On Monday, three teenagers were honored for completing life skills training and goal-setting exercises through the City of Danville’s Project Imagine program, which aims to steer youths away from gang activity and community violence.

This milestone marks the 30th graduating class for the program, which has seen 183 teens successfully complete its initiatives since its inception in 2018.

The graduates were Quayvion Hairston, Shakavion Keen, and Emarion Lea.

Deputy City Manager Earl Reynolds encouraged the graduates to stay focused and learn from their mentors in the Project Imagine program. “They are coming back from where you are trying to go. They can tell what is up there. They can tell you what they saw,” Reynolds said. “They can tell you what to do to be successful. They also can tell you what not to do. Both are important.”

Project Imagine equips participants with tools to build productive lives through mentorship, goal-setting, and strength-based assessments using Casey Life Skills and Clifton Strengths tools. These resources help place youths on a path toward achieving goals such as avoiding law enforcement contact, improving grades, completing school, and securing employment.

Each participant is also assigned a dedicated outreach worker who provides mentorship for at least one year.

Led by Robert David, violence prevention manager for the City of Danville, Project Imagine is based on the evidence-based theory of Cognitive Behavior Therapy in that if youths can implement new information and standards, they can change their behavior. The idea is that the program creates a positive “image” in the mind of a youth so that he or she can “imagine” a life without gangs or crime.

The teens in Project Imagine are chosen through referrals from the police department, the courts, schools, and parents.

David and Project Imagine have received state and national recognition. In October, the program was recognized as one of five “Champions of Mentoring” by Mentor Virginia, a Richmond-based organization that supports the development and growth of mentoring programs for young people.

In November 2023, David received the 2023 Youth Workforce Professional of the Year Award from the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals. In 2022, he was named among the “Top 100 Influencers in Local Government” by the nonprofit Engaging Local Government Leaders.

In 2020, David was named the winner of the Frederic Milton Thrasher Award by the National Gang Crime Research Center. The award recognizes his accomplishments in gang prevention and intervention.

The program also received the President’s Award from the Virginia Municipal League in October 2019.