Malik was helping his uncle move when he found the photograph.
Tucked inside an old program book from 100 Black Men of Indianapolis was a Beautillion portrait from more than a decade ago. Young men in suits. Poised. Polished. Future-focused. And among them was his uncle, Jamal.
At the time, Malik didn’t realize he was looking at a glimpse of his own future.
A few years later, as a sophomore in high school, Malik walked into his first session of The 100’s Dollars & $ense Financial Literacy Program skeptical and unimpressed.
“At first, I was annoyed,” he says now with the kind of honesty only a teenager can get away with.
He joined at his mother’s encouragement, expecting long lectures and generic advice. Instead, he was immediately drawn in by the program’s instructor, Dr. Matt Will, who led the curriculum in partnership with the University of Indianapolis.
“I was prepared for a lecture, so when Dr. Matt handed out packets, immediately diving into stocks, bonds, and ETFs, he captured my interest,” Malik says. “We were told we’d be completing a final project with stock picks that we researched and had to defend, and I immediately felt a rush. I’d never had to defend a financial decision before.”
That first year shifted the way Malik thought about money. But more importantly, it changed the way he thought about himself.
So, when his mother asked if he wanted to return for a second year, there was no hesitation.
By then, Malik had kept every packet, every note, and every worksheet from the first program cycle. He walked into year two differently—more prepared, more curious, and more confident.
“I knew I wasn’t going to get it right the first time,” Malik reflects. “That’s why I was eager to participate the second year. I had all the knowledge from year one and a better idea of what I’d try differently.”
That mindset is at the core of what The 100’s financial literacy programming truly teaches.
The language of investing is only the surface lesson. Underneath it is something bigger: the discipline to try, fail, reassess, and return stronger. To make decisions. To defend them. To learn without shame.
From Simulation to Real Account
And in year two, the stakes became more real.
In addition to the 15-week Dollars and $ense program on Saturday mornings, students can participate in the Wells Fargo Junior Investment game, a two-month simulation in which they manage a hypothetical $100,000 portfolio under real market conditions. During these virtual sessions, Malik selected his stocks, tracked market movements, and learned firsthand what volatility feels like—what makes someone panic-sell, what makes them hold, and how emotions influence financial decisions.
“The financial literacy program teaches youth the logistics,” his mother explains. “The Wells Fargo program teaches them how to apply them.”
When the program ended, Malik did something many adults still haven’t done: he opened his own investment account.
Two months later, he was already seeing gains.
A Family Commitment to Life Skills
For his parents, that moment represented far more than a financial milestone.
“Neither Malik’s mother nor I learned financial literacy in our youth,” his father says. “That’s something we actually needed before we went to college, which is why we were so motivated to ensure Malik had a different experience. We wanted him to have the tools to truly get ahead in life, and financial literacy is one of those critical skills.”
So, when Malik started earning money through popcorn sales, milestone awards, and opportunities he had worked hard to earn, his parents made a deliberate decision. They weren’t going to simply save or invest the money for him. They wanted him to understand it. To make decisions with it. To learn how to grow it himself.
That’s what ultimately led him deeper into the orbit of 100 Black Men of Indianapolis.
For Malik’s parents, the value of the program was never just about stocks, portfolios, or financial terminology. It was about exposure. Accountability. Confidence. It was about placing their son in rooms with accomplished Black men who would challenge him to think bigger about his future and help him see what was possible for his life.
That kind of mentorship cannot be replicated through occasional encouragement or passive support. It requires presence. Consistency. Real investment in a young person’s development.
And that is the mission of The 100 in practice: men giving real time to positively impact the development and outcomes of youth in their communities.
Not just donations. Not symbolic involvement. Time.
The kind of sustained mentorship that takes a sixteen-year-old seriously enough to ask him to research investments, defend financial decisions, and think critically about the future he wants to build for himself.
For Malik’s mother, that mattered deeply.
“I wanted to make sure he was surrounded by as many positive Black men as I could,” she says. “Men who could really open his eyes and influence him on his journey.”
