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The Inaugural Reason to Believe Gala was a Huge Success with the Lifetime Achievement Award Presentation to Academy Award Winner Louis Gossett, Jr. and a Surprise Video Message from President Bill Clinton to Benefit the Executive Preparatory Academy of Finance

Executive Prep Raises More Than $90,000 During First Awards Presentation and Fundraiser

LOS ANGELES, CA (February 21, 2013) – Executive Preparatory Academy of Finance (EPA), a non-profit public charter high school opening in South Central Los Angeles, presented the inaugural Reason to Believe Gala on February 20, 2013 at the Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles.  It was a spectacular evening highlighted by Academy Award winning actor and humanitarian Louis Gossett, Jr. accepting the EPA Lifetime Achievement Award and giving a moving speech.  Guests were also treated to a special surprise video message from President Bill Clinton sending his support and encouragement to Executive Prep Academy’s Founder, Omar McGee and all of the small business owners and entrepreneurs that are part of the financial literacy education movement.  The evening was a smashing success with the support of event sponsors Celerity Educational Group, Lamborghini of Beverly Hills, City National Bank, Chambord Vodka and Rise Media Group. 

A notable moment during the gala was the presentation of corporate donations in the amount of forty eight thousand dollars made on behalf of Reaching Your Goals, ProSolutions and City National Bank, who are local business partners and supporters of Executive Prep.  With generous individual donations made during the evening along with other pledges and funds from corporate matching programs, which will soon be received, the projected total donations raised will be close to one hundred thousand dollars.

CNN Showbiz Tonight contributor Kita Williams did a great job as the host for the evening keeping the program moving and crowd engaged while former NBA All-star Cedric “DJ Ced” Ceballos mixed in the music.  The entertainment for the night included comedian Tommy Davidson who kept the crowd laughing, along with the return of the R&B “Superwoman” Karyn White, who sang a medley of old favorites along with a ballad from her new album Carpe Diem.  The night was topped off by the EPA Longevity Award honoree Johnny Gill, who was having a great time singing and dancing with the guests while giving a performance that will be remembered.

As part of the evening’s celebration Executive Prep also honored California State Senator Curren Price, Jr. with the EPA Reason to Believe Award, which celebrates a person from the local Los Angeles area that has throughout their life and career been influential through their vision, courage and effective leadership in their chosen profession while remaining dedicated to the Los Angeles community.  Although not able to attend the event, Keke Palmer was saluted with the EPA Rising Star Award which honors an individual who, though their sense of community, work ethic and outstanding achievements, inspires service to others and is a clear example of the power of big dreams.  She will personally be presented with the EPA Rising Star Award at a later event.

For more information about the school or to make a tax deductible donation, please visit www.executiveprep.org.  And for the latest news follow us on Facebook.com/ExecutivePrep and @ExecPrep on Twitter.

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About Executive Preparatory Academy

Executive Preparatory Academy (EPA) is a non-profit public charter high school opening in South Central Los Angeles in August 2013, which is owned and operated by Inner City Outreach, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.  Our mission is to close the financial literacy gap within the minority community and to provide a high quality and extensive college-preparatory educational experience to youth that results in our students succeeding in college, and ultimately in their professional careers.  For more information please visit www.executiveprep.org and follow them on Twitter @ExecPrep and Facebook.com/ExecutivePrep.

Media Contact:
Liane Mori
Rise Media Group
818-450-4640
liane@risemediagrp.com

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As a native of the General Motors birthplace and one-time fastest growing city in America, Mr. McGee comes from a city that is taking its full-circle journey.  Flint, Michigan, now an economically depressed city strives to redefine itself in the city’s aftermath of the automobile industry bust.   Over the last two decades, General Motors has all but pulled thousands of jobs from the city.  Omar McGee vows to make a difference, starting with the education of our country’s youth.

As a third-year college student Omar was forced to withdraw from the film program at Howard University due to the challenges and hurdles youth faces while attending college.  Omar admits “I had no way of paying my past or current balances.  It was one of the worst days of my life.”  McGee says he knew in his heart that he wanted to continue his education and not return to the poverty stricken streets of Flint.  After thinking long and hard of ways to help young people make good economic decisions during the early stages of their lives, he created what is now known as Inner City Outreach.

