The Standout Experience

On the Standout Experience, we like to have entrepreneurs and movers, and shakers. We also love to feature individuals who are standing out in their communities and are making a difference. Charles Curtis Thomas and Shawn Kim fit that description perfectly.

Charles and Shawn have traveled a similar path on their journey. Both understand the challenges unique to being immigrants/children of immigrants. Both have walked the walk being a Person of Color (POC) in American during one of the most racially charged seasons in modern history. Rather than giving up or becoming bitter, they are making a difference. They have channeled their experience, their past, and their challenges into an amazing non-profit: PRAIS. Both seniors at the University of Pennsylvania, Charles and Shawn are on a mission to make sure that individuals are aware of the conversations that need to take place and that those conversations are happening. 

PRAIS stands for Promoting Racial Awareness in Schools. The mission: educate, evaluate and equip schools to tackle the topics necessary to progress in areas of diversity and inclusion. By being a voice for the voiceless and providing practical, specialized game plans, they hope to inform and empower students and schools alike to open necessary lines in communication and advancement. 

By sharing their journey, their faith, and their hard-earned lessons, Charles and Shawn are opening doors for those around them. They have turned their past struggles and their present gratitude into motivating factors. Understanding that every journey is unique and using your own experiences to empathize with those around you will help you to respect your fellow man. If, as a society, we can respect and value those around us, the world will be a better place.

If you can take anything away from Charles and Shawn and apply it immediately, it is this: Examine your surroundings, your networks, and the conversations that you are having. Are the necessary conversations about diversity and inclusion coming up? How can you open the conversation? Also, take time to reflect and use your own experience to empathize with those around you. Love those who have dealt poorly with you. Forgive and respect one another, regardless of background. 

 Rise. Shine. Impact. Be grateful and respect all...

Resources

Mother Teresa’s “Anyway” Poem

Connect with Charles and Shawn

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/praisproject/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC81CyUJGC2n8luPJkO8IKZQ

Email: praisorg@gmail.com

Connect with John:

www.standoutmovement.com

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/johnwalsh_standout 

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrwalshjr 

Twitter - https://twitter.com/johnwstandout