ROXBURY — Hundreds of middle and high schoolers (and their parents) inundated the Yawkeye Boys and Girls Club on a freezing-cold Saturday in Roxbury. On one floor, representatives from dozens of higher education institutions provided pamphlets regarding the educational opportunities available to neighborhood boys and girls.
On another, kids played chess, explored a blow-up mini-planetarium from the Museum of Science, sampled finger food, and played with MIT robots, all while music blasted.
All of the day’s festivities were a part of the first annual 7uice Educational Fair, which was hosted by Jaylen Brown on a rare day off from Celtics basketball.
The fair — a collaboration between Brown’s education-focused nonprofit, the 7uice Foundation, and the oldest boys’ and girls’ club in the area — was an all-day event intended to serve the Roxbury community.
“[The goal was] just to take a bunch of resources and bring them to a place that typically doesn’t have the same access,” Brown said on Sunday night. “So, yesterday was a very fun day.”
Jaylen Brown watched kids play chess at the Roxbury Boys and Girls Club, as part of an event held by the Future Masters Chess Academy.
Jaylen Brown watched kids play chess at the Roxbury Boys and Girls Club, as part of an event held by the Future Masters Chess Academy.
Drew Cigna / 7uice Foundation
Ambassadors from Harvard, MIT, Dartmouth, Hampton, and other universities were in attendance, as were various internship and job programs. Brown estimated over 100 different partners came to the Boys and Girls Club for the event, all with the intent of showing the Roxbury youth their futures hold plenty of options, even “when people, or society, are counting on them to fail.”
“That’s an example of legacy,” Brown said. “And that’s [the kind of] thing I like to do with my foundation.”
In addition to providing programming geared toward the Roxbury youth, the 7uice Foundation also hosted conversations designated for students’ parents; for example, Mechalle, Jaylen’s mother, facilitated a panel centered around how parents can best support their students from an educational standpoint.
Mechalle Brown led an educational panel for parents of Roxbury-area students as part of the 7uice Foundation’s first-ever educational fair.
Mechalle Brown led an educational panel for parents of Roxbury-area students as part of the 7uice Foundation’s first-ever educational fair.
Drew Cigna / 7uice Foundation
While the colleges and universities were the event’s main headliners, the fair also reiterated that non-traditional career pathways were available to students.
The Boston Fire Department, for example, educated students about the various opportunities available to them, including the city’s newly-launched Cadet Program, a paid, two-year apprenticeship for young adults aspiring to become firefighters.
“College might not be for every student,” Brown said, adding that providing vocational opportunities to kids is key. “Sometimes, parents don’t know what the opportunities or resources are because they didn’t have opportunities or resources. So, yesterday, we brought them all into one space.”
Jordan Milton, one of the Cadets at the fair, explained that the program aims to diversify the fire department and lay out a pathway to firefighting for inner-city kids.
“We try to come out to community outreach opportunities to reach those inner-city kids,” Milton told CelticsBlog. “So we’re in the heart of Roxbury, and we’re just trying to grab as many folks as we can to expose them to different experiences.”
Milton, who was decked out in 741 Performance gear, also got to chat with Brown, who shared that growing up, he was always intrigued by the prospect of becoming a firefighter.
“That’s an idol of mine,” Milton said. “He’s a big inspiration — it’s good to show that he cares about the community, just as much as maybe even a firefighter would.”
At the 7uice Foundation Educational Fair, Brown tried on a firefighting uniform, and took photos with the Cadets.
At the 7uice Foundation Educational Fair, Brown tried on a firefighting uniform, and took photos with the Cadets.
Drew Cigna / 7uice Foundation
Brown spent time at each table, taking photos with kids and adults alike, watching kids play chess, and giving them words of wisdom. He also chatted with the admission counselors from each of the universities represented, while immersing himself in the Boys and Girls Club
“I thank them for showing up,” he said.
Jaylen Brown has been a longtime proponent of expanded access to education
The 7uice Foundation’s fair was Brown’s latest effort to uplift education in Boston. Those efforts have been far-reaching; in December, for example, Brown spent a frosty evening at Babson College, where his sneaker company, 741 Performance, hosted a pop-up store for students in collaboration with an undergraduate marketing class.
Brown had just returned from a Celtics road trip, in which he exploded for 42 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves and subsequently tallied a triple-double against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Then, on his first offday in over a week, he mingled with students, shared advice, and answered questions.
Since launching 741 Performance last September, Brown has worn his own, uniquely designed shoe in every game. The company is something he’s poured everything into: his time, money, and creative energy.
“As an athlete, you are almost like a billboard, in a sense,” Brown told me in May. “So, this is probably one of the things I’m most proud of.”
This fall, Brown and 741 Performance collaborated with Lauren Beitelspacher, a marketing professor at Babson, for a week-long 741 pop-up that the college students promoted and staffed. On opening day, the Celtics star mingled with the students, who had spent weeks preparing for the unique collaboration, which doubled as their final exam. Some students had been working tirelessly on the marketing side, while others manned the actual pop-up itself, selling shoes and merchandise to interested patrons.
The students were excited by the prospect of picking Brown’s brain. Afterwards, Brown took hundreds of photos and chatted with kids about their own business aspirations, hearing out pitches from students who aspired to collaborate with 741.
“After this project, they’re all definitely Jaylen fans, just because they’ve learned more about him,” Beitelspacher said. “He’s so cool – and what he does for the community – even allowing us to do this event and trusting us with his brand, that’s extremely generous.”
Every summer, Brown hosts a week-long educational camp, the Bridge Program, designed for students from underrepresented communities. Meanwhile, he runs Boston XChange, an incubator dedicated to empowering underinvested entrepreneurs.
Those endeavors take time, but they haven’t detracted from his success on the basketball court; this season, Brown is averaging 29.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 4.8 assists — all career-highs. And, the Celtics are tied for the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.
“That’s the first narrative people like to go with,” Brown said.” Like, ‘you’re going to be distracted if you’re doing other things outside of your craft or what they’re paying you to do.’”
“But everybody has a job, right?” he said to a scrum of reporters last month. “Y’all have a job. They’re paying you to be media people, but you’ll also do things outside of that, and nobody counts that as a distraction. So I don’t see why anything else that I do in my personal life should be a distraction, either. I’m having fun with it — I guess we’re breaking down some narratives. I’m sure in the future you’ll see a bunch of athletes streaming in the future.”
In fact, the off-court work is how he wants to be ultimately remembered in Boston.
“Legacy is something that you think about,” Brown said. “Legacy is something that stands out. The best legacy that you can leave is winning, but on top of winning, it’s also how you affected the community, two things that I take pride in: being able to win basketball games, win a championship, hopefully more, and being able to affect my community in a positive way. That’s what you invest in. That’s what I invest in as a player. That’s my investment as a Boston Celtic and as a member of my family.”