The Mizzou Black Men’s Initiative hosted its first day-long educational summit on leadership Sunday in the Mark Twain Ballroom in Memorial Union.

The Real-Life Experiences and Active Leadership Summit took place from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and featured numerous workshops and presentations. The entire day of events was free, and students from several institutions around Missouri attended.

The summit featured Justin Jones-Fosu, president of the motivational speaking company JUSTIN INSPIRES, as the keynote speaker.

“As a speaker, Justin brings energy,” MBMI President Darnell Cage said. “He’s very interactive. Instead of speaking to the audience, he leads everyone into a group effort to get a positive message. My favorite thing that Justin said was ‘Don’t be just like anyone. Be better than everyone by being the only you.’ When you’re genuine people start accepting you for who you are. It’s all about knowing your goals and keeping them in perspective.”

Born in Grand Rapids, Mich., Jones-Fosu said he had a difficult childhood. His family, cared for by his single working mother, was on welfare. Jones-Fosu eventually grew up to attend Morgan State University, where he was president of five student organizations, and went on to earn his master’s in business administration.

Jones-Fosu started his company on March 24, 2007, the same day he gave a successful speech at the Golden Key Leadership Training Conference in Connecticut.

“My mother challenged me at an early age to never let what I see around me define who I am,” Jones-Fosu said. “My personal desire now is to give people practical information in an energized way that they can use for the rest of their lives. I hope to help people align their values with their actions to achieve their authentic success.”

The R.E.A.L. Summit also featured presentations by Mizzou IGuide Leadership Team founder Kaylan Holloway, MBMI Coordinator Marcus Mayes and Norma Jackson, coordinator of Diversity Student Programs for the Graduate School.

Mayes and Cage said the R.E.A.L. Summit was different from other conferences because it had a practical approach.

“We didn’t just talk today, we gave tools students can use,” Mayes said. “We talked about the blue print for self-discovery and leadership, where you have to find your values, apply them to your interests and then apply them to your short- and long-term goals.”

Mayes and Cage said the summit was also different because it ended with an opportunity for reflection.

“A lot of times conferences like these just end abruptly,” Mayes said. “There aren’t a lot of chances for people to talk about what they learned. Now we definitely know people took away a lot of lessons from today.”

Cage said the summit was very successful. He said after each event, students would form long lines to talk to the presenters.

“We had to pry students away to move on,” Cage said. “They all had questions, and this was what the summit was about: finding answers to those questions.”

Jones-Fosu said MBMI did a good job hosting the summit.

“It’s a big move they made,” Jones-Fosu. “Helping improve the community is challenging these days but they decided to focus on changing students’ lives and they seemed to make an impact.” RE