Redefining the Urban Male: A Focus on Chicago | Marlon Haywood | TEDxRushU

Marlon speaks about his work with inner-city youth and his quest to provide mentorship and hope to teens.


Marlon was born and raised on the Southside of Chicago in the Englewood area. Never one to let his environment dictate his future, he attended Northern Illinois University (NIU). Marlon received his Master’s Degree in Adult & Higher Education and a Bachelor’s of Arts in Liberal Studies from NIU. Currently, Marlon is a Doctoral student in the Educational Leadership program at Roosevelt University.



Marlon’s life’s mission is to be a positive source of change in the lives of young people, in particular young minority men. His professional resume is one deeply rooted in service. While serving as a Transition Specialist, he noticed the completion rate for African American males that receives their GED was low. To serve as an intervention, he co-developed the male mentoring program Urban Male Initiative, a program that provides academic support to first generation and minority male students at Malcolm X College. Within the City Colleges of Chicago, he served as adjunct faculty for the all-male College Success course sections at Malcolm-X and Kennedy-King College. Marlon has expanded his work to include elementary and high schools, where he started Urban Male Network, a non-profit organization to work with teenage male youth in Chicago.



Additionally, Marlon’s active in leadership with Mentor Teacher Brother, Inc. (MTB), a non-profit organization that mentors young African American male high school students in the Roseland community. MTB is the national philanthropy program for Phi Rho Eta Fraternity, Inc, in which he is a proud member.



Moreover, Marlon served as a Health Disparities Research Fellow for three years at Rush University Medical Center working on the BMO Harris Bank grant project in partnership with Malcolm X College and the Medical Home Network. There he did research, designed curriculum and other initiatives to address the socioeconomic and health disparity issues in low-income communities in Chicago. Currently, Marlon serves as Project Manager for Community Engagement at Rush University Medical Center.



Still, even with all the work he does with the aforementioned organizations, Marlon felt there was more he could do. He founded Marlon Speaks, LLC, a platform that allows him to use his voice and experiences to promote social change as a motivational speaker.


This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx