Age: 29
OK Program Coordinator
Topeka Police Department
As coordinator of the Our Kids (OK) Program, Tim Bell sees the good that can come from people investing their time and energy into today’s youth. He works tirelessly with over 200 young men in Topeka Public Schools who are growing up in ‘at-risk’ homes to help them become the most productive citizens possible.
He goes a step beyond the classroom as he coaches young men on the Highland Park High School football team. Inside and outside of school, he is connecting kids with their passions by serving as a board member of the Hospitality Incubator Program and mentoring through the New Horizon Let’s Code Program.
“I hope I leave behind a legacy of kindness
and forgiveness that lives on in my
family and children that I mentor.”
What is the most important characteristic that every leader should possess? Kindness. I believe kind leaders can inspire and encourage those being led to greater things by treating them uncommonly well.
What is your motivation? Love. I have a strong general sense of love for my fellow man. I don’t have to know you to want the best for you. In my profession, any day could be my last. To give your life for a stranger is a foreign concept to most, but the value I put on human life is tremendous because of the love I have for my community and the people in it.
Best advice you have received? “You get out what you put in,” Brad Nicks. Ever since I was a 14-year-old boy, this stuck with me from my high school coach. This is true for so many things in life, be it your personal relationships, work or athletics. They’ll only be as good as the work you’re willing to put into them.