is a noted speaker delivering messages against domestic violence, urban blight, and issues impacting America’s youth. He serves on the advisory board for Men 4 Change, a Charlotte-based organization that annually hosts a fundraiser to promote domestic violence awareness. He served as a facilitator towards the creation of Sguzo Saba (a Saturday academy in Charlotte that sought to meet the under-addressed needs of young Black males.) McAllister also worked with the leadership team of Foresight Leadership, a Charlotte-based organization that focuses on implementing initiatives that improve the conditions of at-risk Black youths in urban areas. He has also worked with M.O.V.E. Mentors, also in Charlotte. McAllister served as advisory board chairman for the Charlotte, NC chapter of Generation Engage Charlotte (now Mobilize.org), a nonpartisan civic engagement initiative that empowers young adults to be leaders in their communities and active participants in our democracy. He has been a panelist and supporter of the Pride Enterprise Entrepreneurship Program as well as an advisor to the Urban League of Central Carolinas. McAllister is currently up for consideration for several other non-profit boards, including City At Peace-Charlotte, a non-profit organization that uses the performing arts to provide guidance to at-risk high school youth.
A graduate of Shady Side Academy and Davidson College, Lenny is now a Fellow for the Center for New Politics and Policy (formerly of the University of Denver.) Recently, Lenny has been a member of the North Carolina Republican Party Executive Committee, the 12th District Republican Executive Committee (where he is the district’s past vice chair for the GOP), and the North Carolina New Majority Advisory Council. In 2006 and 2007, Lenny was an invitee to the African-American Leadership Summit in Washington, DC that was co-sponsored by US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX). Lenny also appeared as an invited speaker before the Pennsylvania House of Representatives’ Judicial Committee to address unfair inconsistencies in child custody laws and court proceedings. He has also served as a participant in the Citizens’ Task Force on Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in December 2005. He also served as an appointee to the United Way Community Advisory Board in the Lake Norman region. He has been an invited speaker to the NOBLE (National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives) Youth Conference and the Innovation Generation Technology Conference, both in 2009.