Pharaoh’s Court: Building Leadership Through Wellness

Kicking off Black History Month by celebrating the health and strength of African American young men

Pharaoh's Court 2026

As we enter Black History Month 2026, we're reflecting on the powerful moments that define our work at San Francisco Achievers. Last week, on January 29, we hosted Pharaoh's Court, our annual Young Men's Wellness Conference. This event brought together 36 young men for a day focused on something that's often overlooked: the complete wellness of African American young men.

Beyond GPAs: Why Holistic Support Matters

At San Francisco Achievers, we're proud of our outcomes. Our 100% high school graduation rate and 100% college matriculation rate speak to the academic success of our scholars. But we know that numbers alone don't tell the full story.

Behind every GPA and college acceptance letter is a young Black man navigating a complex world. A young man who carries the weight of societal expectations, racial trauma, and the pressure to be strong in the face of overwhelming odds. A young man who deserves support that goes beyond test scores.

This is why we've built our programs around a simple truth: you can't separate academic success from overall wellbeing. When a young man is struggling with his mental health, carrying financial stress, or dealing with trauma, no amount of tutoring will help him reach his full potential.

The Mental Health Crisis No One's Talking About

The statistics paint a sobering picture:

Suicide is the third leading cause of death for Black men ages 15-24. Among Black young adults (18-25), 9.5% report serious thoughts of suicide, and 2.4% have made an attempt. Research shows that 83% of Black men experience at least one depressive symptom, and between 17% and 50% of Black males with PTSD have co-occurring disorders.

But here's what makes this crisis even more urgent: Black Americans use mental health services 50% less frequently than their white counterparts. In 2024, Black adults were 36% less likely than the general population to receive mental health treatment.

Why? The barriers are steep. Stigma within the community. Lack of culturally competent care. Mistrust of medical institutions. Cost. And perhaps most damaging, the societal pressure to maintain a persona of strength, to never show vulnerability, to always be okay.

This is the reality our scholars face every day. And it's why initiatives like Pharaoh's Court aren't optional extras. They're essential.

Building capacity to make informed decisions about their future.

What Holistic Support Really Looks Like

Pharaoh's Court exists because we believe that supporting the whole person means addressing every dimension of wellness. Not just the parts that show up on a transcript.

A Day of Transformation

The conference wasn't about lectures or statistics. It was about creating space for our young men to explore who they are and who they're becoming. Through interactive workshops led by professionals who understand their lived experiences, they spent the day addressing three interconnected areas of wellness:

Mental Health: Breaking the Silence

Our mental health workshops focused on emotional intelligence, stress navigation, and building resilience. But more than that, they created a rare space where young Black men could be vulnerable. Where they could name their struggles without fear of judgment. Where they could learn that seeking help isn't weakness, it's wisdom.

In a world where Black men are expected to be strong, stoic, and unshaken, this kind of space is revolutionary. It directly challenges the stigma that keeps 50% of Black Americans from seeking the mental health support they need.

Physical Health and Safety: Reclaiming Our Bodies

The mind-body connection isn't abstract for our young men. It's about understanding how chronic stress from navigating racism shows up in their bodies. How lack of access to healthy food and safe spaces affects their physical health. How the trauma of living in neighborhoods with lower trust and safety impacts their nervous systems.

Our physical health workshops helped them see that their health is a right, not a privilege. That taking care of their bodies is an act of self-respect and community care.

Economic Health: Building Real Security

Financial stress is a mental health issue. When you're worried about money, about supporting your family, about whether you can afford college or even next week's meals, it affects everything.

Our economic health workshops provided practical financial literacy, but they also addressed the deeper issue: the socioeconomic realities facing Black families, the racial wealth gap, and how to build financial security in a system that wasn't designed for them to succeed.

By helping our scholars understand and manage their economic health, we're reducing a major source of stress and building their capacity to make informed decisions about their futures.

Building Connections: The Resource Fair

But Pharaoh's Court didn't stop at workshops. We know that information without access is incomplete. That's why we brought together 12 community-based organizations for a resource fair, connecting our young men directly with the support they need.

Students met with organizations offering employment opportunities, mental health services, and youth programs providing critical resources. These weren't just brochures and business cards. These were real connections with people ready to support them. This is what it means to build a bridge between need and access, to ensure our scholars know where to turn when they need help.

This kind of direct connection is what makes Pharaoh's Court more than a conference. It's a gateway to ongoing support.

What holistic support really looks like.

