PROGRAMS & SERVICES
Leaders Inspiring Tomorrow (L.I.T.)
Founded in 2021 by Megan Benison
L.I.T. — Leaders Inspiring Tomorrow — was born out of both hope and heartbreak.
The program is dedicated to the memory of our founder's nephew, a brilliant student-athlete whose life was tragically taken by gun violence. He was a young person with dreams, talent, purpose, and an entire future ahead of him.
His story serves as a constant reminder of something we believe deeply:
Our young people are not statistics. They are scholars, athletes, leaders, dreamers, future business owners, professionals, parents, mentors, and game-changers whose lives deserve protection and investment.
L.I.T. exists to make that investment.
Our program places a special emphasis on young girls involved in athletics, using mentorship, sports, life-skills education, leadership development, etiquette, femininity, and real-life conversations to help them become strong, confident and well-rounded young women.
Mentoring the Whole Young Woman
Athletics teaches discipline, teamwork, perseverance, commitment, and how to work toward a goal. L.I.T. builds upon those qualities by providing young female athletes with mentorship that reaches beyond sports.
Participants will have opportunities to engage with positive women and community mentors who can help them navigate real-life situations and prepare for adulthood.
Mentoring topics may include:
Confidence and healthy self-esteem
Leadership and accountability
Goal setting
Communication skills
Healthy friendships and relationships
Peer pressure
Social media responsibility
Personal boundaries
Conflict resolution
Emotional control
Decision-making
Financial literacy
Personal hygiene and self-care
Time management
Professionalism
Career exploration
Entrepreneurship
Community involvement
Understanding their value beyond athletics
Our goal is to provide young women with a safe environment where they can ask questions, have honest conversations, make mistakes, learn, grow, and receive guidance without feeling judged.
Femininity, Etiquette & Personal Development
L.I.T. will also provide courses centered around femininity, etiquette, confidence, presentation, and personal development.
These courses are not about telling young women that there is only one way to be a woman.
They are about giving them additional tools to confidently enter different environments while remaining true to themselves.
Participants may learn:
Dining and table etiquette
Proper introductions
Professional communication
Appropriate dress for different occasions
Interview etiquette
Public speaking
Posture and presentation
Personal grooming and hygiene
Respectful communication
Writing professional emails
Networking
Understanding social cues
Self-respect and boundaries
Confidence without arrogance
Handling criticism
Conduct in professional environments
Knowing when and how to advocate for themselves
We want our girls to be comfortable walking into a gym, classroom, interview, boardroom, business meeting, formal dinner, community event, or unfamiliar environment and know:
“I belong here.”
Sisterhood & Positive Relationships
L.I.T. will encourage sisterhood rather than competition between young women.
Athletics can be competitive, but life does not require women to constantly compete against one another.
Participants will learn the importance of supporting other women, celebrating each other's accomplishments, resolving disagreements, avoiding gossip and bullying, recognizing unhealthy friendships, and surrounding themselves with people who encourage their growth.
We want our girls to understand that another young woman's success does not diminish their own.
There is room for all of them to shine.
Gun Violence Prevention & Conflict Resolution
Gun violence is personal to the story behind L.I.T.
Because our founder's nephew was lost to gun violence, we believe his story must become more than a story of loss.
It must become a lesson that helps protect another young person's life.
L.I.T. will have age-appropriate conversations with participants about gun violence, retaliation, anger, peer pressure, bullying, social media conflicts, unhealthy relationships, and the consequences that can come from decisions made during emotional moments.
We want our youth to understand that every disagreement does not require a response.
Every social media comment does not deserve retaliation.
Walking away does not make you weak.
Asking an adult for help does not make you weak.
Removing yourself from dangerous people and situations does not make you afraid.
Sometimes protecting your future is the strongest decision you can make.
We want our participants to develop goals so meaningful that they begin asking themselves:
“Is this situation worth everything I'm working toward?”
The L.I.T. Legacy Scholarship
One of the most important components of Leaders Inspiring Tomorrow is the L.I.T. Legacy Scholarship, created in honor and memory of our founder's nephew.
