DETROIT – Stepha'N Quicksey is an overachiever by most standards. He was salutatorian of his class at Osborn High School and the first in his family to attend college.
But his success was not achieved overnight.
"Through middle school, I was a class clown and a lot of my siblings dropped out of high school," Quicksey said. "My parents didn't have an education. There is no safety net for people without education. In high school I decided to think about my future. I wanted to work hard and be the best person that I could be."
Now as a college student, Quicksey mentors students about what to expect after high school.
"There are a lot of people who just look at school and they say, 'Oh, all you have to do is go to school and study the things, and get the grades and you're done,'" Mitch Albom said.
"How do you pass the baton to a generation who's not prepared in order for us to really sustain a future for Detroit? A genuine investment needs to be made in the young people of today," Quicksey said.
That investment began last year with the Detroit Youth Leadership Conference that got the city's youth and leaders talking about change.
"(It) gives young people the capacity to become leaders, to take ownership of their communities, to design projects that they think are necessary to impact change," said Quicksey. "There are a lot of bright young people in this city. It's amazing."
He is empowering youth to step forward with innovative ideas.
"One of my favorite things to do is sit down at a table and have a conversation with people my age about how to move the city forward," Quicksey said. "I think that our ability to impact other people is so important that we should never turn down the opportunity to make that happen."
Once a class clown and now a driver of social change, Quicksey is leading a youth movement in the heart of Detroit.
Heart of Detroit