An Interview With Penny Bauder
Be ready to begin alone. Although people may see your vision, most people won’t join until they see results. So create a plan on how you can achieve measurable results with your hard work.
As part of my series about young people who are making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Adrian Le’Roy Devezin.
Adrian Le’Roy Devezin is the Executive Director of Empowr. Through Empow,r he creates the school-to-career pipeline for black students. By teaching in-demand and high-paying career skills, Empowr helps to uplift the black community.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit how you grew up?
I have a pretty unique upbringing. My father was military, and my mom was a teacher. Thanks to the military, we traveled around the world. When I was in middle school, we lived in Yokosuka, Japan, and when I was in high school, we lived in Napoli, Italy. While overseas, we could do a good bit of traveling, and I have gotten to visit dozens of countries. This experience opened my eyes at a young age to the power of community and people. In some countries, we saw the people very little materialistically, yet the whole community would be out helping and supporting each other. They helped me understand that even if each individual has little, together, everyone has a lot.
Is there a particular book or organization that made a significant impact on you growing up? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
The book that had the most significant impact on me was To Die For The People by Huey Newton. Huey was able to break down complex societal issues in unique ways. One thing he believed in has stayed with me, “meet the people where they are.” What made the Black Panther such a revolutionary organization was that they only strived to meet the needs of the people. They never told the people what to think, what to eat, what to do, or anything. Instead, they asked the people what they need, and worked to give it to them. Then once they gave it to them, they taught them how to do it themselves.
How do you define “Making A Difference”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
Making a difference is when a person or group takes it upon themselves to do something bigger than themselves. When you set out to make a difference, you see a problem that needs solving and put your all into it even though you are not the biggest benefactor. If I had to sum it up in few words, acting selflessly for the benefit of others. Whether you impact one person or many, you made a difference.
Ok super. Let’s now jump to the main part of our interview. You are currently leading an organization that aims to make a social impact. Can you tell us a bit about what you and your organization are trying to change in our world today?
Empowr is a nonprofit that teaches software development to black high school students. Unlike the few existing organizations, we don’t believe in boot camps. Instead, we bring 9th and 10th graders into our program and work with them until they graduate high school. With our 3-to-4-year program, the students learn all the practical knowledge of a computer science degree. Then, upon graduation, we work with our corporate partners to get the children jobs. Since the average software developer makes 100k, we are genuinely ending poverty cycles and the educational disparity with our program.
In addition, all of our content is created to be multi-purpose. To explain, the examples in our assignments will give the students finance tips, mental health suggestions, and more. We do not want just to create engineers; we are raising leaders. Our self-development program, which is a requirement for all participants, has the students read self-growth books and reflect on their lives and community.
Finally, programs such as this have many indirect effects. For example, they reduce the crime rate, increase the feeling of belonging, and improve the academic standing of participants. All of this, coupled with the fact that we directly reduce poverty rates and increase employment, makes Empowr very proud of what we have created.
Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?
I tell people all the time; my whole life is the inspiration. I struggled in the traditional education system. I felt stupid, hopeless, and as if I might as well give up. I dropped out of college and began working retail jobs. One day I woke up and decided I wanted more. I was working at a call center, and between calls, I began teaching myself Android development. Within a short amount of time, I created my first android app, which became the top new finance app of the month. A couple of years later, I moved to Atlanta and was living with my family. I started the year working at Mcdonald’s. I ended the year earning $85,000 as a software developer. This was my first actual career. Within six months, I was then being flown out by Google, Facebook, and other companies. However, I never saw anyone who looked like me. I would walk around the fancy offices but often be the only black person in sight. I knew then that I had to change things. Without a college degree or network, I was able to obtain financial success. I wanted every black child like me to have this same opportunity.
Many of us have ideas, dreams, and passions but never manifest it. They don’t get up and just do it. But you did. Was there an “Aha Moment” that made you decide that you were actually going to step up and do it? What was that final trigger?
I was hungry, haha. There are only so many ways to cook ramen. I decided I was going to make something of myself. Then it was just to become a software developer. I didn’t even know anything about being one. I just knew in college that my peers and teachers laughed at me for not being good. So I started there. I have always had it in my heart to help people. I am sure I get this from my ma. Once I saw what software development could do, I just knew that I would bring this knowledge to my community. We have been left out of the picture for too long; we need a seat at the table.
