Honoring and recognizing the work of It Takes Philly: Encouraging and Empowering Our Children to Aim High for Inspiring Philadelphia's Youth to Pursue Their Full Potential.

Honoring and recognizing the work of It Takes Philly: Encouraging and Empowering Our Children to Aim High for Inspiring Philadelphia’s Youth to Pursue Their Full Potential . WHEREAS, The founding purpose of It Takes Philly: Encouraging and Empowering Our Children to Aim High was to provide exposure to middle school students from Philadelphia and Montgomery County-recognizing that early inspiration fosters dreams, and dreams foster drive-showing children that money is not the sole determinant of success, but that intellect, vision, perseverance, and opportunity can empower them to achieve greatness and impact lives; and WHEREAS, Dr. Ala Stanford and like-minded professionals, Mr. Kamau Stanford, Mrs. Shannon Kimmel, Esq. Ms. Leslie Wood and Pastor Marshall Mitchell, committed themselves to serving as living examples of possibility, ensuring that children could not only imagine but also witness pathways to success; and WHEREAS, Beginning with 7th and 8th grade students from the lowest-performing schools, It Takes Philly provided transformative experiences from the courthouse to the White House not simply as field trips, but as intentional pathways to professions showing students that individuals not dissimilar from themselves could achieve these goals; and WHEREAS, Through these efforts and partnerships with the City of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia School District, Comcast, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Philadelphia 76ers, Abington Memorial Hospital, EisnerAmper, and others, I…