Omar began his grassroots work with inner city youth in Washington, D.C.  Since the organization’s inception, Inner City Outreach has raised over $100,000 and assisted more than 25 students to continue their education in colleges and universities across the country.

Now living in southern California, McGee is a successful real estate mogul and Hollywood film Director.  He owns property around the country, providing housing for low-income families in Los Angeles, St. Louis and his hometown, Flint, MI.  Part of his mission is to offer safe and affordable housing options to families who cannot provide for themselves.

As a movie director, he began creating commercials for Black Entertainment Television (BET), which later appeared on the hit television show, “Mad Sports.”  He also won directorial acclaim with his NBA commercials starring, Allen Iverson and the award winning documentary, “Flintown Kids” in which he depicted everyday street life and its correlation of basketball.  Flintown took Hollywood by storm in 2006.  In 2007, he won best docudrama at the New York Independent Film Festival.  He was the 1999 recipient of the prestigious Paul Roberson Film Festival Award for best short film.

The Executive Preparatory Academy of Finance is operated by Inner City Outreach in Los Angeles.  The Academy is a charter school whose mission is to provide a high quality and extensive college preparatory educational experience to youth that results in our students succeeding in college, and ultimately in their professional careers.  Their motto is “The Relentless Pursuit of Excellence” which they practice and instill in their students.  They also promote high self-esteem, high academics and accountability.  Exec Prep wants students to know and understand their purpose in life and is continuously committed to preparing all of them for college and life.

Omar is coming up big in his quest on life.  You can trace that back to his family traits.  Coming from a family that has more than one success story.  Omar is related to twins, Pam and Paula McGee, who both are high school basketball legends in the city of Flint.  Pam and Paula later went on to star at the University of Southern California where they won back to back national championships.  His cousins include, JaVale McGee, a NBA player who plays for the Washington Wizards and Jarron Gilbert a NFL player who plays for the New York Jets.  The McGee family also owns many small businesses in and around Flint.

McGee reaches back to his community and communities around the country as he mentors and provides support to inner city youth.  Through his foundation, he is able to provide a realistic and attainable goals, education and purpose.

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The reason you are reading about me is… I have a non-profit organization, Inner City Outreach, that I started while I was at Howard University (HU!!!) to help students pay for their college education. I’m the Founder of the Executive Preparatory Academy of Finance.

We are a co-ed public charter high school opening in South Central LA in August 2013. We will be operating on the “paper education” model. We will run on a wireless network, every student will have a computer and/or tablet, and we will incorporate the latest technology in areas to best serve our students. We live in a 21st century world, its time our education system reflect that! We have celebrity support from our spokesperson Oscar winning actor Louis Gossett, Jr., and entertainment mogul, Kevin Liles, both of whom we will be honoring at our fundraising gala in June during BET Awards weekend in LA.  I’m hot because everybody told me I couldn’t do it!!!

Right now I’m working on… opening our school, The Executive Preparatory Academy of Finance (EPA). Our mission is to close the financial literacy gap within the minority community through education.  EPA’s goal is to provide a high-quality and extensive college-preparatory educational experience to youth that results in our students succeeding in college, and ultimately in their professional careers. We will have a Finance Academy which begins in 9th grade with all new students opening a checking and savings account with our Financial Literacy Partner and take finance courses throughout their matriculation at DBA.  Students will be able to contribute to their accounts through their earnings from our student-run businesses and investment-banking program. They will not, however, be able to withdraw from the savings account until graduation to use for college. Our student-run businesses include our convenience store and the Music Studio that will both be open to the community.  Our goal is to teach them financial lessons and the business models of the industries that they are dawn to.  We don’t want to breed rappers and athletes, we want to breed agents, managers, and owners.  I’m not only giving kids an aim; I’m giving them a target!

But if I wasn’t, I’d be… Directing films.

One thing I do every day is… pray and give 100% to making my dreams come true.

