Events

UPCOMING EVENTS

The Boys Are Talking Forum 2019
at
The University of Colorado Denver

Thursday, October 24th at 6pm

Keynote: NFL Legend Steve Atwater

An Advocacy & Awareness Forum About Young Men and Boys of Color

2019 Honorees

Troy Grimes

Michael Giles

Dr. Nita Mosby Tyler

Because it's clear that young men and boys of color are in a crisis, we as educators, policy makers, parents, school designers, and community activists design "intervention" programs with the best intentions. However, we often get frustrated with the lack of results or outright failure of some of our initiatives when the outcomes are not what we expected. We may find that the problem is in our planning. Too often we plan initiatives for young men without consulting the young men themselves. "The Boys Are Talking" Forum is designed to give the young men a seat at the table with those who design programs, schools, and policies affecting them. The forum provides a platform for young men to share and describe the structures, in our schools and communities, that have helped them reach their goals and achieve success, as well as those structures that have hindered them.

The Boys Are Talking Forum 2018
at
The University of Colorado Denver

Monday, March 19th at 6pm

You are invited to join us and Mayor Michael B. Hancock at our 3rd Annual Boys Are Talking Forum.

What is the Boys Are Talking Forum?
This forum is designed to allow young men of color, serving on a panel from grades 6-12, to highlight the structures in their schools and in their community that support their success, as well as those that hinder their success.

What’s the Motivation Behind The Forum?
Each year we see thousands of young men of color fail out of school for various reasons. We read report after report that highlights the discrepancies between the performance, truancy rates, suspension and expulsion rates, and special education placement between boys of color and the rest of the student body. Too often we make assumptions about what our young men need when designing support initiatives or schools without consulting the young men themselves. This forum gives you a front row seat to what the boys think!

Watch This Video About The Forum

Our Sponsors

Our Past Events

The Boys Are Talking Forum - Cherry Creek 2017

What an absolutely amazing evening spent with the young men of Cherry Creek school district at Smoky Hill High School Wednesday April 26, 2017. The 2nd annual "Boys Are Talking Forum-Cherry Creek" was a huge success because of the spirit of these young men in advocating for themselves as well as the amazing attendance of over 200 people to hear, learn, and support this effort and these young men. Through humor, genuine concern, inquisition, and sheer brilliance, the young men really stood tall as they told their individual stories about being young men of color and how that impacts their experiences in school, the community, and with law enforcement. With a super engaged audience who asked the young men some thought provoking questions, they brilliantly navigated the tough topics of culture and race with absolute candor. They truly spoke their truth!

As the CEO of the Sims-Fayola Foundation and on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Foundation, I am truly overjoyed with the event and hopeful for the young men of the Cherry Creek school district. This is the beginning of a very powerful partnership to improve the life outcomes of the young men of color in that district.

Our hope is that this forum provided a platform for the many educators and administrators that were in attendance to discover the value of including these young men in the school design and culture process. It's time that we include the young men in the conversations and solutions that are being designed for them!

WE GIVE THANKS TO:
1. CU Denver for serving as our higher education sponsor and providing a wonderful dinner from Jim & Nick's barbecue. Each of these issues discussed impacts these young men's access to higher education.
2. Mike Giles, Executive Director of the Office of Inclusive Excellence for Cherry Creek Schools for allowing this event to be one of the tools you use to create inclusive excellence in the district.
3. Jonathan McMillan, Founder of Be Better Than Average, for co-moderating this amazing event and your brilliant and unapologetic way of commanding and managing a crowd to get to the heart of an issue.

A BIG THANK YOU TO:
Mr. Omar Montgomery, Director, Black Student Services Adjunct Professor, Ethnic Studies Department University of Colorado at Denver. Words cannot express the impact of the message that you gave. It was a very high impact, but practical message about life that inspired both students and adults alike! Omar is also the new & Founder of LeaderVate and the new President of the Aurora NAACP Chapter.