She and Malik’s father have been together for twenty-five years. She has known his Uncle Jamal since he was young. She remembers attending his Beautillion years ago and watching the young men walk across the stage. And even then, she remembers thinking: someday, my son.
The photograph Malik found while helping his uncle move wasn’t random. It was a full-circle moment waiting to happen.
The Confidence Beneath the Accomplishments
On paper, Malik already looks exceptional.
He is an Eagle Scout who has earned 118 merit badges in a program where only 21 are required to reach the rank. He has spoken at the Governor’s Scout Breakfast and received a standing ovation twice. He has addressed audiences of more than 1,000 people on multiple occasions, sharing stages with former Governor Eric Holcomb and Governor Mike Braun. He is also a published author, documenting his journey from Cub Scout to Eagle Scout in a children’s book now available on Amazon.
As a Cub Scout, Malik raised more than $60,000 in popcorn sales over four years—funding opportunities for inner-city youth in his troop who otherwise could not afford to attend camp.
By every external measure, Malik was already succeeding. And yet, according to his mother, there was still something underneath all of those accomplishments.
“He would still get nervous and shy about certain things,” she says. “We were searching for opportunities to help him build his confidence as a young man, a public speaker, and a community leader.”
That’s what eventually led him into The 100’s Developing Future Leaders program led by Anthony Murdock.
“I would drop him off and pick him up,” his mother says, “and he would not stop talking afterward. He was so excited about everything he learned.”
Then she explains what the program truly gave him:
“It gave him the confidence he needed to apply everything he’s ever learned. It reassures him that he’s learned the right things and how to apply them.”
That distinction matters.
The 100 didn’t teach Malik how to speak in front of people. He already knew how to do that. The 100 helped him believe he had something worth saying. That is a different kind of mentorship altogether.
It is what happens when young people are not simply taught skills, but seen fully by adults who recognize their potential and reflect it back to them consistently enough that they begin to believe it themselves.
The Doors Already Opening
Malik is only seventeen years old, but his future is already unfolding in real time.
This summer alone, he has received three job offers, including a paid engineering internship that came through a connection within 100 Black Men of Indianapolis. He now teaches financial literacy concepts he learned through Dollars & $ense to younger members of his Boy Scout troop, and in May, he will help lead the Indianapolis 500 Parade.
Long-term, he plans to pursue engineering, a path shaped by years of curiosity, from building Legos as a child to teaching himself programming by taking apart and rebuilding electronics.
His mother smiles when she describes the impact The 100 has had beyond the formal programming.
“They have these programs, and while they’re fantastic, there are also small interactions, personal conversations, and real relationships that make this experience so impactful for young men.”
The night before his interview for this feature, she and Malik attended another event hosted by The 100. During the evening, two members of the organization—Mr. Woodard and Mr. Kinchen—walked up to Malik.
“They said to me, ‘We’re the new president and vice president of Malik’s fan club. We just need you to move over and let us take over running this.’”
She laughs as she tells the story, but what she is really describing is belonging. Two accomplished Black men looking at a sixteen-year-old and publicly claiming him as one of their own. Supporting him. Encouraging him. Investing in him.
That is mentorship.
That is what “real time” looks like.
And somewhere more than a decade ago, Malik’s uncle Jamal stood in a suit for a Beautillion portrait without knowing that years later, another young man in his family would walk through the same doors—and find a community ready to pour into him, too.
Why this Story, Why Now?
Malik is one young man. The 100 runs nine programs across Central Indiana, and each is built on the same foundation: trusted adults who do not leave.
The 100 Society—a new recurring giving initiative with a $100,000 goal for unrestricted program sustainability—is how that foundation gets reinforced. Monthly contributions at levels that meet supporters where they are, building predictable funding so the mentors who poured into Malik can keep showing up for the next student who walks in skeptical and walks out building a portfolio of his own.
Because somewhere in Indianapolis right now, there is another sophomore sitting in a financial literacy class, annoyed and unimpressed. The 100 is the reason he might leave with his first $1,000 invested.