The Browns partnered with the City of Cleveland to host the third annual Cleveland Youth Summit, a workshop on topics including healthy relationships and mental health.
More than 200 students from schools throughout Cleveland attended the summit at the East Professional Center. Students participated in icebreakers and had discussions with each other in line with the three core objectives of the event's theme, 'Healthy: Hearts, Minds & Futures.'
"We are incredibly proud to continue our partnership with the City of Cleveland and CMSD to help bring the Youth Leadership Summit to life for the third year," Vice President of Community Relations Jenner Tekancic said. "This event embodies our commitment to youth empowerment, providing the next generation with the tools and support to shape their futures through healthy relationships. We know how important it is for the youth in our community to have the opportunity to learn and grow, and we know the Annual Youth Leadership Summit and the Thriving Youth Series provides them with the opportunity to connect and share their voices in an effort to create positive change across Northeast Ohio."
WR DeAndre Carter attended the event and participated in the different stations alongside the students. He spoke to the students and took part in icebreaker activities with each group.
Carter's first stop was the Healthy Relationships station, led by Karamu House, the nation's oldest producing Black theater.
The students lined up on the steps of the theater and followed the instructor's directions as they 'caught' and 'threw' each other's voices. The icebreaker aimed to show students how they can create positive relationships in their own lives through collaboration and using their voice.
"We were doing exercise, warming up our body, warming up our voice," Carter said. "Being interacting with the kids like that is – I've been out of school for a long time – so being able to interact and do those things with them was pretty cool."
The students went to the Resource Fair following Healthy Relationships and met with over 20 City of Cleveland community partners.
At the station, they played games and received handouts with information about each partner as well as a chance to win candy. Through the Resource Fair, the students learned about job opportunities and other community programs and resources available to them.
The final station students went to was Youth Mental Health, led by Project Lift, a prevention and social justice agency for Black teens.
Students went into groups and designed masks. On the masks, students wrote down how they thought they were perceived and their emotions on the inside and outside of the mask. The designs portrayed how the students felt both about themselves and to the world, writing those thoughts and feelings on the outside of the mask. Then, they put down how they felt about themselves on the inside of the mask.
The station encouraged students to reflect on their emotions and self-perception. It helped them explore the difference between how they feel inside, how they present themselves to others and how to see other people in the same context.
"The things that these kids were saying at the mental health station, without getting into the stories too much, you could tell that their heads were on the right way," Carter said. "They're heading in the right direction and they're doing the right things."
For Carter, events like the Cleveland Youth Summit represent one of the most rewarding aspects of being part of the Browns organization. He values the opportunity to be in the community and in schools, connecting with the students and making a positive impact beyond the field.
"Me personally, being in the position that I am, being able to come and to give back and give to the youth is definitely one of my favorite parts of the job," Carter said. "I come and I can talk to these kids and they're going to listen, right? And the Browns organization, they host community events consistently and they're very deeply embedded into this Cleveland community."
The Cleveland Youth Summit was the final event in the 2025 'Thriving Youth Series,' the City of Cleveland hosts that aims to celebrate the importance of impactful youth development programming.
