Alumni in the News 2006 Institute Alum Wins Essay Contest Congratulations to the winners of the Tavis Smiley Foundation's State of the Black Union Essay contest. Grand Prize winner Azia Alexandria won a trip to the event as well as registration to the 2007 Leadership Institute. Azia read part of her essay during the event which was broadcast live on C-SPAN in February. The other winners included: Brittany McKenzie, Milan Ivey, Kelly Wright, Jeffery Joseph and Robert Bradley. Click here to read Azia's award-winning essay. Jonathan Quarles Honored by Ebony Magazine Detroit native and TSF alumni Jonathan Quarles was recently profiled in Ebony magazine as one of the Top 30 Leaders Under 30 for 2007. Jonathan was the first winner of the foundation's Emerging Youth Leader award. He was also a Smiley Scholar and a member of the 2003 Youth to Leaders National Leadership Summit Planning Committee. He is a graduate of Florida A & M University and works as an aid to Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Morehouse Student Mentors Children Morehouse College student and 2006 Smiley Scholars recipient John Brice recently organized a trip for 57 elementary students from Alfonzo F. Herndon Elementary school to the King Center in Atlanta. John, a Philadelphia native, attended the 2006 Leadership Institute and is the creator of the Building Young Men Through His-Story mentoring program that pairs college students with elementary school students.