BMBS Exposure, Experience, & Education Empowerment (BE4) Tour

Current Tour Plans (2023)

Bricks Mortar Broom & Shield, Inc is once again looking to host a BE4 Tour! We have doubled our participation and have been blessed to be able to invite a more gender diverse group of students to visit Norfolk State University, Old Dominion University, Morgan State University, Wake Forest University, Winston Salem State University and North Carolina A&T University. While in D.C., the students will also tour the Capitol Hill area, as well as visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture and have an opportunity to experience the Harlem Globe Trotters and Busch Gardens on our other stops. Similar to the previous tour, we will engage the kids on life, ultimately hoping to expand their dreams to realize there is so much more to this world that is waiting for them to conquer. Our goal is to continue growing, putting on this tour at no financial costs to the families, and eventually be able to provide scholarships. For that, we need your help!

Last Year's Recap (2022)

Within a week, we visited several Historically Black Colleges/Universities (HBCUs) and Predominately White Institutions (PWIs){ in North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. The young men had dinners with a Marine, a dual Masters degree holder, 2 tech employees at top 5 tech companies, and an entrepreneur who was born and raised in a trailer park home and later became a self-made millionaire. Additionally, we held a final separate follow-up business casual dinner at an upscale restaurant where we spoke about different aspects of life, etiquette and awareness, their future goals and dreams, and shared pointers for success. Our goal is to not only expand the students minds to what is possible but to also teach them multiple ways on how they can achieve it.

Origin Story

In 2022 I had a goal of getting a group of kids from the Hartford, CT area together and taking them on a trip to tour colleges and see life from a different perspective. Born and raised in the Hartford county area, I saw first-hand how economical circumstances played a major role in a family’s ability to expose their children to life outside of their normal environment. While in high school, I was privileged to be amongst a group of students from different schools around CT to partake in a college tour. Between the experience on that tour, and having an opportunity to spend time in Atlanta, GA on a short family trip, I learned how critical exposure to new environments is to one’s growth. For that reason, my brother and I coordinated the first BMBS Exposure, Experience and Education Empowerment (BE4) tour back in April for a small group of young men from the Hartford, CT area.