Aaron Swain takes the helm at 100 Black Men of Atlanta

Credit: Ben Gray

Credit: Ben Gray

On May 13, Swain will be installed as the organization’s next chairman, beginning a two-year term. He will be replacing outgoing chair Sidney D. Barron.

Swain, 61, has been a member of “The 100” — which actually has 265 members — since he moved back to Atlanta in 2018, serving in various leadership positions.

Headquartered in Atlanta, 100 Black Men of America is a civic and service group aimed at mentoring and empowering African Americans, and improving the quality of life for minorities. The organization has 116 chapters, including several in metro Atlanta, and more than 10,000 members.

Swain, who owns Columbia Residential Properties, a development and management company that builds affordable housing in five states, said his long tenure on the Atlanta chapter’s board, coupled with his professional experiences have given him “insight into what the needs are of the organization.”

“I know with my background in operations and team building, that I will be a good asset,” Swain said. “And you must work with people to get things done. You cannot get things done by yourself.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution met with Swain to talk about his new role. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Suggs: Why did you want to be president and chairman of 100 Black Men of Atlanta?

Swain: What I believe in really aligns with the mission of the organization and I know that through my leadership, I can make a meaningful impact. I truly believe my contributions can benefit the organization because it reflects my personal values. Helping others has always been a guiding principle in my life — it’s something I was raised with. So, the work of the organization really hits a sweet spot for me. It speaks to how I want to contribute to society.

How do your skills align with what this organization needs?

Swain: My desire to be chairman is really tied to my operational strengths. As someone who runs a large company, I’m keenly aware of how important clarity is in running an organization. With so many members you need someone who has a plan that is intentional and very focused on what you need to accomplish. I’ve always been very driven, focused, and organized when it comes to operations.

Suggs: What is your vision for the future of 100 Black Men of Atlanta, and how do you plan to build on the organization’s legacy?

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Swain: My vision is to keep doing what we’re doing and reach more young people. We spend a lot of time at the The B.E.S.T. Academy at The Thomas W. Dortch Jr. Institute (an Atlanta public school) and we want to expand to other schools. We have a program at Douglass High School, and we’ve done some work at Mays High School, but I want to expand our reach to more young people in the Atlanta community.

Suggs: How is the organization going to evolve to meet those needs — particularly in a rapidly changing social and economic landscape?

Swain: Now, as far as our work overall, we will continue to operate under four key pillars: In addition to education and mentoring, we also focus on health and wellness and economic empowerment. Our health and wellness committee leads initiatives like our 5K runs, health webinars, health fairs and screenings. That same committee also includes our violence prevention team, which does critical work educating and supporting victims of violence. For example, we host an annual symposium in partnership with Morehouse School of Medicine that focuses on the psychological and community impacts of exposure to violence. In terms of economic empowerment, we focus on educating both our members and the broader community about financial literacy and sound decision-making. We host workshops and other programs that help build long-term financial health.

So across those four pillars, our mission goes well beyond just mentoring young people. We’re committed to serving the community holistically.

Suggs: What are the biggest challenges you foresee for the organization during your two-year term, and how do you plan to address them?

Credit: Johnny Crawford

Credit: Johnny Crawford

Swain: Having Bryan Johnson as the new superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools is very helpful. Sometimes, when you have chaos in a school system, it’s a challenge to get people focused on what you want to accomplish. So, stability in schools and on the school board is very important. Especially for Atlanta. We’ve had great support from the school district and the school board, which has been very helpful. If you don’t have that, that’s a big challenge. Also, keeping our focus on what the mayor wants to do is important as well. If you don’t have the mayor tied to what you do, you can have a disjointed process.

Suggs: How are you engaging the next generation of Black male leaders within your membership and mentoring programs?

Swain: We have two associate programs. One is the Emerging 100, who are professionals between the ages of 22 and 29. That group does a tremendous amount around the city to support our initiatives for that age group. They have over 100 members in that group alone. We mentor the emerging members as well because they’re young and up and coming professionals who need people like us to be able to understand and learn from.

We also have the Collegiate 100. Those are students at Morehouse, Spelman, Oglethorpe, and Georgia State whom we mentor, and they in turn volunteer at our schools’ programs. This helps us capture a much broader net to solve issues and problems for people of all ages.

Suggs: What does this organization mean to Atlanta?

Swain: It means a great deal. Let me give you one example. We had a young man who was a student at Douglass. The mayor called us to request that we give that young man support. We find ourselves as the community steward when it comes to helping young people survive and thrive and become great leaders later. That’s really what our goal is in the 100. Atlanta doesn’t have an organization that I know of, that stays with the young people from middle school throughout their life’s continuum. We don’t stop when they finish college. We have our mentees for a lifetime. Having that much input into families and young people’s lives is very, very rare in my opinion for an organization.

Suggs: Two years from now, when your tenure as chairman is over, what do you want people to have said about it?

Swain: That I was progressive. That I moved the organization forward. That I was a collaborator. And that I left it a little better than I found it. If that’s possible.

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