Michael Johnson Foundation to hold Youth Empowerment Summit
Published 12:53 pm Wednesday, February 6, 2019
- Cincinnati Bengals defensive end and Dallas County alumnus Michael Johnson will serve as an ambassador for a program to put internet into public housing.
The Michael Johnson Foundation will be having its Youth Empowerment Summit 2019 on Thursday and Friday at Wallace Community College-Selma.
The event, which starts each day at 8:30 a.m. is the year’s first program for the MJ 93/90 Foundation in Dallas County.
The summit is for high school seniors only and promising entrepreneurs will be competing for over $10,000 in pitch awards. The participants were advised to email their business plans to the MJ 93/90 Foundation by Jan. 30.
Johnson, currently a defensive end with the Cincinnati Bengals, will be discussing ways to become a success through hard work and not take any short cuts.
The topics for Thursday are empowerment focus, empowerment talks, social media, integrity over popularity, self-esteem, team building, your dream is your reality-not a reality show, you can be a millionaire (without being famous or selling drugs), money management, college prep and entrepreneurship.
A Shark Tank competition will be held on Friday.
Thomasene Johnson, who helps her son run the MJ 93/90 foundation, said its part of Johnson’s plan of helping the community.
“I’m proud of Michael,” Johnson said. “He loves the kids and always wants to help them. The Summit is a continuation of that. He wants to give back.”
Johnson graduated from Dallas County High School in 2005 and was the class valedictorian. He played at Georgia Tech from 2005 to 2008. He was a third-round pick of the Bengals in the 2009 NFL Draft. Johnson earned a degree from Georgia Tech in 2015.
