BrendonBarclay.com

EPOCH: A notable period in history or a person's life.  

Life Coach: Someone who helps identify goals and develop actionable plans to achieve them.

Coach BLA holds a B.A. in psychology from Morehouse College, with practicum experience at Wediko Children's Services (Boston) and the Marcus Institute (Atlanta). He has served as an Outdoor Education Instructor at Spelman College and REI. As the founding director of Sustaining Urban Villages Inc. (SUV), he led projects in team building, environmental education, and service learning, partnering with organizations like The Dekalb County School System, The National Wildlife Federation, AmeriCorps Alums, and Disney Parks' "Give A Day Get a Disney Day."

SUV supported urban forestry through grants, programming, and volunteers for Atlanta's OAL. BLA featured in a national AmeriCorps campaign and was spotlighted on Oprah Winfrey Network's Future Friendly Initiatives by P&G. He received the Champion of Inspiration award from the Points of Light Institute in 2011 and served on the Federal Advisory Committee for the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps, US Department of the Interior (2012-13). In 2017, he won the National Wildlife Federation's Mentoring Award for the Earth Tomorrow Program.

With over 20 years of experience, Coach BLA is an award-winning community service leader, wilderness first aid certified, and works in the metro Atlanta area where he lives with his wife and three sons, whom he credits as his most valuable life training.