Our Story

Welcome to Memphis Made, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded on the personal stories of six African American men from the community of Orange Mound. Our vision for the book "Memphis Made" was to share personal experiences with young men to guide them through challenges, spark growth mindsets, and enable personal success. From there, our mission grew, and we now focus on exposing youth to magnificent possibilities, inspiring their success, and achieving and developing excitement for the city through mentoring, exposure, vision creation, goal setting, diverse education, career readiness, and strategic partnerships.

Our mission is inspired by the need to reduce crime and poverty among Memphis youth. Studies show that teenagers and young adults are committing more violent crimes in Shelby County compared to any other group. Risk factors for youth crime and violence include teen parenting, youth not being in school or working, lack of supervision, and lack of vision. We believe that by providing mentoring, exposure to new experiences, and vision creation, we can help reduce these risk factors and contribute to the reduction of youth crime and violence in Memphis.

Our flagship program is called "Exposure Events." These events aim to unlock the minds of young men in the city through a day of mentoring, lunch, and a special trip. We partner with organizations like The Civil Rights Museum and Cloud 901, where they learn 21st-century skills in areas of innovation, critical thinking, robotics, art, and more. These events have been instrumental in helping us achieve our mission.

Memphis Made also hosts community events that bring people together, generate scholarships, and promote positivity and cohesiveness. Our events feature luxury cars, food, business vendors, and entertainment. We partnered with the Mid South Food bank to feed 3000 people with donations collected at one of our events. We pride ourselves on having fun and looking good while serving the city with authenticity. This energy has spread, and the city loves sporting our brand, which helps raise funds to power our Exposure Events.

We are proud to have the support of powerhouses like Beulah Baptist Church, Redemption Church, and I Shall Not Die but Live. These partnerships make us stronger and more effective in our mission.

Thank you for visiting our page and supporting our mission to expose youth to magnificent possibilities, inspire their success, and achieve and develop an excitement for the city of Memphis.