Daily Inspiration: Meet Johnell Moody

Today we’d like to introduce you to Johnell Moody.

Hi Johnell, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I got my start in youth development when I was in high school and was recruited into YouthBiz. YouthBiz was a grass-roots inner-city “Youth-Led” program that focused on building the leadership capacity in the youth of color in civic engagement, networking, facilitating and enriching others, and effective team building. Alongside Youthbiz, I was also a participant in a program called Full-Circle Intergenerational Project. Full Circle was a mentoring program focused on building resiliency in black youth in under-resourced communities through community engagement, strengthening family values, and identity development.

It was both my experience in YouthBiz and Full-Circle that became a catalyst for my involvement in faith-based Youth work today. As a result, I became a volunteer youth pastor in a small local church from which I co-founded a non-profit with a good friend called No Room 4 Failure in 2010. No Room 4 failure (NR4f) served youth in group homes and other difficult transitional living situations through mentoring, skill-building, spiritual formation. To strengthen the work and credibility of NR4f, we merged the program under Full-Circle Intergenerational Project as its flagship program in 2012. I become the volunteer Executive Director and unfortunately had to dissolve the program in 2013 due to sustainability reasons.

I transitioned out of my formal pastoral volunteer role in the local church. Still, I continued to serve kids in my community through youth sports at the local recreation center in Montebello, Green Valley Ranch, and a Club Sports program called the Green Valley Giants. In 2015 I was recruited to work full-time for a local non-profit called CrossPurpose as the Youth Development Director. CrossPurpose, a career development program run by faith leaders in the community, did not a youth extension to their work. Under the mentorship of Dr. Ted Travis, an urban youth development advocate for 30 years in Northeast Denver, we developed a nine-month youth leadership program that served high school kids from the Cole, Whittier, Five Points neighbor. Our focus was maximizing the urban adolescent leadership experience in ways that molded them for future service. This program was a huge success!

To have a broader influence of Urban Youth Development work in the city, I transitioned from CrossPurpose to Denver Metro Young Life in 2017, serving as Area Director of Central Denver. Young Life is a Global Para-Church youth outreach organization whose mission is to introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith. We serve middle school and high school youth throughout Denver and North Aurora through fun outreach in-school, after-school, and summer programs. We provide mentorship and pathways to incentivize leadership development. Today, I serve as the Associate Regional Director, overseeing our Denver and North Aurora programmings. I also lead our DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) work throughout the Front Range Region of Young Life.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
No, it has not been a smooth road. Co-founding and leading a local non-profit organization is challenging work. There is a steep learning curve, particularly in board development and fundraising, that I lacked experience in when I first began. As a person of color leading a non-profit, I had no one strategically coaching me on how to build resources for the organization outside of grant writing. As a result, I could not financially sustain the work of No Room 4 failure, which led to the program being dissolved. Board development is learning how to recruit the right people who have a shared vision for your mission. Once you have the right people in the room, you need to understand how to leverage their strengths to help the organization achieve its desired impact. I lacked these skill sets early in my non-profit leadership work.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Presently, I hold the role of Associate Regional Director for Young Life in the Front Range Region. My primary function is driving vision and purpose, building effective teams that work in the community with kids, and fundraising. I also spend a percentage of my leading our regional strategy in DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). I specialize in Leadership Development.

Leadership Development is the work that brings me the most joy because I get help people become their best self. I win by helping others succeed! It does not matter if I am working with a teen or an adult; my agenda is always to help that person win. What sets me apart from others are my values. Every personal or professional decision I make is through the lens of my faith, family, community, and people. These questions serve as my anchor for my values: Is what I do pleasing to God? Am I centering my family? And how can I continue to add value to my community and the people around me? These values are simple but profound as a compass that guides my life and for what I say yes and no to. I do not negotiate with my values!

Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
Define yourself, or others will do it for you! This statement has been the most critical lesson that I have been able to capitalize on in my career. More so, I rise to achieve or overcome in efforts that I know are right or good, even in the face of danger, fear, or intense difficulty. In other words, I am a lover of courage and grit.

Contact Info:

• Email: Johnell@Denveryl.org
• Website: https://denvermetro.younglife.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yesiammoody/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnell.moody
• Twitter: @FoucusSeason