INNOVATION IN CHILDREN’S SERVICES

A CONVERSATION WITH GEOFFRY GILOT, TEEN PROGRAM DIRECTOR, ROY MCBEAN BOYS & GIRLS CLUB and ALVIN L., SENIOR AT FLORIDA VIRTUAL SCHOOL

GEOFFRY GILOT is the Teen Director at the Roy McBean Boys & Girls Club. Once a Club Kid himself, he truly understands the impact our mission has on young people. He helps facilitate every teen program we offer, creating meaningful opportunities for growth and leadership. His dedication and passion make him a vital asset to advancing our mission and empowering the next generation.

ALVIN L. is a 17-year-old student entering his senior year at Florida Virtual School and a dedicated leader in Boys & Girls Clubs’ teen programs. Through opportunities like Students Taking an Active Role (STAR), the Perlman Price Young Entrepreneurs (PYE) program, Youth Council, and ACT, Alvin has honed his skills as a change maker and mentor among his peers. Most recently, he traveled to Chicago to host the National Keystone Conference that he and fellow Club members across the country spent a year planning, an achievement that reflects his commitment to youth leadership on a national scale. Alvin embodies the mission of the Clubs: giving young people the tools to succeed and the confidence to lead in their future.

BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF SARASOTA AND DESOTO COUNTIES

TELL OUR READERS A BIT ABOUT YOURSELVES.

GEOFFRY GILOT I am the team program director at the Irving and Marilyn Naiditch campus, home of the Roy McBean Boys & Girls Club and I’ve been with the organization since I was 13 years old, so I’m also a Club Kid, but started working full-time in 2016 at the Boys & Girls Clubs. My experience as a teenager at the Gene Matthews Boys & Girls Club in North Port is what inspired me to work here. I had mentors there that impacted my life in a positive way, and they shaped my view on life in terms of service. I just love helping people, whether that’s youth, adults or anyone in general. That inspires me to do what I do.

ALVIN L. I’m a senior in high school, full-time at UF’s Dual Enrollment program and I have been going to the Boys & Girls Clubs here in Sarasota since I was 14. I’m about to be 18, so it’s about four years now. My first touch point with the club was the award-winning Culture Fest, which was the Keystone participation in the national project a few years back, and that was really what made me fall in love with the club.

WHAT IS SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT THE BOYS & GIRLS CLUB?

GEOFFRY There are quite a few things that the general public may not know about our organization. For one, we don’t serve only six to 12-year-olds. We also serve teenagers, 13-18. Through the high-quality programs, we equip teenagers with different skills, opportunities and leadership skills. From our leadership team to the frontline, we foster a family atmosphere where we truly, deeply care about each other and the youth that we serve.

ALVIN, CAN YOU THINK OF A SPECIFIC EXPERIENCE AT THE CLUB THAT MIGHT HAVE INSPIRED YOU?

ALVIN It was my participation in the Cultural Immersion Program, which is one of Mr. Geoffry’s flagship programs and one of the flagship programs of Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties. I was fortunate enough to be in the 2024-2025 cohort for the program which is a volunteer-based program where a group of teenagers from Sarasota has the opportunity to travel to an international country and volunteer and educate, whether that be youth or children. This past summer, we traveled to the Republic of Georgia and worked with a nonprofit there called Society Biliki, and we were able to educate some of the children there about American culture, and then they were able to educate us about things happened in their country. So that is definitely one of the things that has been most eye-opening for me.

SOMEONE ONCE TOLD ME THAT BOYS & GIRLS CLUB IS THE BEST-KEPT SECRET, AND WE DON’T WANT THAT TITLE ANYMORE—WE WANT EVERYONE TO KNOW ABOUT US.”

— Geoffry Gilot

GEOFFRY, HOW DO YOU KEEP UP WITH OR ADAPT TO THE CHANGING NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITIES THAT YOU SERVE?

GEOFFRY I am very much hands-on in the community. I make a point to do my research, get out in the community and go to the different school sports games and attend events. I put myself out there because I want to stay relevant. Someone once told me that Boys & Girls Club is the best-kept secret, and we don’t want that title anymore —we want everyone to know about us. I made it my personal mission, if you will, to break that kind of stigma.

ALVIN, TELL ME HOW THE CLUB HAS HELPED YOU GROW PERSONALLY, ACADEMICALLY, SOCIALLY OR ALL OF THE ABOVE?

ALVIN All of the above for sure. The club has been so transformative for me, frankly. They’ve given me so many different opportunities, and I’m forever grateful for everything. I truly do believe that the more you give to the club, the more the club will give back to you. Being involved has advanced me as a person. I’ve been able to advance my speaking skills. This is something that I could have never imagined doing even just four years ago. I’ve definitely seen myself grow academically as a person not only in the classroom, but even outside of the classroom when we discuss academics. Being able to be around a different circle of people outside of my social circles in school has been truly transformative for me.

