The 12th Annual Chess and Community Conference will be held on March 29, 2025 at the Classics Center in Athens, GA. This year's theme is ch 29,2025, in Athens, Georgia. This year’s theme is "FutureForward: Game Changers in a Global World".

About Us

Who are we

Chess Has the Power to Help Kids Develop Forethought.

For youth, chess is the entry point into our programs; healthy family and community are our endgame.

21,000+

Youth Served

- Lemuel "Life" LaRoche, Executive Director

Chess and Community Inc is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preparing youth to lead through community engagement and civic empowerment. Our work uses chess as a learning modality to help youth manage impulsiveness and develop critical thinking skills. We prepare youth to lead by focusing on academic enrichment, civic engagement, career and entrepreneurial skills development, and cultural education. Chess and Community develops youth to transform community.

Mission

To expose students to new ways of thinking and being.

Value Statement

Be open-minded,

Disrupt the ordinary,

Think Before You Move,

Stay accountable,

Be great and be grateful because leaders serve.

Purpose

To awaken possibility for emerging leaders.

our "why"

Our Community Impact Since 2012

In 2002, our founder and executive director, Lemuel “Life” LaRoche began incorporating the game of chess as a critical thinking model to engage adolescents cycling through the juvenile justice system. Life decided to utilize chess as a tool to create life lessons that would resonate with the young people he was mentoring. It became clear to Life that the young people that he encountered were mimicking negative behaviors that would inevitably lead them to prison even though many of the young people he was working with were making considerable efforts to avoid gang activity and beat poverty.

Life’s first step was to establish a small chess club, the Classic City Knights. The club provided an outlet for youth to come together and play chess as an alternative to street life. Life began hosting chess tournaments at the juvenile justice office, the public library, and other areas throughout the community to connect with vulnerable youth. And it worked. Life’s strategies were a clear success, but still more needed to be done.

In 2012, Life founded Chess and Community and launched its first Chess and Community Conference. The conference unified Athens stakeholders to explore solutions for youth development and community issues. The conference and the weekly and monthly programs give youth both a voice and an outlet, and since then, the work of Chess and Community has grown.

Our students travel, receive scholarships, embrace challenges, and build valuable life skills.