Project Push kicks off youth initiative program

by Dawn Gray

 

A local downtown business is giving back to the community by offering free mentored workshops to local youth.

Pushers Co. on Ouellette Avenue is ready to launch their pilot program, Project Push. The program is a youth initiative aimed at helping young people aged 16 to 24 by giving them real world experience in a working environment. The program will consist of three workshops: Barbering 101, Urban Journalism and Music Artist Development. Five applicants will be selected to take part in each workshop.

Founder and CEO of Pushers Co., Ali Ahmed, started the clothing aspect of the business from the trunk of his car in 2011. Since then, it has grown substantially and now consists of six different businesses all located in their flagship location in the heart of downtown Windsor. The Pushers Co. complex houses a retail clothing store, barber shop and hair salon, photo-shoot studio, design and print shop, recording studio and a supper club that serves food during the day and transforms into a lounge in the evenings. Ahmed says developing the business has been a “hard but fun ride” and now they are in a position to give back to the community that helped them grow.

“We have the mentors, the facilities, the expertise and the networks to give back to the community so we might as well. It’s only right,” said Ahmed.

Project Push will match the young people with mentors and allow them to learn by experience. The three workshops will all take place on location at Pushers Co. and the mentors will consist of working professionals who are a part of the Pushers Co. family. The youth participants will shadow the mentors while learning the basics of the business.

Over the years, Pushers Co. has developed a good relationship with young people who are attracted to the industry and have a natural curiosity for the workings of the business.

“Kids already come in here all the time asking questions and giving their ideas,” said Ahmed.

Dalia Mazhar, social media coordinator of Pushers Co., said careers like barbering and music management can sometimes seem unattainable to these youth because it is a difficult industry to get started in. Mazhar believes these workshops will give them connections in the industry and allow them networking opportunities.

“We want to find out what their goals are and help them get there,” said Mazhar. “This industry can be hard to break into. We want to help them do that. We’re going to push them and make them realize that they can reach those goals.”

Joe Merheje, general manager of Pushers Co., will be mentoring the urban journalism aspect of Project Push. Merheje grew up in Windsor and is a graduate of the St. Clair College journalism program. He said this is a great opportunity for local youth and will give them a chance to learn things that they might not learn in traditional school.

“It’s a good way to reach their goals in a different way,” said Merheje. “Growing up here I never really had a chance to do anything like this. I’m super excited. I think it’s sweet.”

Ahmed is also excited about the future of Project Push because he feels it is perfect for a city like Windsor. He hopes it will inspire youth to reach for their goals and make them realize with hard work and dedication those goals are attainable.

“I hope for a better future for Windsor and for the kids that we mentor. Sometimes you’re in a position where you quit on yourself and everybody around you. That’s not what pushers do,” said Ahmed. “We needed a recording facility to make our music so we created one. We needed a print shop to make our clothing so we created one. A photo-shoot area, a lounge…we’re letting our dollars circulate within us while we also offer and provide the services to others as well. That’s the perfect example of what a pusher is.”

Ahmed said he hopes to continue and to grow Project Push in the future.

“This is just the start. If everything goes well we’re going to offer more workshops next year because we have more mentors,” said Ahmed. “I’m sure were going to get better at this and we’ll be able to elevate from here.”

The mentoring program kicks off March 1 and will run for eight months.