By all conventional standards of measurement, many African-American students attending inner-city public schools are not as prepared for success as other young people with greater educational opportunities. The Washington, D.C. Leaders of Tomorrow (LOT) Program seeks to reverse this truth by providing at-risk, economically disadvantaged youth with access, exposure, and tools necessary for lifelong success. In 2005 and 2006, the National Cristina Foundation (NCF) provided computers, computer technology, and other equipment to 30 students participating in our LOT Program, and in doing so, helped the students on their paths to success. The computer donations - made through NCF - impacted participating students by helping them to improve their academic research abilities, communication skills, and professional capacity via computer access. The National Cristina Foundation has helped us take a step toward bridging the digital divide that many of us talk about, but do not seem to have a solution to fixing. 

-- Oscar W. Mardis, President National Black MBA Association, Inc.

Students in the Leaders of Tomorrow program in Washington, DC area encounter anumber of challenges as they prepare for college. Near the top of the list is a very real digital divide. Though most schools have computers, sadly, our students have limited access to them in many instances. As we delved into why some of our students were scoring poorly on research projects, we were astounded to learn that they could not use the computers because they were locked in the library at their school, which was inaccessible because the school couldn't afford a librarian! The Cristina Foundation allowed us to give students access to both desktop and laptop computers, which they have been able to use to close the gap between them and the information they need to succeed in school. Having removed this impediment, we can now focus our mentoring efforts on helping them change habits and expectation, instead of lamenting over their lack of resources. Their work has become more professional, their research more solid, and their confidence has been elevated. The Leaders of Tomorrow program can now boast that we ensure that all of our students can have access to the technology they need to succeed. 

-- Cedric Mobley, Vice President Development National Black MBA Association, Inc. Washington, D.C. Chapter

The Leaders of Tomorrow “National Case Competition” allows about 50 minority high school students, mostly from urban and inner-city areas, to compete for scholarships by analyzing an MBA-level Harvard Business Case. The students have to take a contemporary, real world problem facing a company, analyze the company's strategic position, and develop recommendations that can be implemented to help the company prosper. It is a project that most graduate students find daunting, but for five years these high school students have proven that they are up to the challenge. Obviously, the competition is quite competitive, but for years, the Washington DC chapter has been hindered by a lack of access to computers. Many of our students do not have computers, and they were limited to doing work at school or on public computers in the library. One year, for example, our Case Competition team was extremely frustrated because they had to do research on the public library computer, which timed them out after every 20 minute increment. This graduate level project takes dozens of hours of research time to complete, and trying to do it in 20 minute increments proved almost impossible. That doesn't include the challenges these students faced trying to create PowerPoint slides and reports to supplement their analysis without steady access to a computer. As a result of the donations from the Cristina Foundation, all the students on last year's Case Competition team were given laptops to use as they prepared their analysis and recommendations. The computers proved to be a critical resource. They were able to find articles and other on-line information and send them to each other to critique or use as reference for their analysis. They were able to view on-line video of the company's CEO rolling out new products. They were also able to create an 80 slide PowerPoint presentation that featured complex builds, and embedded video. Most importantly, they were able to take advantage of free "hotspots" to use the Internet to search for additional information to justify their recommendations and to predict results. 

The students proved to be prescient. Even though the recommendations were presented at a competition and never presented to the company in question, the company must have performed a similar analysis, because they rolled out products and policies that fit at least three of the team's recommendations over the course of the next year. Even though they are learning in some of the worst school systems in the country (literally), they feel more confident than ever that they can compete with other students from around the world; as long as they have access to the same tools and information. One of our team members, who has since gone to college and is enrolled in a top business program, has written back to tell us how much her experience placed her ahead of her fellow students- most of whom were educated in academic settings far more progressive. Donors from the Cristina Foundation have made a significant difference in the lives of our students and the viability of the Leaders of Tomorrow Program in Washington. 

-- Angela Thornton-Young, Chair, Leaders of Tomorrow Program