Founding President · TZL Community & Education Initiative
Led board activation, governance, strategic planning, resource development, accountability, and the connected three-pillar operating model.
2025–2026 Electronic Evidence Book
Brother Matthew M. Coats
Outstanding Alumni Brother of the Year
A five-minute, rubric-matched record of Alpha leadership, national program participation, sustainable systems, and documented community impact.
Official 100-Point Rubric
Five-minute judge roadmap
Eight scored categories in official order. Criteria 1–7 include matched documentary proof; Criterion 8 is evaluated live by the judges.
100Total Points
0115POINTS
Criterion 1
Contributions to Alpha at All Levels
Chapter · Area/District · Region · General Organization — offices, delegate service, committees, and documented involvement.
Program Director · ELMP
Provides overall vision, risk oversight, program quality, family and partner coordination, curriculum direction, finances, and long-range planning.
Co-Program Director · Caring & Sharing
Coordinates family support, food access, partnerships, Senior Connection/Brother's Keeper, referrals, service operations, and follow-through.
Assistant Program Director · TZL Empower
Supports the current civic education strategy, operating framework, public communications, quality controls, community outreach, and measurable implementation.
Turned multiple service programs into one accountable community-impact architecture.
The work connects youth development, family support, civic education, literacy, partnerships, financial stewardship, and evidence-based reporting instead of operating as isolated projects.
0210POINTS
Criterion 2
Contributions to Economic Development in the Community
Documented economic, workforce-readiness, resource-development, and partnership outcomes in the community served by the chapter.
Built and stewarded program resources while expanding workforce-readiness opportunity.
- Led budgeting and resource development across ELMP and Caring & Sharing.
- Developed grant, donor, sponsorship, fundraising, and community-partner support.
- Expanded college, career, résumé, interview, and technical-education exposure through WISD-CTE.
Visual proofWISD-CTE career-readiness partnership · click image to view full size
Food Gatherers expands food access while strengthening financial stewardship.
Caring & Sharing advanced from early coordination with Second Baptist's Food Gatherers program into a 2026–2027 Food Gatherers partnership that supports YCMS Food Pantry expansion and the holiday food-basket sourcing plan. Esquires can assist with sorting and packaging while adult Brothers handle transport and approved delivery responsibilities.
More food support with less retail purchasing.
$50.39 baseline retail cost per basket → $22.45 projected retail cost per basket under current Food Gatherers coverage assumptions. For 50 planned baskets, the model projects $1,397 in savings per major distribution and $4,191 across three planned events.
Planning estimates only. Actual savings depend on Food Gatherers availability, donated quantities, and other donor support; these figures are not presented as realized savings.
Grant reconciliationThe $5,100 2025 award is already included in the ELMP revenue total. The separate $7,500 2026 award is shown as additional direct proof and is not added to the $26,707.20 combined 2025–2026 revenue figure.
0310POINTS
Criterion 3
Awards & Achievements by Brother
Current evaluation year only — dates and direct proof are shown with each recognition.
0415POINTS
Criterion 4
Years of Active Participation in Alpha at All Levels
Active participation by year and Alpha level — not simply length of membership.
Early Elected & Program Leadership
- Chapter Treasurer · 2009
- Chapter Vice President · 2009–2011
- ELMP Program Director · 2009–2010
- ELMP Assistant Program Director · 2010–2011, with recurring service through 2014
These assignments establish substantial chapter and youth-program leadership well before the current evaluation period.
Sustained Membership & Behind-the-Scenes Service
A serious chronic health condition substantially limited public-facing participation and mobility during this period. Brother Coats nevertheless remained financially active through Chapter dues and Grand Tax, became a Life Member in October 2014, and continued serving as health allowed.
- Provided behind-the-scenes financial and fundraising support.
- Served as treasurer for multiple Black & Gold Ball efforts.
- Participated in selected chapter fundraising activities as health permitted.
Return to Expanded Active Leadership
As improved mobility allowed greater participation, Brother Coats was asked to return and help revitalize ELMP—first as Program Coordinator and subsequently as Program Director—while also assuming broader family-support and community leadership responsibilities.
