My Story

Please let me introduce myself. My name is Michael Bennett. I'm a Christian husband, proud father and grandfather. I was born and raised in the city of Detroit, Michigan. I grew up with my father, mother and four siblings. We were a middle class family living in a lower class neighborhood because my father worked many long hours at an auto factory that was a few miles away from our home.

Many of my peers didn't have their fathers living at home and in some cases had no contact with them at all. Some of my friends had no curfews, structure, and they also skipped or dropped out of school. Some also had substance abuse problems and even committed crimes.

The absence of their fathers taught me at a young age the impact a father has in raising children, especially boys.

Assuming their mothers did the best they could, it didn't compensate for their father's absence. I was blessed with both a loving father and mother who worked hard and made sure I had a great foundation for success.

After graduating high school, I attended Wayne State University and majored in business. I then worked for a few years at a mortgage company as a field inspector. The experience prepared me for opening my first business performing housing inspections. As a young entrepreneur I was invited to participate in school career days. The experiences felt so rewarding, that I felt a call to do some youth mentoring. My first experience with mentoring was with a youth ministry in Detroit called The Joy of Jesus. I worked with young boys growing up with similar experiences of the boys I grew up with. After leaving Joy of Jesus, I did some mentoring at Boys' Hopes and Girls' Hopes of Detroit. I also had the privilege of working with the Winning Futures organization of Metro Detroit, a program that not only mentored young boys, but helped prepare them for college. The time I spent mentoring was very rewarding. As a Christian I can testify that it is better to give than to receive.

In June of 2022 my family left Michigan and relocated to Las Vegas. After a year of settling in I became a mentor with the Iron Sharpens Iron Youth ministry. Shortly after, I took classes on youth mentoring and received a certification as a mentoring coach. I realized that the mentees I've been working with in Las Vegas are no different than those in the city of Detroit. I discovered in my years of mentoring that all teens, despite locale, require two critical needs. They need to feel loved and heard. One of the main problems I've learned in mentoring is that young boys today have a lack of acceptance which can confuse their self-identity. This fast-paced technological world has caused a void of human touch and connection. Recognizing this fact caused me to put together the Men/Teen Experience. The longevity and success I've experienced derived from the five core values I will be teaching in this workshop. It is my desire to instill these same five values in your group so the impact is long term and long lasting.