Honoring Leadership in Action: Celebrating Our 2026 Circle of Community Award Honorees
At the 4th Annual Circle of Community Gala, Black Entrepreneurs of the Flint Hills (BEFH) paused to honor leaders whose work reflects courage, consistency, and commitment to community.
These awards are not about titles.
They are about impact.
They recognize individuals who build, serve, and lead in ways that strengthen the Flint Hills and expand what is possible for inclusive entrepreneurship and community wellness.
This year’s honorees represent humanitarian service, generational business legacy, emerging entrepreneurial leadership, and transformative excellence.
Humanitarian Award
Minister Brewel Currie — Street Prophets Network Inc.
The Humanitarian Award honors leadership rooted in restoration.
Minister Brewel Currie embodies that calling.
Through Street Prophets Network Inc., he has transformed lived experience into purpose — traveling into prisons across the Midwest to inspire hope, accountability, and redemption. His work reminds incarcerated individuals that their stories are not finished and their futures are still worthy of investment.
From workforce engagement through Job Corps to launching his nonprofit through BEFH’s Each One Teach One program, Minister Currie continues to turn testimony into transformation.
His impact extends beyond programs. It is personal. It is spiritual. It is structural.
He meets people at their lowest points and reminds them of their highest potential.
That is humanitarian leadership in its truest form.
Longevity in Business Award
Shannon Lewis — Debonaires
Longevity is not accidental. It is built on trust.
For years, Debonaires Barbershop has been a cornerstone of downtown Manhattan — not just as a business, but as a community institution.
Under Shannon Lewis’s leadership, the barbershop has become a space where:
Generations sit in the same chair
Conversations shape community dialogue
Young men receive mentorship alongside haircuts
Excellence is consistent
In an era where small businesses face constant economic pressure, Shannon’s sustained presence represents resilience and rootedness.
His legacy reminds us that entrepreneurship is not only about profit margins — it is about presence. It is about being a dependable pillar in the fabric of a neighborhood.
That is the power of longevity.
Young Entrepreneur Award
Manuel Jamin — Yami Yummy
At just 18 years old, Manuel Jamin is already building toward ownership.
A graduate of BEFH’s Commerce Uplift business training program, a Manhattan High School graduate, and now a student at Manhattan Technical College studying automotive technology, Manuel represents the next generation of entrepreneurial vision.
As a vital part of his family’s business, Yami Yummy, he has witnessed firsthand what it takes to operate and sustain a business. But he is not stopping there.
He already has a business plan in motion to launch his own automotive repair company.
Grounded in family, fueled by discipline, and focused on long-term impact, Manuel reflects what happens when early exposure to entrepreneurship meets intentional mentorship.
His award is not just about age.
It is about readiness.
It is about courage to start.
And he is just getting started.
Black Excellence & Leadership Award
Dr. Jurdene Coleman — Sage & Summit Therapy & Consulting
Black excellence is not simply achievement — it is leadership exercised with integrity, courage, and compassion.
Dr. Jurdene Coleman exemplifies this standard.
As founder of Sage & Summit Therapy & Consulting, she has advanced culturally competent, accessible mental health care in the Flint Hills. Serving on multiple community non-profit boards and facilitating important conversations in our community surrounding poverty her work centers community healing at a time when wellness disparities remain urgent and visible.
Beyond her clinical leadership, Dr. Coleman chaired the USD 383 school board during one of the most politically and socially complex periods in recent history — guiding decisions with steadiness and principle.
She leads where it is difficult.
She advocates where it is necessary.
She builds where it is needed.
Her impact reflects what it truly means to lead with purpose — ensuring that mental health, education, and community voice remain connected.
Why These Honors Matter
Each of these honorees represents a different dimension of community power:
Restoration.
Consistency.
Emerging vision.
Transformational leadership.
Together, they remind us that Black excellence and Upward Mobility is not a moment — it is a continuum.
It lives in barbershops.
It lives in nonprofit work.
It lives in classrooms and boardrooms.
It lives in young entrepreneurs mapping out their first business plan.
At BEFH, we believe in celebrating not only what we are building — but who is building it.
And these leaders are shaping a future rooted in ownership, dignity, and collective advancement.