“I started the OK Program to empower African American men to improve our community. I was frustrated with the high rates of incarceration, homicides and just all of the things that were plaguing our community... I realized that when you let boys know that you love them, you can let them know what you are not going to tolerate.”

Donald Northcross
Founder, OK Program
Sacramento, California

 

“A lot of the officers are on the force today because they graduated from the program and they were so intrigued and impressed with the black officers that helped them that they wanted to become police officers themselves… We talk about black lives matter; black lives will really matter when we can get the OK Program in every city in America.”

Bishop Bob Jackson
OK Program Board Chair
Oakland, California

 

“It’s not just a program that’s mentoring kids. It’s developing a relationship and bridging a gap between the police department and the community… When you have a program where the police department says, ‘We are going to partner with the community. We are going to partner with churches, we are going to partner with schools. We are not going to control this program. We are going to partner with you to address an issue dealing with African American males.’ that’s phenomenal!”

Eric Higgins, Retired Assistant Chief, Little Rock Police Department,
Little Rock, Arkansas

 

“This program has helped us because it brings in another element that wasn’t there before; a partnership with a group as strong and as powerful a link as the police department…I’d go to a national convention and stand up and give a testimonial for the OK Program for our kids. I would because I’ve been around long enough to see it work and that’s the bottom line; it works.”

Nancy Rousseau
Principal
Little Rock Central High School
Little Rock, Arkansas

“If you were looking for a program that is really going to change the attitudes of people on the streets, you need to put an OK Program in and you need to adequately fund it and adequately staff it with police officers who have a heart. They are going to reach and touch a lot of kids that otherwise are going to wind up either dead or in the penitentiary.”

Mark Stodola
Mayor
Little Rock, Arkansas

 

“The OK Program here has really been a tremendous help and has a tremendous impact on the entire culture of our school being 98 percent African American. They’ve (OK Program) been around for 25 years for a reason.”

Kino Carson
Vice Principal
West Oakland Middle School
Oakland, California

 

“The OK Program is a unique program... There’s such a waiting list, it’s unbelievable!

Jamie Mayo
Mayor
Monroe, Louisiana

 

“It (OK Program) helped me really, really bridge the gap between myself, my family and the police department…None of my siblings have ever graduated high school. The ones that grew up in the house with me. The only difference in myself and them is this program.”

Brian Miller
OK Alum, Dean of Students,
Arkansas Baptist College
Little Rock, Arkansas