Earl Lucas inspired youth leaders in thinking critically to solve pressing world issues. “If you make one step forward toward your goal, you apply yourself, you make a plan – all things are possible. Everything you need is contained within you.”

That’s the message Earl Lucas, Lincoln exterior chief designer, delivered to students in late July as guest speaker at the Beloved Community Leadership Academy (BCLA), a premiere youth program of The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolence Social Change.

Lucas’s message on determination, leadership, dedication and success was heard by more than 100 young scholars and reinforced BCLA’s curriculum focused on leadership, character development, entrepreneurship, and 21^st century innovation. Each are centered around three major pillars including Dr. King’s Philosophy of Nonviolence; Technology and Innovation; and Business and Entrepreneurship.

The King Center annually hosts student scholars from across the United States and abroad to participate in the BCLA program. Thanks to support from corporate sponsors like the Ford Fund, The King Center is provided merit-based scholarships to students, as well as laptops and hotspots for students in need.

Other speakers for this year’s BCLA program include Dr. Bernice A. King and Major League Soccer Executive Sola Winley and former NFL player Troy Vincent.

Lucas, a Texas native who graduated from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit with a degree in industrial design, has worked on the 2000 Lincoln Navigator, the 2007 Lincoln MKX, the 2013 Lincoln MKS, the Lincoln Navigator Concept, and the 2018 Lincoln Navigator.

He also spent three years on an International Service Contract, from 2011 to 2013, designing products and projects for India, South American and China. Watch his full message above.