- ELMP Program Coordinator · 2025
- ELMP Program Director · current
- Caring & Sharing Co-Program Director · current
- Documented district, regional, and regional-leadership participation.
Current multi-level participation
Official credentials document activity beyond the Chapter.
What this proves
Brother Coats’ Alpha record reflects sustained commitment rather than simply elapsed years of membership. His participation includes elected chapter office, youth-program leadership, continued financial membership and Life Membership, behind-the-scenes fundraising service during a period of medically limited mobility, and a return to intensive chapter, district, regional, program, and community leadership beginning in 2025.
0525POINTS
Criterion 5 · Highest Value
Participation in Alpha National Programs, Initiatives & Assessments
Direct participation and implementation during the evaluation period, supported by dated evidence and results.
ELMP · Build Leaders
Go-to-High-School, Go-to-College
Academic preparation, mentoring, college and career readiness, résumé development, interview preparation, Life Plans, scholarship awareness, and leadership development are delivered through ELMP.
Brother Coats’ role: ELMP program leadership — Program Coordinator transitioning to Program Director.
Demonstrated participation: Organized applied college/career-readiness and mentoring experiences that moved beyond program description into student practice.
Direct implementation evidenceDated visual proof of implementation.
Result
Esquires received applied college/career-readiness and mentoring experiences aligned to the national education pathway, supported by direct implementation evidence.
ELMP · Build Leaders
Project Alpha™
Age-appropriate responsibility, relationships, healthy choices, sound decision-making, peer pressure, boundaries, etiquette, communication, and leadership conduct are integrated into ELMP programming.
Brother Coats’ role: ELMP Program Director / program implementation leadership.
Demonstrated participation: Integrated Project Alpha content into the March 14, 2026 etiquette and leadership experience, with participant documentation and a contemporaneous seminar recap.
Direct Project Alpha evidenceCommunication → participant record → program photograph.
Result
The dated recap, participant certificate, and program photograph collectively establish that Project Alpha content was actually delivered to Esquires during the evaluation period.
Caring & Sharing · Strengthen Families
A. Charles Haston Brother's Keeper
Senior Connection is Caring & Sharing’s local delivery of Brother’s Keeper for senior, retired, ill, homebound, or otherwise vulnerable Brothers and known widows, with contact, needs identification, response, follow-through, and documentation.
Brother Coats’ role: Caring & Sharing Co-Program Director / Senior Connection implementation.
Demonstrated participation: Helped formalize Brother’s Keeper through Senior Connection and coordinate and participate in the November and December 2025 widow-outreach cycles with a designated outreach partner.
Recipient privacy
The widows served during the November and December outreach cycles chose not to be photographed. Their personal choice was fully respected. No widow names, addresses, phone numbers, roster data, or recipient photographs are displayed in this public evidence book.
Plan → execution → documented resultEach item serves a different evidentiary purpose.
Result
10 widows were visited, honored, and supported across the combined November and December 2025 Caring & Sharing outreach cycles. Recipient privacy was preserved while the service remained documented through operating records, dated purchase evidence, and summarized outcomes.
TZL Empower · Empower Communities
A Voteless People Is a Hopeless People
The civic-engagement pathway uses nonpartisan voter education, policy awareness, legislative engagement, verified public information, and responsible community participation.
Brother Coats’ role: Alpha Day at the Capitol participant and chapter civic-engagement contributor.
Demonstrated participation: Participated in the June 11, 2026 Alpha Agenda engagement day built around policy education, House office canvassing, VPHP best-practice sharing, legislative observation, and discussion with state leaders.
Civic-engagement evidenceDated operating record + participation photograph.
Result
The dated itinerary and event photograph establish actual participation in a structured VPHP-aligned civic-engagement day rather than reliance on a website or general program description.
0610POINTS
Criterion 6
Innovative Chapter-Initiated Programs Addressing Local Social Needs
Chapter-initiated systems addressing recurring local needs, with implementation and sustainability evidence.
