Mahlik A. Smith: Youth of the Year 2015 

It is with great pleasure, that Boys & Girls Clubs of Oakland introduces Mr. Mahlik A. Smith as the 2015 Youth of the Year. As such, Mahlik serves as a positive role model and an inspiration for all of Oakland’s youth, including our 2,500 student-members. 

Having first set foot in our Leonard J. Meltzer Clubhouse in West Oakland at the age of five, Mahlik has been a consistent presence at our Club for over 11 years. At the Club, Mahlik has taken on many leadership roles. Whether tutoring younger members, participating in Keystone Club volunteer projects, or coaching younger athletes in the sports of baseball and basketball. Mahlik always finds a way to lead his peers. 

In his community, Mahlik is an active member of the Youth Outreach Program at his church. He serves on the City of Oakland’s Youth Commission Advisory Board, speaking up for and giving voice to Oakland’s youth. In 2014, through his many hours of community service benefitting the City of Oakland, he earned the Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Community Service Award. As a senior at McClymonds High, Mahlik is looking forward to graduating this June having maintained a GPA above 3.5 throughout high school.

He aspires to attend Hampton University as a pre-medical student. His goal is to become a sports medicine doctor, combining his passions for both sports and medicine. His road to graduation has not been easy. Mahlik is the youngest of six boys raised by their single mom in West Oakland. Growing up, Mahlik says that his “family has had to use many resources to survive such as Section 8 housing, food stamps, free lunch, and clothing.” His family’s trials and tribulations are the motivating factors that move him to “never stop working toward success, graduating from college, and being stable financially.” 

Of his relationship with the Club, Mahlik believes that “the Boys & Girls Club was a key piece of the puzzle that kept us all fed, safe, and involved in positive activities.” Mahlik expresses deep appreciation for the Clubs and in particular for his 2 Club mentors, Rodney Cook and Magen Clay, who he says “taught me how to be a leader, a student athlete, and a giving person.” Please join us in congratulating Mahlik for his remarkable achievements including the earning of this most prestigious honor as Boys & Girls Clubs of Oakland’s outstanding Youth of the Year for 2015.

The Youth of the Year program celebrates 14 to 18 year-old student-members’ outstanding contributions to their family, school, community, and their Boys & Girls Club; recognizing their academic excellence, moral character, life goals, poise and public speaking, as well as personal challenges and obstacles they’ve overcome. Historically, Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s five regional winners have been honored at a Congressional Breakfast on Capitol Hill and have a chance to meet the President of the United States in the White House each fall.