ALP's History!

Achieving Leadership’s Purpose, Inc. (ALP) was originally founded in 1968 as the Archbishop’s Leadership Project by Terence Cardinal Cook with the mission of cultivating African-American leadership in the Catholic Church, and serving the broader community. Over the years, the program has come to include students of various religious backgrounds and African Diasporic origins (African, African-American, Afro-Latino, Caribbean, and Caribbean-American). The Alumni of ALP have gone forth to distinguish themselves at the most prestigious colleges and universities in the nation and to pursue varied and challenging careers. Moreover, the alumni of ALP further develop a sense of urgency for social change and deeper cultural and self awareness.

Father John Meehan was chosen to direct the first group, and tasked with designing a program that would encourage young Black men to pursue vocations in the priesthood. However, he soon discovered that the young men were less interested in joining the priesthood, and more interested in exploring their history and the issues facing their community. Keeping the needs of the youth in mind, by the end of the first two years, the original objective of attracting Black youth to the priesthood was subsumed into an integrated approach to motivate, inspire, and positively encourage young boys to consider roles of leadership within their community.

In the summer of 1985, Fr. Meehan and alumnus Peter Sanders met with Cardinal O’Connor to provide an introductory report on the program started by his predecessor, Cardinal Cooke. Impressed with the program, Cardinal O’Connor decided to keep ALP in the Archbishop’s discretionary budget and felt that the work of ALP could be extended to young women. When a new ALP group was formed in the spring of 1986, it included over twenty Black high school girls and a female co-coordinator, Ms. Taur Orange, making ALP a coeducational program. In March of 2005, ALP incorporated as an independent not-for-profit organization, changing its name to Achieving Leadership’s Purpose, Inc.

Throughout the years, the structure of ALP has remained the same, and has turned out successful individuals committed to serving their communities. They all went through ALP’s unique and rigorous two-year leadership development and training process. Aimed at high school youth of the African Diaspora, it seeks to prepare young men and women for leadership roles and responsibilities while fostering a commitment to service. The multicomponent development and training process emphasizes critical thinking, presentation skills, leadership dynamics, an appreciation for history and culture, and service to others.