Who We Are
“Everyone has a story. Take the time to listen to others and understand them.
Empathy is one of the greatest gifts we can have with other people.”
— Sam Bracken, ODBI Co-founder
Our Mission
The mission of The Orange Duffel Bag Initiative (ODBI), a 501c3 public charity, is to provide certified coaching, curricula, and ongoing advocacy to support students in need to achieve and succeed.
Our Story
More than 1800 students in need from high schools throughout Georgia and colleges across the nation have graduated ODBI coaching programs! Over ten years of independently audited financials show 85¢+ of each donated dollar goes to student programs.
The ODBI coaching model and curriculum are inspired by the award-winning book “My Orange Duffel Bag: A Journey to Radical Change.”
In 2010, a coaching program pilot was successfully launched in partnership with GA Department of Human Services to provide an innovative solution and intervention to improve the education achievement rates of students in foster care. From 2012-2015, ODBI expanded its impact in collaboration with the University System of Georgia (USG) Board of Regents (BOR) to serve Georgia high school students who were certified homeless. In 2016, the USG BOR, in partnership with ODBI, was awarded GA’s first GEAR UP Georgia Matching Grant from the US Dept. of Education. In 2020, ODBI translated our after school curriculum into Spanish, pivoted our program delivery to a virtual platform, and partnered with The nsoro Foundation to serve college students in foster care across the nation. In 2021, Carrie Steele Pitts Home and ODBI were awarded a BOOST grant through The American Rescue Plan in support of student learning utilizing a whole child approach. ODBI also piloted that year our first Certified Coaching Program with Clayton County Public Schools, where educators are now certified to deliver ODBI curriculum to more of its high school students. The project was highlighted on local news!
In 2022, ODBI contracted a Learning Management System (LMS) to digitize curriculum and create an even more robust online platform to serve our students. The LMS scales program delivery of all ODBI curricula and our coaching certification program.
Fall 2023, ODBI will expand services to coach and empower youth in the Georgia Juvenile Justice system prior to reentering society.
ODBI is Recipient of Emory University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Award and The Tony Nobis Award for Most Innovative New Program.
Our Programs
ODBI coaching programs and ongoing advocacy support social and emotional learning by coaching students to develop a comprehensive plan for their life and education success. Our “Team Orange” culture is to improve the wellbeing of our program graduates by empowering students to establish and maintain healthy relationships and community connections in support of their vision for their best life.
GREAT NEWS FOR GA TAXPAYERS!
Why an Orange Duffel Bag?
ODBI co-founder Sam Bracken was a homeless teen in Las Vegas when he packed an orange duffel bag with everything he owned and headed to GA Tech on a full-ride football scholarship. The coaching and caring he received there from Coach Bill Curry, Dr. Homer Rice, and Georgia Tech’s Total Person Program forever changed his life. ODBI curricula is based on the 7 Rules for the Road in his book “My Orange Duffel Bag: A Journey to Radical Change.”
“At the end of the day, it’s all about the students.”
Our Initiative
The ODBI initiative is to create community partnerships and achieve collective impact for positive systemic change and measurable results, and to serve and support students in need, helping them stay on track to achieve and succeed.
Working in concert with mission-aligned organizations through a collaboration for collective impact model, ODBI offers at-risk students of diverse races, ethnicities, cultures, gender identities, and disabilities, enrichment activities, trauma-informed nondirective counseling, and comprehensive programs that encourage and guide students via coaching and goal setting to create a plan for their education and future success.
Our Vision
· To empower students in need to create their own individual, dynamic life plans, and support them in formulating and achieving their goals.
· To be an ongoing resource for our ODBI Graduates
· To bridge the digital divide our students face by providing laptops and facilitating community connections to achieve their educational, employment and life goals.
· To be a symbol of hope for students who have experienced trauma
· To be recognized as a subject matter expert in coaching young adults who have experienced trauma to achieve their dreams and live their best life.
Our Values
· We believe in possibilities for all at-risk students and in their abilities to choose their own paths in pursuit of their best selves.
· We believe in honesty and integrity in all we say and do.
· We believe in compassion, gratitude, and accountability for the students, partners and communities we serve
· We believe in and respect the uniqueness, privacy and dignity of each and every individual – their age, sex, race, color, creed, citizenship status, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical, mental and/or medical condition.
· We believe in excellence and responsible stewardship of the resources to which we have been entrusted.
· We believe in collaboration to achieve our vision, values, and mission in support of the students and communities we serve.