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We enrich lives through the arts; our mission is to transform and develop hearts and minds of at-risk youth using the arts to inspire critical self-reflection and self-improvement.
Alternative Intervention Models envisions an educational system transformed at its core to recognize the value of "heART Education": educating the hearts of youth and instilling emotional literacy through training in the arts.
Education is a journey of self exploration as well as an exploration of our relationship to the world around us. Through the process of heART education we help youth examine their purpose and relevance in life. We believe that the most powerful and most effective way to positively effect the minds of youth is to first reach them via the heart with art being the most effective tool. In a time of tremendous pain and struggle globally, it is through the study of arts and the artist that we learn our humanity and develop the skills necessary to heal our diverse communities emotionally while uniting them around shared experiences and values.
Education
A lifelong process of developing individuals technically, emotionally, physically, spiritually and otherwise to reach their full potential.
Love
The most powerful force in life, the catalyst of all of our work and art.
Creativity
A character trait with which we are all born; we believe we are all called to express our unique creativity.
Respect
Being aware of and valuing the diversity of other individuals, other cultures, other ways of life.
Empathy
The arts are a tool that help us understand and relate to each other; heART education teaches greater empathy.
Community
It takes a village to raise a child; we live in a global village and are responsible for modeling the best examples for the youth.
Accountability
Through difficult and controversial conversations using the arts, we help each other become accountable for ourselves and each other.
Alternative Intervention Models began in 1989 with a group of seven artists under the direction of Leila Steinberg as simply a collective of individuals determined to utilize their art to create positive social change. Tupac Shakur was one of those founding members, a quintessential example of the at-risk youth Leila has always sought to mentor, and he remains an inspirational force in AIM. The core values and the fundamental commitments shared among the members were art, social justice, and human development.
In 1996 AIM was incorporated as Assemblies In Motion, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in California. In 2009, AIM officially changed its name to Alternative Intervention Models to reflect twenty years of creating and implementing a sustainable model of community-based programs designed to positively intervene in the lives of at-risk youth. The core processes and programs of AIM's heART education method has been distilled into a duplicable curriculum that has been and will continue to be distributed to national and international community partners, juvenile justice facility coordinators, high school educators, as well as others. The curriculum is specifically targeted to assist those who value access to 25 years of experience using the arts to affect lives collected and presented in a way that can be tailored to each unique community of artists and at-risk youth. We never lose sight of the fact that we are all artists, including the diverse youth we serve; every youth, mother, father, teacher, doctor, lawyer, judge, social worker needs to access the pure power of the arts to reach the hearts of youth, develop their minds, and influence them to make healthy life decisions.
The core intervention programs that we currently operate are:
Artist Intervention - In our Artist intervention programs we hold assemblies at elementary schools, high school, and colleges designed for the specific audiences at these various locations based on the issues that they need to address in their communities. We also operate Mic Sessions workshops at juvenile facilities, community centers, prisons, group homes, and other locations. Artist educators, a diverse selection of music artists perform at assemblies and at Mic Sessions workshops, and focus on unifying members of these various communities using music to breakdown barriers and open lines of communication and freedom of self-expression.
Dance Intervention - Karina Smirnoff heads up our Dance Intervention program, working with youth who find dance and movement as their chosen form of artistic self-expression. This program teaches consistency, dedication, attention to detail, and healthy physical and emotional lifestyle.
Athletic Intervention - AIM's Athletic Intervention programs currently include basketball, yoga, and fitness training. Ahmad Clayton directs our Athletic Intervention program, bringing a unique form of basketball training to at-risk youth that focuses on providing a high quality alternative option to high cost athletic after school programs. AIM's Athletic Intervention programs help youth grow technically, emotionally, and physically while instilling values such as teamwork, strength, healthy-diet, non-violence, positive work ethic, and good sportsmanship.
Acting Intervention - AIM's Acting Intervention program features guest lectures and workshops from highly experienced film industry professionals that train actors/actresses as artists in every facet of the film entertainment business. Focused mostly on aspiring teenage and young adult actors/actresses, the Acting Intervention program provides mentors, skill training, and career guidance. One of the major goals is to engage these youth and help them learn to tell their narrative and their communities narrative through their work.
Media Intervention - AIM's Media Intervention program provides education in traditional media and new media technology, teaching youth about the resources that are accessible to them within and outside of their communities. We show youth how to effectively communicate on a local and global level using new media and a host of collaborative methods made available via the internet and related technologies.
