When people think of Atlanta, they often think of our global influence in culture, commerce, and community. We are the home of the world’s busiest airport, the birthplace of civil rights leadership, and a city that will soon host the World Cup. We’ve hosted the Olympics, we’ve welcomed the Braves from Milwaukee in 1966 as the first Major League Baseball franchise in the South, and we continue to show the world what it means to be a city too busy to hate.
But for me, C.J. Stewart—co-founder and Chief Visionary Officer of L.E.A.D. Center For Youth—the vision for Atlanta cannot be fulfilled until hundreds of thousands of African Americans are living sustainable lives of significance. That’s why one of our strategic plan initiatives is clear: LEAD must become a household name.
Why My Name Matters
I was born in 1976 in Atlanta’s Bankhead community, Zone 1, to two very young, working-class parents. My parents were loving but had little financial or social capital to pass on. Trauma was part of my childhood, but baseball became my buffer.
My mom named me after Palmer Cortlandt, a character from the soap opera All My Children. She and my dad knew the world would judge me before meeting me, and they gave me a name that could pass in rooms where opportunities were controlled. My name—Corteney, or “C.J.”—was a survival strategy.
That’s why this work is personal. Becoming a household name starts with a name. LEAD is my love letter to Atlanta, thanking the mentors, neighbors, and kind strangers who helped me fulfill my dream of playing professional baseball in the Chicago Cubs organization.
Why Baseball (and Tennis) Matter
Baseball taught me how to manage myself, contribute to a team, build confidence, and develop the social-emotional learning skills that help young people escape cycles of poverty.
At LEAD, our mission is to eliminate racism and advance equity and well-being through youth sports. Our vision is to become the global standard for overcoming barriers to success for underrepresented youth in sports.
We prepare Black boys through baseball and Black girls through tennis to become Major League Players and Major League Citizens—gainfully employed, civically engaged, and radical philanthropists.
And we do it through PROGRAM:
Purposeful Repetition Orchestrated for Growth, Resilience, and Major League Players and Citizens.
We do it through COACH:
Cultivating growth, creating opportunities, advancing progress, building confidence, and harmonizing a shared journey of learning.
And we do it through a SYSTEM:
Structured Yield for Sustained Talent, Empowerment, and Mobility.
If you can’t define it, you can’t deliver it. We do this. We’ve been doing it since 2007.
The First Major League Team in the South
When the Braves relocated from Milwaukee to Atlanta in 1966, they became the first Major League sports franchise in the South. This was not just a sports milestone—it was a cultural and economic statement.
The Braves came amid Jim Crow laws, when the South was still gripped by segregation and racial injustice. They came before the Atlanta Hawks moved from St. Louis in 1968. They came before the Dallas Cowboys became “America’s Team” in the 1970s. The Braves were first.
Their presence helped solidify Atlanta’s brand as “the city too busy to hate,” proving that sports could be a bridge during a time of social division. And that legacy matters for LEAD, because it reminds us that baseball has always been more than a game here—it’s been a catalyst for cultural change and economic growth.
The Urgency of Becoming a Household Name
Atlanta is America’s capital of income inequality. If you are born into poverty here, you have only a 4% chance of making it out. Two-thirds of Black youth live in concentrated poverty. Mentorship is not enough. Sponsorship—the act of putting young people in positions to showcase what they’ve been coached and mentored to do—is the ceiling.
To change these odds, LEAD must be as recognizable in Atlanta households as the Braves, Coca-Cola, or HBCUs. Because without awareness, we cannot build advocacy. And without advocacy, we cannot sustain the work of developing leaders who will transform our city.
Why Now
Atlanta’s growth has always been tied to sports:
- 1966: The Braves relocate from Milwaukee to Atlanta, becoming the first Major League franchise in the South and fueling economic development.
- 1996: The Atlanta Olympics inject billions into infrastructure, branding us as a global city.
- 2026: The World Cup will bring an unprecedented economic and cultural spotlight to Atlanta.
Sports have always been more than games here—they’re part of our city’s DNA. But we must ensure that Black youth, who built much of Atlanta’s sports legacy, are not left behind.
Building Coaches, Changing Communities
One of our boldest innovations is the Pedagogy for Pros Trauma-Informed Coaching Certification. Coaches from around the world, including high school students graduating from Atlanta Public Schools, can become certified leaders of sport-based youth development.
When coaches are trained to heal trauma, teach life skills, and sponsor opportunities—not just run drills—they transform communities. That’s how we build a pipeline of leaders who can sustain this work.
Our Growth Vision
By 2032, LEAD will turn 25 years old. My vision is for 25% of our revenue to come from our current participants and alumni.
Our current $2 million budget must grow to $10 million, allowing us to expand from serving 300 students to capping at 500 boys and girls. At the center of that growth will be a state-of-the-art baseball and tennis complex located in the Center Hill–Bankhead community where I was born and raised.
Our facility will bring the world to Atlanta, and it will prepare Atlanta’s children to compete against the world.
Redefining Education
Education is not just academics—unless you’re talking about disenfranchised and marginalized Black youth in Atlanta, who too often are only measured by test scores.
I define education as learning what needs to be learned to do what needs to be done—a calling to fulfill.
That means education is athletics, academics, and the arts. And this is the reality for children raised in middle and upper-middle-class communities, where sports are co-curricular. It must also be the reality for Atlanta’s most vulnerable children.
Why LEAD Must Become a Household Name
We cannot have fun without funding. Awareness leads to advocacy, and advocacy leads to investment. To change lives at scale, we must be known, trusted, and supported citywide.
LEAD Center For Youth is more than a program—it’s a promise. A promise that Atlanta will never truly be a world-class city until its most vulnerable youth are living lives of significance.
Top Three Should Ask Questions (SAQs)
- Why should LEAD become a household name in Atlanta?
Because the future of Atlanta depends on it. No city can claim world-class status while two-thirds of its Black youth live in concentrated poverty. LEAD offers a proven pathway out of poverty through sports, leadership, and sponsorship. Becoming a household name ensures our mission isn’t just organizational—it’s civic.
- How does becoming a household name change outcomes for Black youth?
Awareness creates access. When families know us, they enroll. When corporations know us, they invest. When policymakers know us, they advocate. And when Atlanta knows us, we can scale impact beyond mentorship to sponsorship—giving youth the platform to succeed.
- What makes LEAD different from other youth programs?
We are not extracurricular—we are co-curricular. Our work is integrated with education, social-emotional development, and civic engagement. We don’t just coach; we advocate. We don’t just mentor; we sponsor. That’s why our alumni don’t just make plays on the field—they make change in their communities.
Three Questions for You
If you love sports…
If you love Atlanta…
If you want children to become the best versions of themselves…
Ask yourself:
- What would it mean for Atlanta if every child, regardless of zip code, had access to the same co-curricular education as those in wealthier communities?
- How might sports—when used intentionally—transform not just athletes, but entire neighborhoods?
- What responsibility do I have to ensure that LEAD becomes a household name in my city?