Welcome to Our World!
For over 36 years, Dr. Calvin T. Mann (h.c.), Founder of Encourage Me I’m Young, Inc., has dedicated his life to the journey of boys, men, fathers, and families. EMIY stands as a movement of prevention through encouragement — strengthening boys before they become men, building families before they fracture, and restoring communities before they crumble. Dr. Heather Hetheru Miller, C.P.P. (h.c.), Executive Director of EMIY has over 30 years of community and personal development experience with a backdrop of early childhood, family stability, education, workforce development and facilitating training. This team of more than 70 years of combined talent and experience “engineered” The EMIY Way. The EMIY Way is an engineering methodology for behavior change between adults and youth involving intentionally structuring interactions to shift from traditional, top-down instruction to a collaborative,, reciprocal partnership. This approach focuses on building strength based relationships , sharing power, and fostering mutual accountability, ensuring youth are active decision-makers rather than passive recipients. Parents, Teachers and Youth Practitioners become their trusted messengers.
Our methodology was engineered by Dr. Calvin T. Mann and Dr. Heather Hetheru Miller, as an intervention model. In our 70+ years of collective experience, we recognize that the behavior change was not just for the boy, but the true change is between adults and youth. For us, it meant that we had to deliberately design a "game plan" or a step-by-step system to change how we interacted with each other, rather than leaving it to chance. The EMIY Way is a 3-part structured process that leverages a structured approach where adults change their mindset. Owning their own actions (e.g., how they communicate, listen, or set rules) and decide to foster a positive, supportive environment that encourages the youth, the boy, to adopt healthier behaviors or attitudes. But you must be the model and create the foundation before they accept it. The process of your mindset must become increasingly familiar and more easily recognizable as Engagement, Empowerment and Encouragement.
The process that we engineered and implemented overtime included this simple breakdown of the challenges and obstacles that we and other adults, whether parents, teachers or youth practitioners, routinely experienced. Broadly as a first step, we looked at each other and had deeply rich conversations with all groups to understand our what and who. Secondly, we looked at how do we design a better approach which became our methodology. Third, we identified the key components that most affected us all. Finally, we began to apply the process and acknowledged how it was working. We applied our approach in our mentoring parent sessions, during school classroom visits and with other youth collaborations. At each phase and with each group, onlookers were amazed at how in just a few moments with their students, children and/or participants we made meaningful connections so quickly. They were left with wanted to know more. This guide is an interactive tool for healthy communication and respectful relationships that we are all capable of creating.
Email: info@emiyworld.com
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Expert Care
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Real Results
Proven outcomes that speak for themselves and make a meaningful difference for your students, leaders and teachers.
Discover The EMIY Way
The EMIY Way
Teaches a Practical Skill or Strategy
Attendees leave with concrete, repeatable techniques — not just concepts. They practice “Encourage Before You Correct” and “Listen First, Lead Later,” learn to decode behavior as communication using a quick-reference tool, and rehearse a 3-part affirmation formula (“I see your ___. I value your ___. You have the power to ___.”) they can use the same day.
Encourages Peer Learning and Knowledge Sharing
The session is built around paired and small-group activities — practitioners compare notes on the behaviors they see most often in their own settings, role-play affirmation language with a partner, and share strategies aloud. Participants learn as much from each other’s field experience as from the facilitators.
Adapts Across Organizational Contexts
The framework was built to flex across mentoring programs, classrooms, juvenile justice settings, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and community programs. Every activity asks attendees to apply the tool to their own setting, so a teacher, a probation officer, and a youth pastor each leave with a plan specific to their work.
Reflects Diverse Perspectives, Experiences, and Approaches
Content is grounded in real field stories (David, Bobby, Remi) representing different challenges — academic struggle, emotional dysregulation, family firsts — and acknowledges the layered realities boys face: absent male models, community stereotypes, and technology competing for trust and belonging. The session honors multiple entry points into this work rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this workshops, participants will be able to:
• Apply The EMIY Way’s 3-promise framework (Engage, Empower, Encourage) in their field setting
• Decode behavior as communication using a practical reference tool
• Use “Encourage Before You Correct” and “Listen First, Lead Later” in real, high-stakes moments
• Recognize how technology and an unregulated nervous system affect a boy’s responsiveness
• Leave with a personalized one-page action plan to implement immediately
Snapshots of Discovery: A Photo Exhibition of The EMIY Way's Educational Adventures