In the future, AIM plans to continue to expand its reach beyond its core locality in Los Angeles by initiating branches in the major metropolitan areas of the United States. Additionally, AIM will be collaborating with foreign partners to water the seeds of heART education that have been planted in various locations around the globe, sharing Leila's curriculum and providing guidance and support. AIM also has an executive position dedicated to local and national strategic partnerships. It is through these partnerships that communities around the U.S. will reap the benefit of multiple arts & social justice organizations working in concert to provide top quality arts education alternatives to those youth who otherwise would have no access.
Leila Steinberg
Founder and President
Leila Steinberg is the founder of Alternative Intervention Models (AIM), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization started in 1989 to use the power of The Arts to heal, inspire, and develop the hearts and minds of talented at-risk youth.
Steinberg is an artist and community organizer who began working with youth twenty years ago in the San Francisco Bay area. As the daughter of a criminal defense attorney, she grew up surrounded by the workings of the justice system and took a front row seat at the personal tragedies and socio-economic pressures that turn so many at-risk youths into hardened felons.
Steinberg is committed to helping people who fall through the cracks of society. In 1995 she began a series of specialized programs for youth within the juvenile justice system and those residing in residential treatment facilities.
Steinberg has demonstrated an unflinching commitment to serving those in need, from convicts in San Quentin, gang members in and out of the LA juvenile system, to students in Sheffield, England. Steinberg's arts-based curriculum began as poetry circles, blossomed into school assemblies and has matured into intensive workshops designed for at-risk youth in schools, juvenile halls and residential treatment facilities.
High school drop-out rates in urban America are staggering. The combination of growing up poor surrounded by violence and attending public schools that only offer traditional methods of teaching isn't working. Leila Steinberg started working with youth and the arts when arts funding in public schools was slashed as a result of budget cuts, rightly sensing this was a very bad decision.
As a mother of four, Steinberg knows the impact song lyrics have on children. As a professional in the music industry, she recognized the growing significance of hip-hop on youth culture. When rap music emerged, it was denied air play on commercial radio. Leila Steinberg took hip-hop artists to high school assemblies. When she founded AIM, she named it after these school assemblies.
In 2001, Mr. John Hill, Chief of Staff for LA County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke introduced AIM to Ms. Burke. Her office requested a series of assemblies for LAUSD Group Home Education Program, Youth Development Program for The Institute for Black Parenting, Families For Children, Inglewood USD's Youth Program and Beverly Hills high school Youth Leadership Council.
The success of these assemblies increased awareness of Steinberg's program and numerous requests came in for her educational workshop, The Rose From Concrete. Steinberg took that program into several locked facilities in greater Los Angeles.
She ran a workshop every Thursday in the boys juvenile detention facility in East Los Angles. The results were immediate. There was a waiting list to get in and detention center staff frequently remarked about progress made by participants. Inmates completed weekly writing assignments and read books. The Rose From Concrete program significantly diminished violence and racial tension among the participating juvenile offenders. For many participants Steinberg's program was their first experience in a safe, supportive environment and the first time they were able to divert their pain and anger away from violence into constructive behavior.
In June 2007 she traveled to the Abbydale Grange School in England where the student body is comprised of black, white and Asian students and Muslims from around the world. Leila Steinberg is a deep advocate of conflict resolution. Her approach, which has been successful in getting through to hardened criminals and young people from all walks of life, is that art can reach the soul, transform the individual, and ultimately effect positive and long-lasting change in behavior.
AIM has performed assemblies at the UCLA extension teacher's conference, Hampton University in Virginia, Pennsylvania, State's Anneneberg School of Communications, University of Southern California and University of California at Berkeley. AIM has also performed for the U.C. San Diego ethnic studies presentation, the Malibu music camp, Racial Profiling Conference, Big Bear Artist retreat, Magic Mountain Assembly and Emerging Artists and Technology in Music conference as well as at the Watts Festival and in several Chicago unified public schools.
From his humble beginnings as a homeless teen in Oakland, Leila's unparalleled closeness to hip-hop genius Tupac Shakur has been documented in several motion pictures including the critically acclaimed, Thug Angel produced by Quincy Jones III (QD3) and Leila herself. As keeper of numerous original Tupac handwritten poems, Leila carries the Tupac legacy forward in her heart via The Microphone Sessions -- an artist-development workshop to help young talent find their voice and share their passion.
Brandon "Cyrano" Tatum, Esq.
