Sound Business, Inc. uses music to help teens launch college careers and more
HARLEM, Manhattan (WABC) -- Charles Thompson's non-profit organization, Sound Business Incorporated (SBI), has helped thousands of students find a clear path to college and successful careers.
Many students who participate in SBI come from low-income communities.
"More kids are looking at 'I don't know if that's even a reality for me,'" said Thompson. "So you have to start back trying to make the case, 'We can make that possible for you, and here's why you need to do it."
SBI is located at the A. Philip Randolph Campus High School in Harlem, where educators work closely with 9th and 10th grade students.
The organization started 33 years ago as a way to help youngsters get into the music industry.
It has evolved since then, hooking students with its musical productions and keeping them engaged with college access services, technology programs and more.
Now SBI is expanding the program to four other middle schools in Harlem.
"We have 150 kids in 12 performance ensembles after school two days a week," Thompson said.
Many of the program's graduates not only come back, they give back.
Stephanie Akunvabey is the chief diversity officer for Pace University and an SBI alumna.
Her office is located in the same halls she grew up in, now bridging the gap to university.
"I was a first generation college student, the first in my family to go to college, and so my time here at SBI really helped me start to understand the higher education landscape and what my opportunities after high school would actually be," she said. "The piece about the arts and being able to perform onstage helped build a confidence that was really key."
Now a new generation is leading SBI.
CEO and executive director Dr. Kelly Downing started his career teaching at Randolph High.
"We allow them to have agency and allow them to understand that they take up space," said Downing, "and they should be comfortable taking up space any room that they enter into."
Students say they are grateful for the guidance.
And it's rewarding work for these educators.
"We don't want students just to be successful, just to go out and get the job," said Downing. "We want them to find what it is that brings them joy."
For more on SBI and how to help with their mission, visit www.soundbusiness.org
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