5community-facing innovation platforms
31supporting operating systems retained in one audit view
47initiatives tracked through the official performance scorecard
01
Youth-development innovation
ELMP Academic & Leadership Support Network
Community need: Young men need timely academic help and structured leadership reflection that can reach the full cohort without depending on one-to-one availability.
Innovation: The On-Demand Tutoring Support Network creates a controlled request, staff-review, verification, matching, and parent-notice pathway, while Structured Mentoring Circles give every Esquire a repeatable reflection, action, documentation, and follow-up process.
Why it lasts: Both models use defined steps, staff ownership, documented follow-through, and reusable tools that future Brothers can operate consistently each program year.
Optional source verification
02
Family-support innovation
Caring & Sharing Year-Round Community Care Model
Community need: Families, seniors, widows, and households facing food or essential-needs insecurity require coordinated follow-through rather than isolated seasonal drives.
Innovation: One care model moves needs through identification, preparation, dignified service, relationship-building, partnerships, and follow-through, with a separate operating process for referral review, assignment, privacy, and closure.
Why it lasts: The same service cycle can be used across food assistance, Family Essentials, Senior Connection, seasonal outreach, and partner referrals while preserving clear ownership and records.
Optional source verification
03
Civic-engagement innovation
TZL Empower Nonpartisan Civic Education System
Community need: Residents need accurate, understandable, nonpartisan civic information connected to local relationships, neighborhoods, elections, and practical participation.
Innovation: A six-step civic-engagement cycle is paired with seven operational service areas, defined committee and area-team roles, local relationship ownership, data standards, outreach, and continuous improvement.
Why it lasts: The model assigns geographic responsibility, standardizes information quality and outreach, and gives future teams a repeatable structure for every election and civic-education cycle.
Optional source verification
04
Literacy innovation
Power of Nine Collaborative Literacy System
Community need: Young readers and families benefit from sustained literacy support that extends beyond a single reading event.
Innovation: The year-round model connects six initiatives—book distribution, children’s storytelling, monthly reading, book-to-movie clubs, family life literacy, and civic literacy—under one access-to-leadership pathway.
Why it lasts: Defined annual targets, recurring touchpoints, partner-hosted activities, representative coordination, written follow-up, and a year-end impact summary make the collaboration repeatable and expandable.
Dated implementation verification
05
Volunteer-readiness & youth-protection innovation
Mentor Training Academy & Volunteer Readiness System
Community need: Youth programs require qualified adults, consistent screening, clear role boundaries, and a process that does not assume that familiarity or training alone equals authorization to serve.
Innovation: ELMP separates training from approval: adults complete the Mentor Training Academy, submit screening information, undergo NSOPW and reference verification, and receive annual role-specific approval before serving.
Why it lasts: A standardized annual approval pathway, staff-controlled records, role confirmation, open-observable service standards, and a documented alternative-process framework allow future leaders to apply the same safeguards consistently.
Optional source verification
Sustainability backbone · not a sixth community program
CEI Governance, Measurement & Shared Accountability
The five community innovations are supported by one accountability backbone: assigned ownership, performance measures, evidence expectations, corrective action, and year-end review. This infrastructure appears here only to prove that the innovation can survive leadership transitions and be managed as one coordinated system.
Optional source verification
Shared digital infrastructure · not a sixth innovation
Digital Program Infrastructure & Public Access
Brother Coats created or substantially modernized a coordinated five-site public ecosystem so families, Esquires, mentors, volunteers, partners, donors, and residents can reach the right program information and tools without depending on one person to explain the system. The homepage captures below provide immediate visual proof of the digital work products. These websites function as continuity and public-access infrastructure—not as proof of National Program participation, awards, fundraising, or service outcomes.
Youth program operations hub
Esquire Leadership & Mentoring Program
Program documents, calendars, mentoring, Success Goals, family forms, tutoring, applications, worksheets, and participant resources.
View live homepage →
Annual adult readiness hub
ELMP Mentor Training Academy
Mentor and volunteer preparation, operating standards, scenario practice, assessment, progress tracking, and certificate access.
View live homepage →
Umbrella organization hub
TZL Community & Education Initiative
Governance, impact, events, partnerships, Board information, program access, and community support pathways across the three pillars.