Legal Counsel
Director of Operations
Brandon "Cyrano" Tatum, Esq. joined AIM as Executive Advisor and Special Counsel in 2008. He is originally from the south side of Chicago. He is a graduate of Emory University in Atlanta and holds a B.A. in Sociology and a minor in Political Science. Cyrano has always been actively involved in community service work; at Emory he became a member of the oldest Black-Greek fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, an organization dedicated to community service. Driven by a passion to understand the order of society and the desire to provide legal services to those who could not afford legal assistance, Cyrano earned his Juris Doctorate degree and graduated near the top of his class from the University of Southern California's Gould School of Law. He continued his education in the United Kingdom at the London School of Economics and Political Science, earning his Masters in Intellectual Property law. Cyrano became a licensed attorney after passing the California Bar exam at the age of 24. Mr. Tatum worked diligently and effectively as a former associate at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP of Century City, CA. from 2005 to 2009. As Cyrano, Esq., a professional rapper and one of the most dedicated artist-educators for AIM, he has built a strong global fan base with celebrated performances in North America, the U.K., the European continent, Jordan, and more. Undoubtedly, Cyrano's passion for the plight of under-served and underprivileged communities is unwavering and is reflected in his life's work as an artist, as an attorney, and as a community servant.
Christopher-Cuben Tatum
Special Advisor
Originally from Chicago, Mr. Cuben (CC) started his passion for music in the late 1970's inspired by vintage funk, contemporary classical, imported punk, jazz fusion and the emergence affordable electronic instruments that would become the foundation of modern pop music. Fascinated by technology and the artful use of computers, CC started Concept Enterprises International in 1983 where he developed an internationally renown reputation as an expert in advanced MIDI and Digital Audio Editing. This reputation earned CC a position as the most sought after live production programmer for hit artists like Milli Vanilli, Paula Abdul, New Kids On the Block, Madonna and others.
An award nominated sound engineer, a critically acclaimed multi-platinum selling music producer, educator and progressive artist developer, CC is perhaps best known for his work on the chart topping maxi-single by R&B trio SWV, 'Right Here/Human Nature" Remix (RCA); Grammy-nominated world music sensation, Zap Mama (Warner Bros); smooth jazz legend, Art Porter (Verve); Chicago house music pioneers, Ten City (Atlantic); eclectic hip-hop innovator, Me Phi Me (RCA); and touring the world with popular singer/band, Sade. Beyond music, as politicians have become more like rock-stars, CC's experience in marketing and production have been called to advise campaigns including the historic Presidential election of fellow Chicagoan, Barack Obama (D-IL).
When not mixing, producing or consulting, Chris Cuben enjoys sharing the wisdom of decades as a mentor for young professionals around the world helping others prosper using their skills.
Dr. Mouna Mana
Director of Educational Development
Dr. Mouna Mana joined AIM as Director of Educational Development. She is involved in developing an emotional literacy curriculum for AIM, and has, in the past been responsible for assessing needs and progress of AIM participants.
Mouna is of North African origin, a native of Los Angeles, and a graduate of UCLA's School of Education. Currently, she is also a faculty researcher at the University of Maryland. She specializes in formative assessment, Arabic language education, and multicultural curricula. While an educator and researcher by training, she is a writer and poet at heart. Her unique set of linguistic, cultural, and professional skills allow her to address critical issues in education. Dr. Mana also serves as program coordinator for The Victor Pineda Foundation's Middle East Youth Initiative which addresses rights of youth with disabilities in the Middle East region.
Dr. Mana draws from both her professional and personal experiences in all her projects as she addresses learning and instruction from diverse aspects with individuals from a multitude of backgrounds. Additionally, she continues to consult for schools on a wide variety of subjects related to curriculum, instruction, assessment, and teacher professional development. She continues to be actively involved in promoting her poetry, short stories, and screenplays reflecting one Muslim woman's experiences, views, creativity, and aspirations.
Ally Ellaboudy
Director of Creative Marketing
When asked, Ally will describe herself as one hundred percent Egyptian. Born in the UK and raised in the US and Cairo, she considers herself a citizen of the world.
Ms. Ellaboudy earned a Bachelors of Architecture from California State Polytechnic University in Pomona. Throughout the course of her education, she interned at HMC, an architecture firm based in Ontario, CA. There she learned the imporance of graphics and creatively packaging a business identitiy. This knowledge, coupled with her self-taught design skills, has allowed her to step in as creative marketing director for AIM and develop a whole new logo and website design that reflects AIM's history, goals, and identity.
