Elevate Your G.A.M.E. (EYG) was founded in 2002 by Gipson Lyles (chairman of the board) and Michael Freeman (the executive director).
Michael Freeman met Gipson Lyles (principal of Compton High School in 2001) at his high school class reunion dinner in the fall of 2001. Gipson was there to make an appeal for help. Michael responded to Gipson’s appeal and went back to Compton High to meet with Principal Lyles to discuss how he might help. At that meeting, Gipson and Michael agreed to work together to launch a mentoring program at Compton High School. A few months later on April 13, 2002, Elevate Your G.A.M.E. was born with a kick-off event that matched the first set of mentors with the first set of students.
Now, over 3,000 students have been mentored since 2002 and EYG participants have a 95% graduation rate. EYG students have received scholarships and have been accepted to universities across the United States including: UCLA, USC, Tuskegee, Xavier, Pepperdine, UC Berkley, Biola and many other colleges and universities.
To date we have facilitated mentoring programs on the campuses of Browning, Cabrillo, Centennial, Compton, Crenshaw, Dominguez, Harbor Teacher Prep., Frederick Douglass Academy, Lakewood, Long Beach Poly, Reid, Long Beach Wilson, Poly PAAL, and View Park Prep. We also, for many years, conducted a mentoring program in the Northpointe Apartments (Long Beach).
Elevate Your G.A.M.E.'s ultimate goal is to spark a movement of mentoring that spreads into every urban community in America, through partnerships with others who have connections with urban youth.
