MB Resident Attends Youth Conference in Nation's Capitol

Imani Cleamons, daughter of former Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Jim Cleamons, recently made her first trip to Washington, D.C.

And it wasn’t to see the Lakers play the Washington Wizards.

Imani, 12, whose family resides in Manhattan Beach, was recently invited to attend the Junior National Young Leaders Conference held in the nation’s capitol. Imani attended a conference from October 22 to 27.

The JrNYLC is just one of several programs that make up the Congressional Youth Leadership Council, which offers separate program opportunities to students across the nation. There is also a National Young Leaders Conference, as well as a Global Young Leaders Conference.

The JrNYLC holds conferences throughout the summer and fall months, and offers conference attendance to individuals who have demonstrated leadership potential and a history of academic achievement. Imani received her invitation via recommendation from one of her former teachers. 

“I actually wasn’t expecting it, but my fifth grade social studies teacher nominated me,” said Imani, an eighth grader at The Prentice School in Orange County, an independent, nonprofit pre-k through 12th grade school for students who struggle with reading, writing, spelling, oral language, and math. Imani attends Prentice with her sister Rose, who is dyslexic. The school has 187 students, not all of whom are dyslexic, said a school spokesperson.

“Then one day we were driving, my mom hands me this letter and says I should read it.”

Surprisingly, however, the contents of the letter were not necessarily to Imani’s liking.

“Since my parents said it was good for my college applications, I told them I would go,” Imani said. “But on the inside, I didn’t really want to go.”

According to Imani, her reasons for not wanting to take the trip cross-country were nothing more than the normal pressures faced by any other youth.

“I was just scared at first,” she explained. “I had never been away from home for a week without knowing anybody. I also didn’t want to be considered a nerd or geek or anything if I went. But once I got there and met some people who were nice and felt the same way, we could relate and became friends.”

And just as the fear of traveling alone had crept into Imani’s consciousness, the thoughts of her parents, Cheryl and Jim, followed suit.

“We were very apprehensive to send her alone for a week, but we knew it would be a good experience for her and we trust her,” Cheryl said.

In addition to creating friendships with the other invitees, Imani came home with a wealth of productive advice about being a leader at school and in her community.

“We had leadership focus group meetings and that’s where we got into groups and discussed the key traits that a leader should possess,” Imani said. “We talked about why it was good to have these traits and how we could improve on these things.”

If ever there were a time for Imani to utilize her qualities of leadership and maturity, that time could be now.

As the NBA is currently in the midst of a lockout, Imani’s father is currently the head coach of a team in China. With that said, Imani’s next year in school depends primarily on whether her dad continues to coach in China for another season or comes back to the states.

If Jim, who has been in China since early July, decides to renew his overseas contract, Imani’s mother said that the Cleamons family would make its way to China.

“Jim has done a very good job of making them understand his career,” Cheryl said. “Whether he’s with the Lakers or when we were in New Orleans with the Hornets, or he’s in China, they understand daddy’s job calls for him to be away a lot. So they do have to step up a lot, maybe more than some kids.”