GEOFFRY, CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT SOME NEW PROGRAMS OR INITIATIVES THAT YOU’RE ESPECIALLY PROUD OF?

GEOFFRY There are so many and our programs are always evolving. I’m very proud of our Keystone program, especially being awarded the 2024 National Keystone Club of the Year, winning the National Keystone Project of the Year and also being named the National Keystone Advisor of the Year. Just recently, we won the National Keystone Academic Success of the Year. That program allows teens a platform to use their voice to be creative and to be themselves, and that’s one of the programs that I enjoy. Another great program is the Cultural Immersion Program, which allows teens to expand their global perspective and to get together weekly to brainstorm different ways of raising funds for the program, and also focus on volunteer work that they’ll be doing in the next country. Watching their ideas come together and seeing them put their plan together and execute it, I have no words— it’s a great feeling.

ALVIN, WHAT IS ONE COMMUNITY PROBLEM THAT YOU WOULD MOST LIKE TO SOLVE?

ALVIN It would be literacy rates. The club has allowed me to pursue this through both the Advocacy Careers Training Program as well as the Perlman Price Young Entrepreneurs Program. I was able to research the issue and get our former mayor’s stamp of approval last summer. This summer and actually through the spring, we were able to create a nonprofit that would begin to tackle the issue. I’ve been very fortunate to begin the production of Affordable Books, which is the name of the nonprofit. The goal is to provide affordable books that children can take home and that they can read in their own spaces. The research shows that children who are reading at home are significantly more likely to succeed in the long run than children who just read at school. A lot of kids in Sarasota, unfortunately, don’t have access to books at home so our solution is 10-cent books. The books cost 10 cents to make, they’re paper-based books and we distribute them widely in the community. Through Boys & Girls Club, we’re able to read them to the kids during the after-school programs and then they will each get their own book to take home to continue their journey.

GEOFFRY, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES YOU’RE FACING AT THE CLUB?

GEOFFRY The biggest challenge is year-round recruitment. We’re the best-kept secret, but we are always in the schools and at recruitment events. Our challenge is just getting the word out there more in the public to all the schools, parents, families and community partners. On the program side of things, attending these national conferences and events, securing and fundraising for these programs to send our kids to these locations, could be a challenge that our teens come up with solutions for.

LOOKING AHEAD, WHAT IS YOUR LONG-TERM VISION FOR THE NEXT FIVE TO TEN YEARS FOR THE PROGRAM AND THE CLUB IN GENERAL?

GEOFFRY In five to ten years I want the Roy McBean Club to be a premier destination for teens. I love what I do and I think the teens who have come through our programs talk highly of our programs and they talk highly of our staff members. I want them to have a safe place while being themselves, and then also gaining all of the skills that they need post-high school.

ALVIN, WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN FIVE TO TEN YEARS?

ALVIN L. I see myself finishing college and starting a career. Through Boys & Girls Club, I’ve had the opportunity to serve on the National Steering Committee for Keystone, which is a group of 10 to 12 teens who are hand-selected from around the world, from California to all the military bases and military-affiliated organizations that Boys & Girls Clubs has around the world. I was able to have a part in creating the National Keystone Conference for this year, for 2025, which took place in Chicago in July. Through that, I was able to put together a college and career expo and to do that, we did a lot of outreach and event planning. I had a lot more creative decision-making to do in this than I had expected. It was being able to speak to potential exhibitors and trying to pitch to them on why they should come. While we’re at the event, we have to make sure that everybody is situated and understands what their role is going to be. In the end, everybody was just so overwhelmed with emotions and happy that they were able to connect with teens from around the world, so through that, it’s given me this passion for potentially going into a more creative role. I know I want to pursue something in the business administration risk management field, but I would also love to incorporate something more creative into that.

SINCE YOU’RE BOTH LEADERS, WHAT LEADERSHIP STRATEGIES HAVE YOU FOUND TO BE EFFECTIVE IN MOTIVATING YOUR TEAM?

GEOFFRY Build a relationship with your teens. They can read you like a book, so you need to come in with a very genuine and sincere sense of respect. Just be an open book, have open arms and build positive relationships.

ALVIN Being able to lead from the back is very important. I think that a lot of people think that leading is always just from the front, or showing people, ‘Hey, follow me by doing this’. But I think being able to go to the individual where they need support is very important, especially in the different programs that we have. For example, with Keystone, I was recently elected the president. A lot of the Keystone members come to the meetings. They might be in eighth grade, going into high school and they might not know fully where to fit in or where their puzzle piece fits into the whole Keystone map. So being able to find a place for them is, I think, very important and making sure where they can contribute is most impactful.

ANY PARTING THOUGHTS?

GEOFFRY I would leave you with this. I learned this when I was a teen and it’s always stuck with me. It’s our mission statement, I know it by heart: to enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring and responsible citizens.