When Shaquor Sandiford was growing up in Chelsea, there were many times he said he would have liked a mentor’s voice or be pointed in the right direction, but those things didn’t exist in Chelsea.
In a lot of ways, they still don’t, he said.
But that’s something he’s hoping to change with his ongoing series of Village Talks, the next of which takes place on Friday, March 2, at 6 p.m. in the Boys & Girls Club (30 Willow Street), presented by Chelsea Restoration Corporation.
Guest speakers will be Jordan Perry and Stephanie Atkinson.
“The idea of Village Talks was started from the relationships I was building while volunteering and coaching at Excel in Chelsea in 2014, a school I attended as a kid,” he said. “They were good kids and smart kids but they didn’t have a lot of people teaching them between right and wrong and being good examples. The people they were listening to were leading them in the wrong direction. I wanted to be able to create a network of teaching for the kids beyond just sports. It’s kind of about getting out of the realm of Chelsea and seeing there is more to the world.”
Part of what he has already done is teach kids about financial literacy, and he routinely talks about entrepreneurship and decision making.
Sandiford spent most of his youth in Chelsea playing sports, and went to Malden Catholic and then on to the Rivers School – where he was recruited for football and basketball.
After spending some time at Springfield College, he decided to pursue business, which is what he is doing now.
He said he hopes a lot of the kids in Chelsea take advantage of the Talks, and he promises they will be thought provoking.
The talks are open to kids ages 10 to 17.