The scholarship supports underprivileged graduating senior student-athletes as they prepare to enter the next phase of their lives.
We recognize that graduation represents a major transition.
For many young people, the question becomes:
“What happens next?”
L.I.T. believes there is no single definition of success.
That is why our scholarship is designed to recognize and encourage graduating student-athletes whether their next chapter includes:
College.
A skilled trade.
The workforce.
Entrepreneurship.
Each path deserves preparation, encouragement, and support.
College & Continuing Education
For scholarship recipients choosing college or another post-secondary educational path, the scholarship can help with eligible expenses associated with continuing their education.
We want students to enter their next chapter understanding that education is an investment in themselves, but also that independence requires responsibility, budgeting, discipline, time management, and good decision-making.
Skilled Trades
A four-year college degree is not the only path to a successful future.
L.I.T. celebrates graduating seniors who decide to pursue skilled trades, vocational training, apprenticeships, certification programs, and technical careers.
Whether a young person chooses healthcare, cosmetology, electrical work, HVAC, construction, automotive technology, culinary arts, technology, or another career-focused program, we want them to understand that developing a marketable skill can create financial stability, independence, and opportunity.
Entering the Workforce
Some graduating seniors are ready to enter the workforce immediately.
They deserve support and preparation too.
L.I.T. will help participants understand resumes, interviews, workplace expectations, professionalism, communication, punctuality, budgeting, saving, credit, employee benefits, career advancement, and the importance of building a positive professional reputation.
We want our youth to understand the difference between simply having a job and intentionally building a career.
Entrepreneurship
Some of our young people will have dreams that cannot be contained inside a traditional career path.
They want to build something of their own.
L.I.T. wants to encourage that ambition.
Participants interested in entrepreneurship can be exposed to business ownership, financial literacy, budgeting, pricing, marketing, customer service, networking, business planning, professionalism, and understanding the responsibility that comes with owning and operating a business.
We want our young people to understand that they do not always have to wait for someone to give them an opportunity.
With education, preparation, discipline, and support, they can learn how to create opportunities.
More Than a Scholarship
The L.I.T. Legacy Scholarship represents much more than financial assistance.
It represents a life and a legacy.
Our founder's nephew was a student-athlete whose future was interrupted by gun violence.
Every scholarship awarded in his memory is our way of turning that pain into purpose.
Where violence took away an opportunity, we will help create another one.
Where a future was taken, we will invest in another future.
Where a family experienced unimaginable loss, we will use that experience to teach another young person why their life, decisions, and future matter.
The young person receiving a L.I.T. scholarship should understand that the award carries a message:
Your life matters.
Your future matters.
Your talent matters.
Your dreams matter.
And what happens after graduation matters.
Building a Legacy That Comes Back Home
Our ultimate vision is not simply to award scholarships and send young people on their way.
We want to create a cycle of mentorship.
We want today's L.I.T. participant to become tomorrow's mentor.
We want today's scholarship recipient to eventually help fund another young person's scholarship.
We want today's student-athlete to become tomorrow's coach.
We want today's young girl to become tomorrow's professional, entrepreneur, tradeswoman, wife, mother, mentor, community leader, or whatever successful future she chooses to build.
And most importantly, we want her to come back and tell another young girl:
“Somebody poured into me. Now I'm here to pour into you.”
The L.I.T. Mission
Leaders Inspiring Tomorrow exists to reach young people before they become a headline, invest in them while they are still becoming who they are meant to be, and provide the mentorship, life skills, confidence, opportunities, and support necessary to help them build successful futures.
Through athletics, mentorship, femininity and etiquette education, leadership development, violence prevention, life-skills training, and our Legacy Scholarship, we are creating more than successful athletes.
We are developing leaders.
We are building confident young women.
We are protecting futures.
We are creating opportunities.
We are turning loss into legacy.
L.I.T. — Leaders Inspiring Tomorrow
Because our youth deserve more than our condolences after tragedy. They deserve our investment before it happens.