Ally has always expressed herself creatively and has successfully launched a line of t-shirts. She currently designs jewelry with her friend and business partner, as well as logos and websites for up and coming artists in the community.
Sarah Saeun Kim "SKIM"
Vision Development
After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film, Video and Cultural Studies from Hampshire College, SKIM took her education further in the worlds and work of community organizations and multi-media production. She has travelled regularly throughout the U.S. sharing her music, producing community projects, and directing solo and collaborative multi-media works that especially deal with transformation: mental and physical, personal and societal. Based in Los Angeles since 2002, SKIM has participated in a range of cultural, educational, and community organizations, including the Tuesday Night Project, Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance, the Labor Community Strategy Center, the Empowerment Congress, Project Blowed, and Community Coalition in South LA. She emerged as a performance artist in 2004 and continues to be invited to perform nationally at various schools, conferences, concerts and benefits, hosted by entities such as Def Poetry, Audre Lorde Project, Hip-Hop Association, Allied Media Conference, Chicago Childrens Choir, Intersections International, and more. Through the multiple facets of her work as an activist, artist educator, singer-songwriter, and cultural producer, SKIMs mission is to heal and educate herself and her community utilizing creative and artistic forms of expression and cultivating a growing network of global citizens who believe in wholistic forms of education.
After joining AIM as an artist in 2005, then training with Steinberg as an Artist Educator, and now serving on AIM's executive team, SKIM is dedicated to collectively and pro-actively refining our vision while steering our visionary ideas into daily practice.
Jody David Armour
Jody Armour is the Roy P. Crocker Professor of Law at the University of Southern California. He earned his A.B. degree in Sociology and Philosophy at Harvard University and his J.D. degree with honors from Boalt Hall Law School at the University of California, Berkeley. His book Negrophobia and Reasonable Racism: The Hidden Costs of Being Black in America, (New York University Press, 1997), received the Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award. He is currently working on a book entitled HeARTs and Minds in Blame and Punishment.
At the request of the US Department of State and European Empassies, Professor Armour toured major universities in Europe to speak about social justice as well as Hip Hop culture and the law, culminating in a unique interdisciplinary and multimedia analysis of social justice and linguistics, titled Race, Rap and Redemption.
Qunicy D. Jones, III
Quincy has collaborated with numerous world-renowned artists including, Tupac, Prince and Dr. Dre. His work has resulted in many gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums and singles. His film and television credits include scoring the influential film Menace II Society and Eddie Murphy's weekly animated comedy series for which he received an Emmy nomination. In 1993 ASCAP honored Quincy with their Composers Award for his work on Fresh Prince of Bel Air, starring Will Smith.
In 2002, Quincy started his own production company, QD3 Entertainment, focused on chronicling the many dimensions of Hip Hop culture. He has amassed one of the largest independent libraries of Hip Hop content. QD3 Entertainment is expanding online and building the first urban-oriented digital media entertainment company. See his powerful biography about superstar, Lil Wyane in "The Carter"
Phil Brock
Phil Brock received his BA in History/Kinesiology from UCLA, and his Masters in Education and Teaching Credential from LMU. He became a teacher of History, English and Psychology and coach of Baseball and Football in inner city Los Angeles high schools. Later Phil was CEO at a retail chain of contemporary design and jewelry stores.
Friends convinced Phil that he could turn his great stage presence and public speaking skills into a career as an actor. After rigorous training, he succeeded in building an impressive resume of appearances in Film, Television and Theatre. He became a proud member of SAG, AFTRA and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. His background as a coach and teacher makes him a strong motivator.
In 1995, Phil opened his own talent management firm, the Studio Talent Group. As time goes on, the ranks of actors whose careers have been enhanced through STG continue to swell in numbers. Recently, STG was voted one of the top five management firms in the country.
A Santa Monica native, Phil supports his city as a Commissioner of Parks and Recreation. He also gives many hours of his time and his expertise as an event emcee to many local charity organizations.
At the Studio Talent Group, a John Wooden Pyramid poster hangs in the front office for all to contemplate. Phil believes that the best way to meet the demands of the unpredictable entertainment industry is to follow Coach Woodens advice: be certain at the end of each day that you did everything that you could to achieve your best.
