Jash'd Belcher's PowerHouse Academy Cultivates Next Gen Black Leaders

A cornerstone of the PowerHouse Summer Academy experience is the direct interaction students have with a diverse roster of successful Black professionals. Past academies have featured masterclasses and mentorship from luminaries such as Academy Award-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter, Jennifer Davidson, the Chief Marketing & Communications Officer of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, and Mohamed Balla, Chief Financial Officer for the City of Atlanta, who provided students with a private tour and talk at Atlanta City Hall. Other influential figures who have contributed include Kyle Hagler, founder of No Smoking; Natalie White, VP of Community Relations for the LA Sparks; Paula Resley, VP of Admissions and Communications at Morehouse College; Milton Little, President & CEO of United Way of Greater Atlanta; Jerome Martine, a former manager of prominent entertainment figures; and Reverend Jamal Bryant, Senior Pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, who delivered a powerful masterclass on leadership. Dr. Stephane Dunn, Chair of the Cinema, Television & Emerging Media Studies (CTEMS) Department at Morehouse College, has also shared insights on storytelling and legacy during the program's student film festival.

Beyond the classroom and mentorship sessions, students embark on enriching excursions to various Atlanta destinations, including Six Flags Over Georgia and an Atlanta Dream WNBA Game. These outings are complemented by thought-provoking conversations with Black executives and creatives, further expanding the students' perspectives and networks. The program culminates in the PowerHouse Student Film Festival, a much-anticipated event held on the Morehouse College campus, where students proudly premiere their original documentaries and commercials, showcasing their creative growth and newly acquired skills.

Belcher frequently emphasizes the profound impact of living on the Morehouse campus, particularly for young men who may be experiencing their first time away from home in a college environment. He highlights the unique opportunity to be surrounded by Black excellence, tradition, and brotherhood, an experience intended to foster maturity, independence, confidence, and aspiration. This immersion helps students to envision themselves attending college and ultimately becoming leaders. Belcher has been quoted reflecting on the program's deeper impact: "This experience changed all of us. These young men weren't just learning how to hold a camera. They were learning how to hold themselves accountable to a bigger vision.” He also expresses his hope that every student departs the academy "believing that their future is bigger than they imagined before they arrived," equipped with newfound confidence, vision, discipline, relationships, and a profound understanding of community, brotherhood, leadership, and ownership.

The significance of the PowerHouse Summer Academy extends far beyond its immediate participants. Its mission directly addresses the underrepresentation of Black men in the film industry and various entrepreneurial spaces by actively creating direct pathways for their entry and success. Belcher refers to this crucial work as "narrative reclamation," a process that empowers young Black men to tell their own stories and affirm their existence, rather than seeking external validation. His broader vision includes expanding PowerHouse academies to a network of other Historically Black Colleges and Universities, with plans to include institutions such as Howard University, Florida A&M University, Texas Southern University, and Hampton University. This expansion aims to establish "a pipeline from high school to Hollywood through HBCUs," fostering a national movement where storytelling, mentorship, creativity, and opportunity converge. This initiative seeks to contribute to a vibrant cultural ecosystem that bridges past, present, and future, recognizing young Black men as "blueprints for a future that the system has not yet recognized."