Abasi Clinton, Founder, Executive Director & President
In late 2013, Mr. Clinton, Co-Founder, along with Alan Jenkins Jr, developed the idea of combining Academics and Sports into one organization for Baltimore area youth. After each of their eldest sons 1st full season of contact football, they felt that the children’s experience could’ve been enriched by adding more educational activities. Thus, in 2015, ‘Your Future Leaders, Inc.’ (YFL) was formed. YFL is a solution not only for children that enjoy athletics, but also for kids that need added support in achieving today's academics standards.
Mr. Clinton is an honorably discharged Veteran with the US Army Signal Corp. Before the military, he spent time working for his parents at a family-owned group home. There, he had his first experience with children that were wards of the State. Based on his experience, and with an understanding of these children's struggles, Mr. Clinton desired to develop a more constructive way to reach out to this population.
Mr. Clinton established a Network Security Consultant company in 2012. He lives in Cockeysvile, MD and has enjoyed watching his 3 children grow up. He wants to provide more opportunity and a better experince to other children that may be growing up in more challenging circumstances.
Alan Jenkins, Co-Founder, Deputy Director & Vice President
Mr. Jenkins, Co-Founder, has been volunteering since elementary school, giving of his time energy and creativity. He's done it all: hall monitoring, peer mediation, journalism, photography, and poetry. He is a giver, an innovator, a dreamer. He is a life long Volunteer: From helping the old lady with her bags; to talking friends out of suicide; to whole hearted participation in different outreach organizations, such as the Hope Player's and the links program. In his high school years, he developed short screen plays to provide youth with a visual platform to both make sense of the many obstacles in their environment, and to provide them with tools to improve their lives. His background in the arts and his empathetic spirit, are the foundation for his core belief that creativity leads to finding solutions to life's most paramount barriers.
Darryl Stevens, Deputy Director & Chief Director
Mr. Stevens was born in the suburbs of Washington, DC to humble beginnings. In the early 1980s, drugs hit the black community disproportionately hard and the war on drugs that followed, decimated the black community. Within this context, Mr. Stevens world view was shaped. Not one to become a victim of this environment, Mr. Stevens went on to obtain a B.S. in Information Sciences and Technology from the Pennsylvania State University, and an M.S. in Computer Science from George Washington University. He has ten years of professional experience working to solve the cyber security challenges of the 21st century. Mr. Stevens has authored a number of articles and whitepapers within the Cybersecurity space: Secure Privileged Access Management, Secure the Application in Development: A Pro-Active Approach, Review of the USMC Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) Integrated Data Environment (IDE) Initiative: Security Analysis and Accessibility Issues.
In 2012, Mr. Stevens started a Cyber Security consulting firm. He serves on the board of directors for the Maryland Umbrella Group (MUG), a not for profit organization responsible for spreading the efficiency of technology to inner city families. With his wife and 2 children, Mr. Stevens is actively involved in his church, Reid Temple A.M.E. and supports many youth focused initiatives back in the community where he grew up.
Jason Costner, Executive Financial Officer & Treasurer
Mr. Costner was born into a military family and lived in 5 different states before he turned 13 years old. He used sports (baseball, football, and track) to develop relationships and to learn the importance of teamwork, competition, and dedication.
Mr. Costner is a Certified Financial Planner and the Director of Wealth Management at Weil, Akman, Baylin and Coleman (WABC). Jason achieved his Bachelors of Science in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992; he received his MBA (Finance) from the University of Maryland in 2002.
He lives in Perry Hall, MD and is married with 3 children.
Sylvie Parson, Executive Administrator & Secretary
A native of Baltimore City, Maryland, Mrs. Parson started as a youth mentor at age 15. At an early age, her grandfather, the late Dr. James A. Parson Sr., a civil rights and community leader instilled the values and principles of being selfless and giving back. Sylvie’s beliefs are that children are not only our future, but they are our now! She believes that it takes a community effort in order to help the youth win.
Mrs. Parson received her primary education in the Baltimore City Catholic School system, and is currently completing her Master’s Degree at American Intercontinental University. She currently works for the Youth Advocate Program in Baltimore, where she advocates for troubled youth in the Department of Juvenile Justice System. Sylvie has also held volunteer positions at other organizations as secretary, youth leader/mentor, treasurer and fundraising director. She believes that in order to truly help others, it takes the right heart and patience.
Binta Gallman, Director of Competition Cheerleading
Ms. Gallman is a cheer coach who believes that cheerleading is more than a sport, it is an attitude! She was a cheerleader at the University of Pittsburgh and at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute (Poly). She has over 10 years of dance experience in areas of Ballet, Jazz, Modern, and African. She also has experience as a performer, choreographer and teacher. She is a Baltimore Native and the proud mother of two amazing daughters. She is currently the Head Junior Varsity Cheer Coach at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School and previously was the head cheer coach at Elite Youth Training Spartans.
Terrell (Pete) Lyles, Director of Football
Mr. Lyles has been coaching and managing athletics since 2007. As a graduate of The United States Sports Academy with a B.S. in Sport management, Pete Lyles began his career in Physical Education working with Elementary School children. In 2010, he began his coaching career with St. Frances Academy and served as Assistant Coach/Athlete Development with the Varsity Boys Basketball. In 2011, Pete became the first Athletic Director for The Pen Lucy Action Network, a non-profit organization geared towards the academic success of students in the Pen Lucy community of East Baltimore. In this time, he created 3 sport leagues, partnered with Christian Youth Athletics, Y of Central Maryland, and served over 200 youth participants of his programs. Pete Lyles will continue his dedicated work to improving the well-being of scholar athletes and communities as the Football Director for Your Future Leaders Inc.