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Empowered Youth Programs

The aim of Empowered Youth Programs is to develop and nurture academic and social excellence in children and adolescents. We believe that every student should have post-secondary education as an option.

Our Programs

Gentlemen On The MoveTargeting African American males, this initiative has as its ultimate goal the enhancement of academic performance. This goal is achieved by providing positive role models, academically challenging the students, and engaging culturally relevant strategies.
Young Women ScholarsMirroring Project: GOTM, this program addresses the needs of young women as they navigate through the rigors of the educational system. As with the males, positive role models are pivotal to the success of this program.
Parents of Empowered YouthParental involvement is required for students enrolled in Empowered Youth Programs. Parents meet on a regular basis to explore areas of concern as well as to highlight helpful strategies and formulate other types of support for the students.

Core Components

Mandatory Saturday Academy

Concurrent with the academic year, the Saturday Academy is held in the College of Education on the campus of the University of Georgia. The academy includes rotations and individual tutoring. Certified teachers and graduate students serve as instructors, tutors, and advisors each Saturday. The main purpose of the Saturday Academy is to assist Empowered Youth participants in mastering the core competencies in academic courses that serve as pre-requisites for advanced-level academic courses. Our goal is to have each participant post-secondary ready upon high school graduation.

Summer Academy

This one-week academy meets Monday through Friday for five days and concludes with a three-day camping trip. Activities include academics, field trips, tutoring, team-building exercises, problem-solving, communication skills enhancement, decision making, and interaction with special guests and former EYP students who are now in college. Past summer academies have taken place on the UGA campus, as well as in Savannah, Georgia, and Chattanooga, Tennessee. We are anticipating our next summer academy will take place in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Fall and Spring Intersession

The Fall and Spring Intersessions are components of EYP. Students who fail to make satisfactory progress during the semester, either academically or behaviorally, can be required to participate in the intersession program. Parents can also enroll their students in intersession. During intersession students, complete schoolwork, participate in community service, or other physical work deemed appropriate by the director and parents.

Fall and Spring Exam Lock-Ins

The Fall and Spring Exam Lock-Ins are a key component to Empowered Youth Programs for our High School students. All EYP High School students are required to attend the two-day Lock-In prior to their final exam week each semester. The weekend lock-in is composed of intense study sessions and review sessions with certified teachers and graduate students. The goal of these weekends is to provide our students with focused exam preparation that not only prepares them for their final exams but models effective study techniques and habits for college exams.

Academic Monitoring

In addition to the academic rotations and tutoring, our students are assigned an academic advisor as part of the academic monitoring program. Advisors are either master’s level school counselors in training or teachers from the local school district. This component of the Empowered Youth Programs: Partnerships for Enhancing Postsecondary Outcomes ensures that participants are on track for enrollment in a postsecondary institution regardless of their grade level. Academic advisors are responsible for collecting data such as ACT/PSAT/SAT scores on a yearly basis, school progress reports quarterly, and EYP academic monitoring forms (AMFs). AMFs give teachers the opportunity to provide feedback on the academic and social/behavior performance of program participants. Feedback from the AMFs also helps academic advisors ensure that students are attending after-school tutoring as well as completing special projects and assignments assigned by their teachers that may require more independent work. Data collected become a part of each participant’s academic advisement plan.

Summer Academy

The Summer Academy provides a positive group experience that combines travel with academic and cultural enrichment. Previous Summer Academies have included trips to Sydney, Australia, Washington, D.C., Savannah and Skidaway Island, Georgia, the Tennessee Aquarium, and camping spots in the mountains of North Carolina and Georgia. Careful planning allows for structured activities throughout the course of the Summer Academy and ensures that several personal, social, and academic challenges are directly addressed. Such trips foster the opportunity for students to have definite boundaries in place that go hand-in-hand with high expectations relative to individual and group behavior.

Program History

Gentlemen on the Move was first developed in North Carolina by Dr. Deryl Bailey, currently an associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Development Services at the University of Georgia. Initially, this program targeted African American adolescents males in grades 9 through 12 grade. The program has since expanded (Empowered Youth Programs) to include male and female students in grades K-12. The program focuses on providing developmental and comprehensive support for students along with individual and group counseling. In addition to the Saturday Academy, intensive weekend-long (overnight) Exam Lock-Ins for high school participants are held prior to final semester exams, twice a year.

Robert and Sarah Bradbury Commitment to Excellence Award

The Robert and Sarah Bradbury Commitment to Excellence Award is presented to students who meet the following criteria:

  1. Be a high school senior in good standing and on target for on-time graduation.
  2. Have participated in Empowered Youth Programs for two consecutive semesters.
  3. Attended a minimum of 90% of the Saturday Academies.
  4. Have shown a commitment to their academic and social development.
  5. Provide evidence of a well-developed post-secondary plan.

Useful Links

Publications and Supporting Data

Dr. Deryl F. Bailey

The founder of Empowered Youth Programs is an associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Development Services at the University of Georgia. Dr. Bailey spent 10 years as a high school counselor and is in his 15th year as a university professor. He was the 2011-2012 president of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES). which is the largest division within the American Counseling Association (ACA). Dr. Bailey has received numerous awards for his work in the counseling profession and for his work with Empowered Youth Programs (EYP). On March 25th, 2011 he received notification that he had been selected as the recipient of the 2011 Professional Advancement Award from the Association for Specialists in Group Work (ASGW). This award recognizes the outstanding activities of an individual who has helped advance the field of group work through research, development of new techniques or theories, public relations, legislative activities, or group work practice. In 2012 Dr. Bailey was selected as the William Allan Boeing Endowed Chair and Distinguished Professor of Education at Seattle University in Seattle, Washington. As the Endowed Chair, Dr. Bailey spent the Fall semester as a consultant for the Seattle Youth Initiative, visiting schools, guest lecturing in classes at Seattle University meeting with superintendents and other school administrators. In addition to these activities, Dr. Bailey delivered three presentations to the Seattle community regarding his work with Empowered Youth Programs.

Dr. Mary E. Bradbury-Bailey

Co-founder of Empowered Youth Programs, Dr. Bradbury-Bailey has been a science educator for 35 years in NC, VA, and GA, and won either school or district-wide Teacher of the Year in every state that she has taught. In 2004, Dr. Bradbury-Bailey was one of 12 semi-finalists for the Teacher of the Year honor for the state of Georgia. Currently, she serves as the Science Educator at Cedar Shoals High School. On December 14, 2012, Dr. Bradbury-Bailey graduated from Piedmont College with her doctorate degree in Teaching and Learning. She is now lovingly known as “Ms. Dr. Bailey.”

Contact Info

Founder and Director: Deryl Flynn Bailey
  • Phone: 706-583-0126
402 Aderhold Hall University of Georgia Athens, Georgia 30602
© University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602
706‑542‑3000