Motivating urban youth to achieve educational excellence

CLEVELAND: Maurice Ashley, International Grand Master of Chess, will speak about his work to showcase the possibilities that education and academic excellence can afford students in urban communities at noon on Friday, February 1, 2008, at The City Club of Cleveland.

Ashley, who made history when he became the first and only African-American to attain the title of International Grand Master of Chess in 1999, was named 2003 Grandmaster of the Year by the U.S. Chess Federation. He opened Harlem Chess Center in September 1999, and is an advocate for mentoring programs and other initiatives that support, nurture, and encourage youth.

The designer of an award-winning chess tutorial, Ashley was coach of the Raging Rooks of Harlem, winners of the National Junior High School Championships (1991), and the Dark Knights (also from Harlem), two-time National Champions (1994 and 1995) in the Junior Varsity Division. He also was the head of the Dark Knights program as they continued to win six National Championship titles.

Ashley has been featured in many publications, including Time magazine, USA Today, New York Times, Sports Illustrated, London Times, and Investor’s Business Daily, and has appeared on The Charlie Rose Show, CBS News This Morning, National Public Radio, CNN, Bloomberg Radio, and a number of radio shows around the U.S.

This Forum is in partnership with PolicyBridge.

Tickets are $18 for members and $30 for non-members. Lunch is included. They can be purchased by calling The City Club at 216.621.0082 or visiting the website at www.cityclub.org.