View live homepage →
Year-round family service hub
Dr. Thomas A. Bass Caring & Sharing
Care model, referrals, service calendar, initiatives, volunteer information, Senior Connection, and community-resource access.
View live homepage →
Nonpartisan civic education hub
TZL Empower
Civic education, engagement strategy, public resources, events, outreach, and community-participation pathways.
View live homepage →Complete operating-system inventory31 systems · audit view
CEI backbone · 6
- Nonprofit Governance & Board Activation
- Financial Transition & Stewardship
- Performance Scorecard & Corrective Action
- Partnership & Resource Development
- Three-Pillar Operating Architecture
- Five-Site Digital Program Infrastructure & Public Access
ELMP · 10
- ELMP Document Architecture
- 120-Minute Success Seminar Delivery
- Monthly Leadership Practice Lab
- Structured Mentoring Circles
- Mentor Training Academy & Volunteer Readiness
- EPRS / Success Goal Evidence
- Recognition & Achievement Progression
- On-Demand Tutoring Support Network
- Student Leadership Council
- Parent & Family Communication
Caring & Sharing · 7
- Six-Step Community Care Cycle
- Referral Review & Case Follow-Through
- Senior Connection / Brother’s Keeper
- Annual Service Rhythm
- Coordinated Family Support
- Food Access & Cost Control
- Privacy, Assignment & Impact Tracking
TZL Empower · 7
- Six-Step Civic Engagement Cycle
- Seven-Area Service Framework
- Precinct Performance Dashboard
- Election-Cycle Operating Rhythm
- Committee, Area Team & Focus Council Structure
- Nonpartisan Pre-Release Quality Control
- After-Action & Continuous Improvement
Power of Nine · 1
- Collaborative Literacy Planning, Implementation & Follow-Through System
What this proves
Brother Coats did not simply add more activities. He helped convert five recurring needs—academic and leadership support, family care, civic education, year-round literacy, and safe volunteer readiness—into defined operating systems with roles, safeguards, evidence, measurement, and follow-through. A coordinated five-site digital ecosystem makes those systems easier to access, operate, explain, and sustain. The 31-system audit shows the supporting infrastructure once; the strategic-plan slides and live digital work products show how the major innovations actually work.
0710POINTS
Criterion 7
Display: Adherence to Rules & Appearance
Judge-facing organization, condensation, appearance, and competition-rule compliance.
✓
Electronic-book standard: met
The book is self-explanatory, condensed, visually consistent, and organized so supporting evidence appears with the claim it verifies.
READY
Official requirementHow this entry addresses itStatus
Self-explanatory displayEight rubric categories appear in official score-sheet order with point values, concise claims, matched evidence, captions, and direct source access.Met
Condensed, relevant presentationJudge-facing pages prioritize concise visuals, direct work products, and source links only when they add verification.Met
Appearance & logical organizationConsistent typography, spacing, navigation, evidence cards, and claim → proof → result sequencing make the display readable on desktop, mobile, and presentation screens.Met
Evaluation-period documentationCurrent-year accomplishments use evaluation-period proof. Historical documentation appears only in Criterion 4 because the official score sheet specifically requires years of active participation.Met
Executive Summary folderThe handbook separately requires a typed 8½ × 11 Executive Summary in a folder with the appropriate District Director/Regional Vice President signature or letter. This is a physical convention submission, not a website substitute.Convention item
Presenter / overviewThe handbook requires representation to present an overview. The evidence book supports that presentation, but the presenter requirement is fulfilled in person.Convention item
Single-table / stand-alone displayFinal physical setup must fit entirely on one 30" × 60" or 72" table, stand alone, avoid prohibited wall/ceiling attachment, and place nothing on the floor.Verify onsite
085POINTS
Criterion 8
Personal Interview with the Judges
✓
Evaluated Live by the Judges
This criterion is assessed during the contestant’s live interview with the judging panel. No additional documentary evidence is required in this electronic evidence book.
LIVE
Candidate
Brother Matthew M. Coats
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. - Theta Zeta Lambda Chapter
Personal contact information intentionally omitted from the public competition site.