The Power of Community and Representation

What made Pharaoh's Court transformational wasn't just the content. It was being in a room full of young Black men having honest conversations about their struggles and strengths. It was seeing wellness professionals who look like them and understand their experiences. It was learning that they're not alone.

One of the biggest barriers to mental health care for Black young men is the lack of cultural competence in treatment. How do you trust a system that doesn't understand the impact of racism on your mental health? How do you open up to someone who can't relate to what it's like to be a young Black man in America?

Pharaoh's Court addressed this by centering Black voices and Black experiences. Our facilitators understood that when a young Black man says he's tired, he might be talking about racial battle fatigue. That when he says he feels unsafe, he's navigating real threats that others might never face. That his mental health can't be separated from the environment he lives in.

By the end of the day, participants walked away with:

• Concrete strategies to cope with stress and trauma that are culturally relevant

• Connections to Bay Area mental health resources with providers who understand their experiences

• Tools for building emotional intelligence and self-advocacy

• A peer community that continues beyond the conference

• Most importantly, permission to prioritize their own wellness

"I didn’t know other people felt the same way I did. It helps to know that I’m not alone."

— Pharaoh's Court Participant

This is why representation matters. This is why culturally competent care matters. And this is why San Francisco Achievers exists.

Black History Month and the Future We're Building

As we celebrate Black History Month, we're reminded that honoring our history means caring for our present and future. The civil rights leaders we celebrate didn't just fight for access to schools and voting booths. They fought for the right to live full, dignified lives. To be seen as whole human beings.

That fight continues today, and it includes mental health.

For too long, mental health has been stigmatized in Black communities. Seen as a white people's problem. A weakness. Something to be handled in private or not addressed at all. But this silence is killing our young men. Literally.

When suicide is the third leading cause of death for Black men ages 15-24, we can't afford to stay silent. When major depressive episodes among Black youth increased from 9% to 10.3% between 2015 and 2018, we can't pretend this isn't urgent. When 83% of Black men report experiencing depressive symptoms but only half seek help, we have to ask ourselves: what barriers are we upholding?

At San Francisco Achievers, we're working to change this narrative. We're teaching our young men that taking care of their mental health is an act of resistance. That seeking help is courageous. That wellness isn't just physical, it's emotional, mental, and financial too.

We're building a model that other organizations can learn from. One that says: if you want to support Black young men, you have to see them as whole people. You have to address the unique challenges they face. You have to create spaces where they can be vulnerable, ask for help, and build the skills they need to thrive.

This Black History Month, we're celebrating the young men who showed up for themselves at Pharaoh's Court. We're honoring the generations before us who fought for our health and wellbeing. And we're committing to building a future where African American young men have equitable access to the resources they need to thrive, not just survive.

The SFA Model: What Holistic Support Really Means

Pharaoh's Court isn't a standalone event. It's part of a larger approach that defines everything we do at San Francisco Achievers.

We don't just track GPAs. We check in on how our scholars are really doing. We don't just help them apply to college. We make sure they have the mental health support, financial literacy, and life skills they need to succeed once they get there. We don't just celebrate their achievements. We walk alongside them through their struggles.

This is what holistic support looks like. And it works.

Our 100% graduation and college matriculation rates aren't just about good academic programming. They're about creating an environment where young Black men feel seen, supported, and empowered to take care of themselves in every way. When we address their mental health, their financial stress, and their need for community, academic success follows.

Other organizations serving young Black men should take note: you can't separate academics from wellness. You can't ask young people to achieve while ignoring the weight they carry. Real support means addressing the whole person and the unique challenges they face as young Black men in America.

Looking Forward

As we continue through Black History Month and beyond, San Francisco Achievers remains committed to being a voice and model for holistic support. We're proving that when you invest in the complete wellbeing of Black young men, when you create culturally competent spaces, when you treat them as whole human beings deserving of care, they don't just survive. They thrive.

Pharaoh's Court is more than a conference. It's a statement that the wellness of African American young men matters. It's proof that when we create spaces designed by and for our community, transformation happens. It's a model for what's possible when organizations choose to go beyond surface-level metrics and invest in real, holistic support.

We invite you to join us in this work. Whether through partnership, support, or simply spreading the word, you can help us create more moments like Pharaoh's Court. Together, we can change the narrative around Black men and mental health. Together, we can build a future where every young Black man has access to the support he needs to thrive.

Because when our young men heal, grow, and thrive, we all rise.

San Francisco Achievers is leading the way in holistic support for African American young men. To learn more about our programs or support initiatives like Pharaoh's Court, contact us at dadams@sfachievers.org or visit sfachievers.org.