Joy Atkins waited anxiously in the airport terminal, holding a passport that had never been stamped, bound for a place far from the public housing complex where she grew up.
On Saturday, Atkins, 17, of Richmond, Va., was one of 14 teenagers connecting flights from O’Hare International Airport to London, where they will spend a week discussing cultural similarities and differences with their British peers.
The teens, many of whom had never traveled abroad, were participating in Leaders of Tomorrow, a program run by the National Black MBA Association that will establish a chapter next week in Chicago. The program works with average students who have demonstrated leadership potential but need extra motivation to get into college, officials said.
The trip was an incentive for the teens, ages 14 to 17, from across the country who were selected for their school attendance records and those leadership skills, said Barbara Thomas, president of the National Black MBA Association.
Thomas said the free trip abroad, the first the group has organized in seven years, would be an annual part of the program, with plans next year to take students to South Africa.
The experience will broaden their perspective and be critical in the future if they want to be “relevant in the global playing field,” Thomas said.
But the trip also will help establish common ground between teenagers growing up in different cultures, said Beverly Harris, the program manager.
“What people know about the U.S. is what they see in media,” Harris said. “We want them to really get to see each other as young adults living in different countries but with many similarities.”
Created in 1970, the National Black MBA Association has grown to more than 7,000 members in 41 chapters nationwide, awarding more than $500,000 a year in scholarships.
The Leaders of Tomorrow program, which began in 1991, holds monthly meetings in chapters across the country, where students receive tutoring and improve their interviewing, resume writing and communication skills.
The program will hold the first meeting of its new Chicago chapter on Oct. 27 at the Keller Graduate School of Management, 225 W. Washington St. In recent weeks, officials have started recruiting principals from Chicago public schools to become mentors.
The week in London would also be the first trip abroad for Kevin Graham, 16, of Kansas City, Mo., who said his only concern about visiting London was getting lost.
Graham, who said he was interested in pursuing a broadcast journalism career, said he was excited about discussing current events with his British peers.
“Also, it’s going to look good on my college papers,” he said.
Although she was looking forward to discovering London, Atkins said she was also hoping to discover herself and what sort of career she wants to pursue.
“I’m hoping I’ll find something there so when I get back I can give myself a better opportunity to succeed in the future,” she said.
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gfsmith@tribune.com