Lindsay Rielly
Lindsay Rielly co-founded Continuum Entertainment to specialize in unique films and series for television, and to have an eye for standout talent. As a managing partner of Continuum, Rielly not only runs operations at the company, but also manages talent and creates, develops & supervises the production of all in-house projects. Before founding Continuum in 2004, Rielly worked in the A&R department at Interscope, Geffen, A&M Records; in 2000 Rielly met Leila Steinberg and quickly became immersed in the development and eventual sale of the Microphone Sessions to MTV; in 2003, while continuing to focus on branding Steinberg, Rielly found 12th Hour Entertainment, where she was brought on by Barry Levinson to collaborate on the production and development of feature film Fork in the Road, which was recently sold to Alexander Payne. During that time, Penny Marshalls company enlisted Rielly to co-produce Nature of Enchantment, starring Michael Caine, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Danny DeVito. This same year Rielly was integral in setting up another MTV production, King of Bling hosted by Snoop Dogg, Tony Hawk, and Pharrell Williams. Since founding Continuum Entertainment, Rielly has launched the careers of many actors and performers and identified a new model of management through brand development and enhancement. In 2006 Rielly was brought on to manage the production of American Idol Album season 5. Currently Rielly is continuing to create and produce viable TV shows both scripted and reality and has been expanding Continuums management division with clients which include Karina Smirnoff (Dancing with the Stars), Antonia Lofaso (Host/mentor Americas Greatest Recipe/Top Chef Chicago), Rib Hillis (Extreme Makeover Home Edition/100$ Makeover), and several others. Rielly is a Suma Cum Laude graduate of the University of California Los Angeles.
Eleanor Earl
Ms. Earl has been an Assistant Professor of English and Cinema Studies at Hampton University since 2003. She also serves as the Cinema Studies Program Coordinator. She teaches Screenwriting, Introduction to Motion Pictures, Film Criticism, English Literature and Written Communication. Ms. Earl is a 2009 recipient of the Edward L. Hamm Distinguished Teaching Award. Previously, she was an Adjunct Professor of Communication and Humanities at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA for five years. During her time in Los Angeles she established E. L. Earl Entertainment, Inc., a company that develops film, television, theatre, and music projects. Recently, she co-executive produced a television pilot with the Diamond Film Company, The 20 Questions (www.the20questions.com ); and joint-ventured with Universal Exchange Programs to secure capital for independent feature film productions. She has also co-written Blacks Behind-the-Scenes in Film and Television with legendary film producer, Monty Ross.
Ms. Earl has composed and performed music for short films, been commissioned to write feature-length screenplays, and is Festival Director for the Mid-Atlantic Black Film Festival (www.mabff.org ). She received a B.A. in Rhetoric and Communication Studies from The University of Virginia and earned an M.A. in Humanities with emphases in Communication, English Literature, and Theatre from Old Dominion University, with graduate credits in English Literature from a program held at Oxford University in Oxford, England. She took an M.F.A. in Theatre Writing with a specialization as a Bookwriter, Lyricist, and Librettist from The Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.
Cheryl Rich
Community Outreach and Juvenile Justice Consultant
Cheryl Rich hails from Cleveland, Ohio. She graduated from Kent State University with a Fashion Design degree. Her minor in Psychology inspired Ms. Rich to move to California and earn a Master's in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University. Ms. Rich started working in individual, family, and group therapy at several respected therapeutic facilities in Los Angles and the surrounding counties. She also became a certified mediator, working with juveniles convicted of shoplifting. In addition to her training, Ms. Rich brings real life experience to her work with juvenile offenders. She grew up in similar circumstances and was exposed to the justice system during her formative years. Her story reinforces AIM's mission and the success of its educational programs.
For the past four years, Karina Sminoff has made her mark on primetime television, as one of the professional dancers on ABCs top rated program, Dancing with the Stars. She came to the series during season three with a plethora of accomplishments including five U.S. National Championships, the U.S. Open, the Asian Open and the U.K. Open. Smirnoff was even ranked number two in the world. Recently, she became special correspondent for E! Entertainment, was featured on the covers of Womens World and Life & Style magazines, and performed at the 62nd primetime Emmy awards show, to name a few.
Born and raised in Ukraine, the multi-talented dancer started to study dance when she was a mere five-year-old. Her parents exposed her to a multitude of activities including ice skating, gymnastics, ballet and piano lessons. Ultimately, it was dance that prevailed. She started to compete in ballroom dancing by age 11. Her familys move to the U.S. when she was a teenager provided her with new opportunities; however, it was her strict training and the discipline gleaned from growing up in Ukraine that provided her with the foundation that she needed to be a successful competitor.
