Photo: SJ Smith, Cheers Photo Co
Christian Love
Hats off to Christian Love, junior at Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, and founder of Opportunity Bridge 901, who is striving to help connect high school students across the Mid-South with enrichment, leadership, service, and recognition opportunities through his newly developed youth-led digital platform.
Opportunity Bridge 901 (OB901) was created to help level the playing field by making access to opportunities visible, accessible, and equitable for high-schoolers.
As project lead, Christian founded, designed, and developed OB901 after being accepted as a Social Change Fellow for the BRIDGES Youth Action Center (YAC), where he spent months laying the groundwork — creating the brand, building the website, researching barriers to access, curating opportunities, and connecting with community leaders across the Mid-South for feedback and support.
I created it after noticing that in many leadership spaces I’m part of, the same students keep showing up; not because other students aren’t talented, but because they often lack access to information about opportunities," says Christian. "Opportunity Bridge 901 is designed to close that gap by making access to opportunities, including Memphis Parent’s 10<20 Youth Impact Awards, more visible and equitable."
BRIDGES' goal is to connect youth with a range of leadership opportunities across the Greater Memphis area, and the YAC initiative values youth as the experts in their own experience, working with partners on facilitation, curriculum design, partner decisions, coaching and material/resource design, evaluation, strategic planning, and more.
The Memphis Parent 10<20 alum continues to push for positive impact in the lives of young people, and since the inception and recent growth of OB901, Christian has enlisted the help of a colleague — a junior at White Station High School — to support peer recruitment strategies and the Opportunity Ambassadors program. Opportunity Ambassadors extends the connection for two high school volunteer leaders from each Mid-South school to serve as a bridge between OB901’s mission and ensuring students in all schools have equitable access to OB901 resources.
When Christian began Opportunity Bridge 901, I remember thinking this is going to take a lot of work," says Mahal Burr, senior director of the BRIDGES Youth Action Center. "But once I got to know Christian, I knew he could handle it. He's an incredibly driven and magnetic person who's not only good at getting things done but also bringing people into his work. It's been amazing to see the way he has inspired so many other youth to be a part of Opportunity Bridge 901!"
Christian reported since launching, OB901 has seen nearly 2,400 resource interactions and 500 visits from students across the Mid-South.
Another staff member at BRIDGES shared: "The way Christian sees his position in the community is a beam," says Ayzia Alexander. "A structure that illuminates and supports the gaps of accessibility that are completely unjust. His creation will and is filling our community with opportunity. I’m thankful to have been able to advise him in his creation of something great. Youth understand their circumstances, we must support them."
Additionally, Christian runs an all-natural lip balm brand (C-Love Balm), is a full International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma candidate, published writer, and holds youth leadership roles at his school and local organizations.
To learn more about youth-led volunteer and leadership experiences at Opportunity Bridge 901, visit opportunitybridge901.org. Access more youth program opportunities at BRIDGES USA.