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The Rye Brook event was attended by more than 100 people including staff, board members, founding and potential donors, friends of the organization as well as Steer’s 21 student-athletes and their families.
The evening's festivities were led by Steer Coordinator Byron Womack and Co-chairman Mike Eck.
Lloyd Campbell, currently a consultant for Spencer Stuart, a global executive search firm, was keynote speaker.
Nationally-recognized for his inspirational talks, Campbell has spent more than 20 years giving speeches to a wide range of audiences including students, corporate board members and inmates.
Eck said Campbell’s keynote speech "captivated our audience." It focused on overcoming obstacles and the ability to sacrifice what it takes to achieve desired goals.
Campbell's uncle, Harry A. Sheppard, served in World War II as a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American military aviators in the United States Armed Forces. Campbell shared a video detailing the aviators' impressive record despite facing frequent and threatening resistance to their presence in the formerly all-white Army Air Corps.
Campbell combined a message of attaining one's goals while stressing the importance of giving back.
“It is not about what you are, but who you are," Campbell said.
Campbell's version of success is not solely based upon individual accomplishments, but rather making a difference in other people's lives.
Paired with this sentiment, Campbell challenged this generation of Steer students "to pay it forward." He urged that after high school graduation they make sure to give back and mentor the next generation of Steer students.
Steer For Student Athletes is in its third school year of operation. Currently, there are 21 students in the Steer program, in grades eight through 12. The organization now operates in three schools and school districts: Port Chester High School (Port Chester-Rye Union Free School District), Palisade Preparatory School (Yonkers Public School District) and Urban Assembly School for Careers in Sports (New York City Public School District).
The primary mission of Steer is to inspire at-risk student-athletes and their families to achieve sustainable positive outcomes.
Steer recently launched a fundraising Campaign to support 100 student-athletes in its program by 2020. For details on how to support this campaign and mission, click here.
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