Smirnoffs skills are not merely physical. She studied diligently at Fordham University in New York and earned two degrees a B.A. in Economics and in Information Systems Programming.
Currently, she is working on a series of instructional DVDs and a book that will incorporate her passion for dance, exercise and well being to help people get in shape and feel their best. Smirnoff is also proud of her new charity, Dance Intervention; which uses the artistic expression of dance to help disadvantaged and at-risk youth connect with their emotions in a healthy environment. Her vision is to give kids an open forum to express themselves honestly through movement and in turn help them to replace self loathing, hatred, and pain with self confidence, love, and purpose. In addition, she is opening up a dance studio in Los Angeles, which will incorporate competitive and social classes, as well as a scholarship program directly related to her charity.
Started by Karina Smirnoff (Dancing with the Stars), Dance Intervention utilizes choreography, dance, and movement to develop emotional, physical, and mental self-image among youth.
By providing profesional quality training, young people are engaged in an interactive dialogue of movement and emotion that shows how dance can strengthen belief in yourself. Participants discover how rhythm is an essential element to choreographing a vision for their lives.
Karinas reputation as a leading dance artist of our times is combined with her personal history of spanning borders, identities, and expectations to create a foundation that will invoke hope and possibility in the minds of many.
Dance Intervention joins other AIM programs in creating a more holistic model of education that addresses the root causes of violence and self-destruction through a combination of athletic outlets, artisitic therapy, needs assessements, and a nurturing environment.
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Programs
Artist Intervention Workshops
Began by Leila Steinberg (Founder of AIM), Artist Intervention is AIM's flagship program. Artist Intervention engages youth in deeply transformational creative writing and performance workshops that encourage youth to critically self-reflect on their life trajectory, their emotional well-being and their personal relationships. This 14 to 16 week workshop follows Leila's heART Education curriculum, educating the hearts of youth through the arts with the goal of developing their emotional literacy and ability to express themselves constructively.
Artist facilitators use poetry, language arts, music, acting and visual arts to take students into an exploration of their emotions, both positive and negative. Each week a different theme or topic is given and students create their own relevant work of art to share with the group. With the use of art as the common language, students are guided into putting words to their feelings and building community and connection with their peers.
Leila's extensive history as a singer, poet, dancer, music artist manager & mentor, and community activist inspired her to create the workshops and carry them on consistently for 25 years. AIM's Artist Intervention has directly impacted the lives of thousands of at-risk youth in multiple cities and multiple countries throughout the world.
Artist Intervention Assemblies
AIM assemblies utilize the art of performance, combined with a relevant theme tailored for each individual school or facility's needs. The focus of the assembly is to engage, inspire, and introduce AIM's artist facilitators and our process. 50 to 90 minute Assemblies can be held in the auditorium, cafeteria, or any space with the capacity to include stage, sound, microphone and seating.
Some of our themes include:
"heART matters"
Arts role and responsibility and the effect of artists on culture and society. A look at the impact of different genres and generations in music and art. How art impacts the emotional and social skills of community. Utilizing the arts to instill respect, accountability and mostly as a tool to teach humanity to care for one another.
"Putting a Face on Violence"
The title comes from a workshop created by Lonnie Morris, a San Quentin inmate doing life who has spent the past twenty years working from the inside of SQ prison to intervene in the lives of youth who have a history of crime and violence. This is an assembly that gets to the core of violence, victims, and gangs.
"Rap Race & Redemption"
Named by and under the guidance of Professor Jody Armour.
We participate in a critical examination of the history of rap, the reality of race and the collective road to redemption.
"Financial Literacy Economic Liberty"
There is no freedom for the poor. Everyone needs to understand the language of money.
Parent and Teacher Education
This is a very specific workshop for parents and teachers to understand our youth through the artists their kids are listening to.
90 minutes of listening, sharing, and analysing lyrics with parent and teachers. Examining content, style, and influence.
Ahmad Clayton has been the Director of Basketball Operations for Hoopmasters since 2000. He is also Director of the Athletes Intervention Program for Assemblies in Motions, a program for at-risk youth.
Clayton has coached for the Santa Monica and Venice Boys Club in California, as well as for its Department of Parks and Recreation. He also has coached with AAU travel teams and has instructed at many basketball camps, including John Woodens, Jim Harricks and George Ravelings.
As a basketball player, Clayton was a High School All-American who led his school to its first state championship.
