Meet Jonathan McMillan of Be Better Than Average LLC in The Metro Area

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathan McMillan.

Jonathan, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up in Park Hill and during my teen years got involved in gangs. By the time I was 18 I had dropped out of school and was constantly in and out of jail. At 25 I ended up going to prison for motor vehicle theft and escaping from a halfway house. As strange as it sounds, that was probably one of the best things to happen to me because it gave me a much needed wake up call. Just a few months after getting locked up I got really sick with pneumonia and had to be rushed to the hospital in the back of an ambulance.
After about a week, I began to recover and was released from the hospital back into the prison system. Before I was sent to the prison in which I was previously housed I had to spend a few days in the prison infirmary. Unlike infirmaries in the civilian world, this one was more like a hospice. Behind the walls, an infirmary is really just the place that old and critically ill prisoners go to die. I soon realized that if I didn’t quickly change the way I was living my life this would be where I would eventually end up — permanently. I spent the rest of my sentence learning how to change my life and be a better person for myself and my family. I began to read books about personal development including “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill.

In that book I discovered the need to define my purpose and set goals for success. While studying these concepts I realized I wasn’t the only person who could benefit from learning how to set goals and develop a sense of self worth and empowered identity. There were hundreds if not thousands of young Black men like myself who had succumbed to the mindset that they were part of an endangered species which was destined to either get locked up or killed at an early age. So, after my release I moved to Houston, TX and began to develop a curriculum to teach young men from my community. Five years later, I moved back to Denver and began working for a gang prevention agency and afterschool program. I enrolled in college and began studying human services with a concentration on at-risk youth.

In 2013, I completed and self-published my first book and registered my company Be Better Than Average, LLC with the State of Colorado. A few years later I began co-instructing classes on youth, gangs and drugs at Metro State University of Denver. Around the same time, I was also hired as a gang intervention specialist with the City & County of Denver’s GRID (Gang Reduction Initiative of Denver) program This is notable because I became the first person in the city’s history with a felony conviction to be employed by the city’s Department of Safety. While I was grateful to have the opportunity to work directly with some amazing young men and their families, I eventually left that role when given the opportunity to work on policy and public safety as the Community Affairs Liaison for Denver City Council District 9. In that role, I was able to bring council support to the My Brother’s Keeper Initiative of Denver.

With the understanding that much of the youth violence which I work to prevent is the byproduct of racist economic, housing, criminal justice, education and healthcare systems I joined the Denver African American Commission to collaborate with other leaders to create programs and recommend policies which would affect substantial change to the status quo. I have also joined multiple youth violence prevention community boards and sit on multiple committees dedicated to reducing racial disparities in violence, criminal justice and economic mobility.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
As with any journey, mine has been filled with several challenges. As my ultimate mission is to disrupt and dismantle systems which disenfranchise and oppress people, but particularly, people of color and even more specifically, Black boys and young men – I’m constantly facing challenges from those who are comfortable with the status quo. Many people within the systems are unable or unwilling to see the need for fundamental change in how they treat and serve Black people.

Additionally, oftentimes, the work I do is thankless and not respected. Many people within the community which I serve don’t realize just how difficult it is to affect change at a systemic level and the personal and professional sacrifices I continue to make for the greater good and need to be served and fulfilled. It’s easy for a lot of people whose true objectives are to simply agitate or gain social media fame and influence to criticize the work in which I and many others in the community are diligently engaged.

Moreover, when providing direct services to youth who are at a high risk of being involved in or impacted by violence you will experience the loss through death and incarceration. I’ve lost several over the years, some of whom I’ve known since they were in first grade and it never gets any easier. That takes a toll on your mental health so you have to have coping mechanisms in place to be able to continue on.

Be Better Than Average LLC – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I describe myself as a Success Strategist and my company provides consulting services helping people, organizations, communities and businesses be “better than average”. One of the successes I’m most proud of is helping lead the City & County of Denver in the creation of a comprehensive youth violence prevention strategy. This is remarkable to me because once upon a time when I was sitting in a prison cell, I couldn’t have imagined the life I currently live.

I’ve been smart enough to learn lessons from my mistakes and fortunate enough to have the opportunity to share those lessons with others to help them achieve success in whatever projects they undertake. That can range from helping a young person leave a gang to helping local government agencies design a comprehensive public safety plan aimed at reducing and preventing violence using best practices and innovative strategies for implementation.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I define success as a mindset and a journey. Success is actively knowing what your purpose is, believing that you have the right and the ability to be successful and the willingness to do whatever it takes to achieve that success. Success is understanding there are things you can’t control in life but you are 100% responsible for the things which you can control including your thoughts, words, and actions. Success is remembering that happiness and peace is the ultimate goal and you can experience that every day that you know you did what you needed to do to make the world a happier, more peaceful place.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jonathanmcmillan.com
• Phone: 3032691438
• Email: jonathanm@bebta.org
• Instagram: @bta_jonathan
• Facebook: facebook.com/btajonathan
• Twitter: @bta_jonathan

Suggest a story: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.