I can’t stand when people… have a losing attitude… they think about what they can’t do instead of what they can!

But I love it when people… ESPECIALLY a young person finds his or her calling or realizes their purpose.

The Best piece of advice I ever received was… never be selfish with information… always send the elevator down to pick up other people.

If I had to coin it, my message would be… predicting rain doesn’t count, building an ark does. An attitude is like a flat tire, if you never change it, you will never go anywhere.

My future plans and projects include… My immediate future plans are to launch our viral campaign, The Thought Campaign on May 1st. No one else knows…Alumni Roundup is getting the exclusive!!!  It is a part of our fundraising campaign, but it is to spark the greater conversation in our country on the power of thought in a way that engages urban America. Stay tuned…a movement is forming, so we wanted to come home to our HBCU family to start it. We need everyone to participate by posting, tweeting, writing about us, and telling others to repost and retweet. It’s a unfortunate truth that black alumni don’t give back as much as our white counterparts. So, let’s shatter that truth!

Big Ups to… I want to give big ups to my team and people who believed in my vision, first I would like to thank Kellie Crawford who was with me when the idea was just on a piece of paper, special shout out to her. Damon Glymph my executive director, Arthur McGee, Dr.Luther Walters, Kori King, the iconic Lou Gossett Jr., music mogul Kevin Liles, Byron Russell, Rodney Jerkins, Pooch Hall, Richard Gant, Mitch Richmond, Mitchell Butler, Jalen Rose, Karen White, Omar Gooding, Terry Norris, Bob Myers, Stephanie Ivy, City National Bank, Southwest Airlines, Pro-Solutions, Wova Lounge, Kareem Cook, Mateen Cleaves, Robaire Smith, and most importantly Teresa McGee!!!

You can find more info at www. executiveprep.org. Coming from an HBCU, I know we have an AMAZING network. If you are a part of a corporation, small business, organization, or a person that can help and may be interested in sponsorship, shoot us an email to receive our info/sponsorship packages.  We appreciate the help. It takes a village!

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Real estate mogul and Hollywood Film Director, Omar McGee established the Inner City Outreach. His original mission was to provide support to low income and inner city youth in need of financial assistance for post-secondary education. Since its inception in 2000, Inner City Outreach has raised $100,000 and assisted more than 25 students to continue their education at colleges and universities across the nation.

As a native of the notoriously corrupt and violent Flint, Michigan and a third-year Howard University student, McGee experienced first hand challenges and hurdles that youth face in attaining the college level. “During my junior year at Howard, I had no way of paying my past or current balances; it was one of the worst days of my life,” says McGee, who ultimately had to withdraw from the film program at Howard University. “I knew in my heart that I wanted to continue my education, and not return to the poverty-stricken streets of Flint.”

McGee’s forced exit from college brought him much pain; he swore to do his best to help other youth continue their educational aspirations. Shortly after, he created what is known today as Inner City Outreach and began his grassroots work with inner city youth in Washington, D.C.

Today a successful real estate entrepreneur, McGee owns property around the country, providing housing for low-income families in Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Flint, Michigan. Part of his mission is to offer safe and affordable housing options for families who cannot provide for themselves. As a Los Angeles-based movie director, McGee worked with a range of renowned figures. He began his directorial debut creating commercials for Black Entertainment Television (BET), which later appeared on the hit television show “Mad Sports.” He won further directorial acclaim with his NBA commercials staring basketball superstar Allen Iverson.

In 2006, McGee took Hollywood by storm with his award-winning documentary “Flintown Kids,” in which he depicted the convoluted labyrinth of everyday street life in Flint. He was the 1999 recipient of the prestigious Paul Robeson Film Festival award for best short film. In 2007, he won Best Docudrama at the New York Independent Film Festival.

Just as subjects of his film, McGee struggled to elevate himself above hardened and dangerous Flint streets and relieve daily pressures of life in his community. He has achieved much success in his short life and committed himself to reach back to his community and communities around the country to mentor and support inner city youth. Through Inner City Outreach, he is able to provide a realistic and attainable goal — education.

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