The basketball program is an after-school and weekend training academy dedicated to developing mentally, emotionally and physically healthy children and teens. Dedicated to serving the underprivileged and underrepresented communities, we provide a safe environment and a quality alternative to the high cost after-school programs. We are athletes using physical activity and basketball as an alternative intervention method to help at-risk youth understand the importance of healthy hearts, minds, bodies and spirits. The outcome we strive to achieve is producing healthy, accountable, respectful and responsible members of society. Through the teaching of the fundamental skills of basketball we strive to create motivated and successful student- athletes. With advanced coaching by former collegiate, national and semi- professional level basketball players we offer beginning, intermediate and advanced basketball training for children and teens. Through the teaching of the fundamental skills of the game we teach discipline, teamwork, sportsmanship, respect for oneself and others while simultaneously building self confidence and self esteem to help the individual achieve throughout their future in sports, academics and life. Additional training includes advanced one-on-one coaching, drills, yoga, visualization and rhythm training, personalized physical fitness training regimes, sports nutrition education, tournament play experience.
Tupac Shakur
As hip-hop music became the expression of today's youth, Steinberg began training artists to develop voices powerful enough to reach a generation. While conducting poetry workshops in Northern California, she met Tupac Shakur and he became a regular participant in her class. They shared a vision of developing a space where each artist in attendance is encouraged, inspired and motivated to address social change in their work. Tupac referred to Leila as the "bow" and himself as the "arrow."
This image of aiming at a target is a useful metaphor for participants in her workshops as they learn to exert control over their words and understand their impact. Steinberg recognized Tupac's talents as a poet and performer who could reach his audience in a way that many rappers before him could not. He did this by speaking from the HeART.
Steinberg started the Microphone Sessions, a weekly workshop where young musicians and hip-hop artists write and perform new material, get feedback and launch discussions about pressing issues in their lives and in their communities. Steinberg's collaboration with Tupac deeply influenced the way she developed her workshops. One of the main forces behind Tupac's success and the lasting impact of his work is the confessional nature of his lyrics. His writings have been used in curriculums from the University of Berkeley to middle schools in the South.
Ms. Steinberg's background in the arts is as a performer and a businesswoman. She started working with Tupac in 1989 and was his first manager. He went on to become one of the most famous rap artists in the world and has remained so even after his death in 1996. Tupac Shakur is now an icon. His legacy as the most beloved and influential rapper of all time lives on in the HeARTs and minds of millions of young people.
The poems published posthumously in The Rose That Grew From Concrete, were written by Tupac while he attended Steinberg's workshop. He entrusted her with original copies of his work to safe-keep. Along with Tupac's mother, Afeni, Leila was instrumental in getting them published. Steinberg was Co-Executive Producer of the spoken-word album of the same name, released on Interscope Records, with performances by Quincy Jones, Run D.M.C. and Danny Glover. She also produced and appears in the Tupac documentary, "Thug Angel," with Executive Producer Quincy Jones III.
Entrusted with numerous original Tupac Shakur handwritten poems, Leila Steinberg organized the development and publishing of the classic Tupac poetry book, The Rose That Grew from Concrete, and wrote the introduction.
Click book corner to turn page
The Bandana Republic is the first full-length anthology that features writings from both former and current urban gang members. Intergenerational in scope, the work consists of over 125 entries, including letters, essays, poems, short stories and interviews by a solid array of social workers, activists, teachers, gang leaders, artists, writers, film and stage celebrities from New York to California and beyond.
Jay-Z recently recognized Leila Steinberg's own writing gifts as his "favorite quote" from her entry where she writes "Sometimes the brightest minds are behind bars blinded because brilliance misdirected is lethal."
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10850 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 350
Los Angeles, CA 90024
310.878.4600
Welcome to the general website ("AIM Site") for Alternative Intervention Models (hereinafter, AIM). The AIM Site is the website whose home page is located at www.AlternativeInterventionModels.org and includes all web pages whose domain name contains the following: www.AlternativeInterventionModels.org, www.AIModels.org, and secure.AlternativeInterventionModels.org, and secure.AIModels.org. This is not the user agreement for any blogs, forums or social networking sites where AIM has a presence that are on websites other than the AIM Site. This is not the user agreement for the websites of any AIM local affiliate, and you should refer to those affiliates websites or contact those affiliates to learn those websites terms of use. Please read this User Agreement carefully, including the AIM Online Privacy Statement. By using the AIM Site, you agree to follow the rules set forth on these web pages. From time to time we may revise this User Agreement including its Online Privacy Statement, so be sure to check these web pages occasionally. If we do make material changes, we will post a notice on our home page that the User Agreement has been modified and provide a link to the revised User Agreement. When you continue to use the AIM Site after we post a change, it means you agree to the new rules.
