The Organization:

Roca has had unparalleled success altering the life trajectories of America's most high-risk young people - the young people that are involved in crime, engaged in dangerous behaviors, have rejected help, have dropped out of school, and are simply too difficult for other programs to serve.

• Roca seeks out the most difficult, challenging young people – the young people who are unwilling or unable to attend traditional programming, work or school.
• Roca's services are designed to work with young people who are not prepared to participate in traditional programming. All program components address issues of relapse, using failure as a tool to help young people learn.
• Roca is an outcomes-driven organization and operates by a rigorous system of performance management and impact evaluation.
• Roca works with the criminal justice system and government to change how they work with those young people.

How Hamzah Does It:

With an exceptional level of dedication to his work, Hamzah uses data to assess his own efforts, to assess his participant’s progress, and to plan more effectively. This approach to working with high-risk young people enables Hamzah to outperform his peers in 10 of the 11 performance indicators Roca uses to measure and manage their performance. Hamzah’s performance, and the 11 performance indicators used by Roca, are shown in the set of graphs locaed in the data section below.

Hamzah also demonstrates that his Superstar capabilities by going above and beyond expectations. For example, Hamzah babysat for one of the young people that he works with so that this young person could make it to work on time and not risk losing a job he worked so hard to secure.

Hamzah regularly pushes and challenges his young people to make a positive transformation that will improve their lives. Hamzah understands that this can’t happen unless he develops a strong and trusting relationship with those he focuses on helping. For this this reason, he is there for his young people day or night. Hamzah is someone his young people trust and rely on.