Community Highlights: Meet Alvin Hills IV of Endless Opportunities

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alvin Hills IV.

Hi Alvin, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today. 
My Wife Tanell and I founded Endless Opportunities in 2011 during our senior year at Western Michigan University (WMU). We were both first-generation college students that had to learn how to navigate high school and the college preparation process a lot on our own. Once arriving at WMU, we both joined social fraternities and sororities (Alvin-Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. & Tanell Alpha Kappa Alpah Sorority Inc.), which introduced us to community-based mentoring. Those experiences changed our lives forever. We wanted create an organization of our own to serve the Greater Grand Rapids Area and students just like us. We felt a natural responsibility to simply play our part in our home community. 

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road has been mostly smooth with some learning opportunities along the way. The first thing we learned in securing our IRS 501(c)3 was that EVERYTHING is a process. That process required us to update documents with both the state and IRS multiple times, which was really discouraging at moments. However, we were able to secure our 501(c)3 designation after about a 14-month process. It was there we learned the road will not always be smooth, but with consistency and perseverance, we could accomplish any process we need to advance our organization. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business.
Our Mission is to deliver innovative mentoring experiences designed to Engage, Educate, and Empower young people everywhere, and we do this through after-school-based mentoring. Our programs are for middle and high school students in the Greater Grand Rapids area across many school districts, such as Grand Rapids Public Schools, Wyoming Public School, Kentwood Public Schools, and many more, including community charter schools as well. 

Our sessions consist of workshops, guest speakers, attending community events, community engagement & advocacy, and also volunteering opportunities for our students. Workforce Development is a huge part of programming in efforts to prepare our young people for the workforce of today and the future. Two of our signature annual events are our Etiquette Dinner and Speed Networking experiences that allow our students to organically build their networking skills and developed a local network of professionals. These organic connections consistently create new opportunities for our students that are meaningful and contribute to their professional development. Another signature event of ours is our annual Back to School Celebration, where we provide free haircuts/styles, backpacks with school supplies, and access to community resources. 

We are most proud of our students that accept and implement the information. This has come full circle in our students being employed locally with great companies and also our alumni students coming back and volunteering their time with our current students. We always express the responsibility we all have to mentor a young person in our community, and when alumni students comeback to mentor is surely one of our proudest moments. Also, we have taken students to the state capital to advocated with lawmakers on issues important to our students. Words can’t express the pride we felt in that moment advocating at the highest local level on how to reduce tobacco-targeted marketing to minors. It was a powerful experience! 

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
People can collaborate with us in several really easy ways.  

1. Visit our website and complete our Contact Us link to setup an exploratory call with one of our team members https://www.endlessopportunities.org/contact

2. Sign up to be a Guest Speaker at one of our Sessions

3. Invite us to your organization for a tour, dinner, and discussion with our young people

4. Refer students to our program

5. Financially donate to our organization https://www.endlessopportunities.org/checkout/donate?donatePageId=5f7f70c84a6b4014ff476966

Contact Info:

• Website: endlessopportunities.org
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EndlessOpportunitiesMI

Image Credits
Tiffany Fant-Mo’Photography