Copyright
AIM owns or licenses the copyright in all the materials on the AIM Site, including text, graphics, logos, button icons, audio clips, photographs, and software, and those rights are protected by United States and international copyright laws and other intellectual property laws (AIM Site Content). To the extent your use of material on the AIM Site does not constitute fair use for which you do not need our permission, the following rules apply to use of the material:
Permitted Distribution. Unless the specific web page from which AIM text materials is available indicates you may not do so, you may copy or distribute any text materials that appear on the AIM Site in print or digital format only and only for the following non-commercial purposes: research, teaching, private study, and activism within a local geographic area regarding civil liberties issues. You may also distribute AIM Content that is not AIM text materials if and only to the extent that the specific launching page from which that AIM Content is accessible, and/or the AIM Content itself, explicitly indicates that the AIM Content may be distributed in a specified manner. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all distributed copies must display the following copyright notice:
Copyright [1998-2010 or other year indicated] Alternative Intervention Models
Reprinted with permission of Alternative Intervention Models http://www.AlternativeInterventionModels.org
Distribution Requiring Advance Written Permission. You must obtain written permission in advance if you wish to reproduce AIM Content that is not text material (e.g., videos, drawings, photographs, podcasts, etc.) or if you wish to reproduce any AIM Content for any reason not listed in the previous paragraph. You can request this permission by sending us an email at ContactAIM_AlternativeInterventionModels.org that contains the information listed below:
Trademark
ALTERNATIVE INTERVENTION MODELS, AIModels, AIM, and any other trademarks on the AIM Site (collectively "AIM Trademarks") are trademarks of the AIM in the United States and other countries unless it is explicitly stated on the AIM Site where a trademark appears that the trademark is the trademark of a third party (or it is obvious from the context that it is the trademark of a third party; e.g., where we include on the AIM Site the name or logo of a community partner) (Third-Party Trademarks). To the extent your use of AIM Trademarks does not constitute fair use for which you do not need our permission, the following rules apply to use of the material:
You may not use the AIM Trademarks for any product or service that does not belong to the AIM, nor in any manner that is likely to cause confusion about whether we are the source, affiliated with, sponsor of or endorser of any product or service. In addition, you may not use the AIM Trademarks in any manner that illegally disparages or discredits us.
Your ability to use a Third-Party Trademark that appears on the AIM Site is limited to the manner, if any, in which the AIM Site explicitly states on the page on which such Third-Party Trademark appears that such use in such manner is authorized by the third-party owner of that Third-Party Trademark (unless your use is permissible under the law (e.g., it is fair use) or the owner of such Third-Party Trademark has specifically granted you the right to such use in such manner).
Frames and Metatags
You may not frame the content of the AIM Site. You may not use metatags or any other hidden text that incorporates AIM Trademarks or our name without our express written consent.
Links to Other Websites
The AIM Site contains links to other websites of our community partners, private and public institutional supporters, and others that we think may be of interest to you. We are not responsible for and have no control over these other sites or their content. Remember that when you link to another site, that other site is governed by its own user agreement and privacy statement, which you should be sure to read.
Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability
ALTHOUGH WE TAKE REASONABLE STEPS TO PREVENT THE INTRODUCTION OF VIRUSES, WORMS, TROJAN HORSES OR OTHER DESTRUCTIVE MATERIALS TO THE AIM SITE, WE DO NOT GUARANTEE OR WARRANT THAT THE AIM SITE OR MATERIALS THAT MAY BE DOWNLOADED FROM THE AIM SITE ARE FREE FROM SUCH DESTRUCTIVE FEATURES. WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR HARM ATTRIBUTABLE TO SUCH FEATURES.
WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, LOSS OR INJURY BASED ON ERRORS, OMISSIONS, INTERRUPTIONS OR OTHER INACCURACIES IN THE AIM SITE, NOR FOR ANY CLAIM, LOSS OR INJURY THAT RESULTS FROM YOUR USE OF THE AIM SITE OR YOUR BREACH OF ANY PROVISION OF THIS USER AGREEMENT.
Termination
We reserve the right to terminate the AIM Site and this User Agreement at any time without notice for any reason, including, in the case of the User Agreement, for your violation of any of its provisions. The Limitation of Liability and Governing Law Sections of this User Agreement survive any such termination.
Governing Law