Until 2018, enjoy some photos from the event and let's keep the BOYS TALKING!

The Boys Are Talking Forum - Potter's House Denver 2016

On Thursday, July 21, 2016, the Sims-Fayola Foundation hosted its first community event, "The Boys are Talking" Forum at The Potter's House of Denver. The Sims-Fayola Foundation is committed to the work of advocating, educating, and working with communities to directly address the life issues directly threatening the success of young men.

Each year we see thousands of young men fail out of school for various reasons. We read report after report that highlights the discrepancies between their academic performance, truancy rates, suspension and expulsion rates, and the special education placement between boys versus girls.

"The Boys are Talking" Forum provided a platform for young men, who served on the panel, to engage the broader Metro Denver community as they shared with the 85 attendees present the specific details of educational and societal structures that have helped them experience success in school and beyond! We are grateful for the attendees from the Aurora Police Department as well! We understand the importance of engaging law enforcement as a part of the community, or common unity, in order to achieve our mission to "improve the life outcomes of urban males in K-12 grades."

Thank you to all who attended! See you next year at the 2017 Boys Are Talking Forum

The Coats And Coffee Coat Drive

On Black Friday, the Sims-Fayola Foundation, Coldwell Banker Realtors, the National Realtors Association, and Coffee at The Point partnered to provide 100 coats to our Denver community veterans and homeless. We are grateful to those who donated coats and partnered with us in this endeavor! See the pictures below to get a sense of how the day went!

"Swinging For The Boys" Golf Tournament

Our CEO will be roaming the course and using his 9.6 handicap to hit some shots for you for a small fee! This is a shot of Dedrick Sims getting ready!

We are very excited to be the beneficiaries of the SWINGERS 7th Annual Charity Golf Tournament at beautiful Arrowhead Golf Club, which took place August 19, 2017! In collaboration with SWINGERS restaurant, the Sims-Fayola Foundation featured our first annual Swinging For The Boys golf tournament benefiting the programming that supports our work with young men in schools in Colorado.

Arrowhead Golf Club's magnificent Robert Trent Jones, Sr./Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed championship layout served as the host of the golf tournament. With 300 million years in the making, Arrowhead is known for featuring extreme elevation changes, abundant wildlife, and thousands of feet of ancient red sandstone rocks towering majestically above the fairways. Arrowhead is one of the top 10 most-photographed golf courses in the world, has been voted the #1 public golf course in the Denver area, and has been rated as one of America's "Top 75 Public Courses" by Golf Digest. Arrowhead is sure to provide you with the golf experience of a lifetime!

Sponsorships are the lifeblood of any golf tournament. Consider being a sponsor for our future events! See sponsorship opportunities below and click on the sponsorship opportunity to sponsor at the level that's comfortable for you or your business. You will be directed to our PayPal page to lock in your sponsorship opportunity and someone from our Golf Committee will contact you to discuss logistics.

As a 501(c)3 organization, your sponsorship donation is tax-deductible!

We Would Like To Thank:

The Sims-Fayola Foundation would like to thank all of those who participated in delivering a targeted, candid, and impactful message for all in attendance. We were able to broadcast
"The Boys are Talking" Forum via Facebook Live.

Hill Harper, actor and education activist, delivered a special introduction video for all attendees. Ty McKay, Denver native, served as the opening speaker. We would also like to thank our panelists for candidly sharing their experiences and the structures that support their success. We are also thankful for the leadership and vision of our Founder/CEO, Dedrick Sims!

Impressions from "The Boys are Talking" Forum - Potter's House

"We'd like to see "The Boys are Talking" Forum at schools
during the school year!"
-Angela Garcia

"The panelists did a great job. They were very passionate
in sharing their experiences and spoke candidly
about the issues of education and the factors
that threatened their success as young men."
-Djuana Harvel

"The Forum was insightful, educational, refreshingly honest, and an unique opportunity for the young men to express their thoughts and opinions about education, social issues,
parent-child relationships and more."
-Jonathan McMillan