Many young people don’t know the steps to take to start a new organization. But you did. What are some of the things or steps you took to get your project started?
I did not know the steps to create an organization. I just knew how to learn. I figured out how I learn, and once you do that, you can learn anything. So I then just googled it. “How to create a nonprofit.” “What’s wrong with black education.” “How did civil rights organizations uplift the community.” I kept researching it and even wrote an unpublished paper on my findings. This thorough research is what enabled me to create a well-rounded and adaptable program.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?
The most interesting that happened is watching my students trade stocks. We create a compound interested calculator as a case study in class. I related it to the Reddit/GME saga, and boom! My students were hooked. They created their own group chat and began trading stocks.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson or take away you learned from that?
One of the funniest mistakes was not paying more attention to the start date of my first class. I recently had my first daughter, who came a little early. This resulted in me teaching my first class in the hospital lobby while mom and my daughter slept in the room. It is super hard to concentrate on teaching when your first child was just born, and you want to spend every second around them, haha.
None of us can be successful without some help along the way. Did you have mentors or cheerleaders who helped you to succeed? Can you tell us a story about their influence?
Dr. Saturu Ned has been with me throughout the whole journey of Empowr. I met him in 2019, and we talk regularly. He helps keep me grounded and focused in my efforts. In addition, his knowledge of community helps shape Empowr’s teaching so I can be sure I properly reach my students.
Another mentor of mine Junior Gaspard has been a big help in giving me the resources I need to grow into a leader. He has always been available to help me with any questions and struggles that I face. His wisdom has been crucial to my leadership process.
Both of my mentors contribute in more ways than can be typed, and they both have been invaluable on this journey.
Without saying specific names, can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
One individual believed in what I was doing early on and gave Empowr its first large donation. The individual gave us a large grant so that we could scale up the number of students we could teach. This was the first person to donate so much to Empowr and it has ensured that we can continue our work in the community.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
The community could help Empowr’s efforts by volunteering. Small nonprofits have a hard time finding volunteers, which leaves a lot of work to be done by a few people. Empowr is looking for volunteers of all sorts, specifically content creators, curriculum writers, public figures, and software engineers. We have some pretty amazing things that we are working on, and any help would be appreciated. Everyone could help by liking and sharing our social media pages.
As a society, most people can finally acknowledge the black people’s systemic injustice in every aspect of our lives. However, no one is demanding or implementing long-term solutions. We see donations here and there, but those are temporary patches. The key to ending this is found in education and opportunity. We must demand more of our schools and mayors to help our students. We have to emphasize education to our children and support initiatives that remove the boundaries to equal access.
Politicians have been slow to address the problems that affect the black community. We need political leaders to increase the funding to our most diverse schools and place accountability protocols that guarantee the budget goes to the students.
Fantastic. Here is the main question of the interview. What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why?
- Be ready to begin alone. Although people may see your vision, most people won’t join until they see results. So create a plan on how you can achieve measurable results with your hard work.
- Find a team. Although most people don’t join at first, find those who will and share the same passion. Finding a team where each individual has different strengths and weaknesses is crucial for success.
- Ensure it’s sustainable. Even if you are a nonprofit, you can’t rely on donations or goodwill. Create a plan so that your organization can always sustain itself.
- Learn how to learn. Learning how to learn means allows you to teach yourself anything. Since you can learn anything, you will then be able to overcome any obstacles.
- Do your research. Many people come up with a great idea and don’t even realize it may have been done before. Just because it was done before doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. It just means you can now learn from those who came before you. By doing your research, you can start your organization with all the knowledge to succeed.
If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?
When you subscribe to ideals bigger than yourself, it opens your eyes. By working selflessly to help others, you learn more about yourself than you ever could have. I think in this age of technology, we are losing ourselves and our humanity. We should all strive to be part of the solution, spreading love.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
I would go to lunch with NoName. I feel as if I could learn a lot from her and her revolutionary ideals. I appreciate her work to spread knowledge through her book club. She is an activist with lots of wisdom to give.
How can our readers follow you online?
You can follow Empowr on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
Young Change Makers: Why and How Adrian Le’roy Devezin of Empowr Is Helping To Change Our World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.