Antwan Steele
Antwan Steele, Founder and Executive Director of Student Navigation, Inc once was employed by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation where he established and developed his professional skills as a leader. In his five years of service with the organization, Mr. Steele held several positions within the Taussig Cancer Institute. One of his positions was a Patient Navigator, which at the time was fairly new to the Cleveland Clinic healthcare industry. In this position Mr. Steele was required to define and resolve barriers for patients who struggled with access to care. While in this position, Mr. Steele along with his colleagues became widely recognized by many as a department who were helping the community on a large scale.
As the department served more people in the community, the department began to expand and eventually, Mr. Steele was promoted to become a Program Manager for teen cancer with a focus on tobacco cessation. While in that position, Mr. Steele had the opportunity to work with high schools as he educated students about the importance of early detection and preventative care. Mr. Steele was always passionate about working with the youth, but actually being in the schools stirred up the desire even more. Unfortunately, he resigned from Cleveland Clinic after a few months of being in that position to pursue his own endeavors, but during his time with that prominent organization, he learned some valuable lessons.
One valuable lesson he took with him was that Patient Navigation worked and there was an actual model created by an oncologist named Dr. Harold Freeman. This physician noticed that black women were being diagnosed with breast cancer at late stages in comparison to white women who were being diagnosed more, but presenting at early stages. He realized that the communities of color suffered from access to care and that negatively impacted their health. The purpose of Patient Navigation is to eliminate barriers to timely screenings, diagnosis, treatment and supportive care. This concept has shown efficacy as a strategy to reduce cancer mortality and is currently being applied to reduce mortality in other chronic diseases. After working in this field for five years, Mr. Steele realized that the Patient Navigation model is applicable to any industry, especially education and support students in need. And this is where the idea of Student Navigation, Inc came from.
Now imagine an organization embedded into the heart of a district or multiple districts serving as a resource with high volunteer engagement to support students dealing with barriers to quality education and lifestyle. Imagine if there was an organization that served the youth with a barrier resolution model in the same manner that Cleveland Clinic served its communities. Imagine if there was an organization that focused on preventative care and early detection for students struggling with issues around finances, social and emotional, transportation, character, hunger, clothing, shelter, etc. Student Navigation, Inc wants to be the bridge that students can cross to the other side of something safe and beneficial.
Student Navigation, Inc is a youth development and community organization that is operated by trained staff and volunteers. We envision a society where the students and families we serve have immediate access and support that they need to live a life that they deserve and desire. In order for us to do this, we will define and resolve barriers that hinder students from receiving quality education and lifestyle. We understand that many students’ face a multitude of issues at school, home and/or the community that negatively impact their behavior and performance. If they were surrounded with quality resources and volunteers, the outcomes would be much different.
Student Navigation, Inc is a barrier resolution and character development organization that focuses on boys and girls between 6th to 8th grade. We want to increase character development and educational improvement for the youth, family wholeness within their homes and community engagement to improve their environment.