Barack Obama left the Oval Office more than two years ago, and he is still using his influential platform to share stories of individuals who have benefited from initiatives he created during his tenure at the White House.

This past week, The Obama Foundation hosted their first national My Brother's Keeper Rising! convention in Oakland, California. According to a statement posted by Howard University, Jerron Hawkins is pursuing a dual degree in political science and economics at the Washington, D.C.-based HBCU, and has closely worked with My Brother's Keeper since Obama started the non-profit in 2014.

On Monday, 44 shared Hawkins' story to his 21 million Instagram followers, and the D.C. native opened up about his personal journey toward mentorship.

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Meet Jerron Hawkins. He’s a young man I got to know when he was a White House mentee in 2014, and he’s one of the hundreds of people coming to Oakland this week for MBK Rising!, a nationwide gathering of community members and partners that represent the My Brother’s Keeper movement. We’re bringing these groups together to celebrate five years of progress on behalf of boys and young men of color—and to set our sights on the road ahead. Since we started My Brother’s Keeper five years ago, one of the things we’ve seen consistently is the power of mentoring as a tool to help young people address the challenges they face and see the opportunities in front of them. Mentoring just works. Today, I’m turning my Instagram account over to Jerron to tell you a little about his experience with mentorship. His story shows us what’s possible when we invest in our young people and show them we believe in their promise. It’s the kind of story we should hear more often—the kind we’ll hear a lot of in Oakland this week. It’s the kind story that gives me hope. “At the beginning of high school, I felt like I wasn’t operating with purpose. I wasn’t helping anyone. I was selected to be a member of my principal’s student leadership team and I thought ‘Why me? I don’t see myself like this.’ But in senior year, I found AMATE—African American Males Aspiring to Excel—a mentoring program for young men of color. What was so powerful to me about the group was the vulnerability. As guys, we were used to not talking about our problems. We bottled it all up and called it pride. So to be in this group of young men, sharing their feelings and being vulnerable with each other, was life-changing for me.”—Jerron Hawkins, 21, participant at #MBKRising, Washington D.C. (1/3)

A post shared by Barack Obama (@barackobama) on Feb 19, 2019 at 8:01am PST

"Meet Jerron Hawkins. He's a young man I got to know when he was a White House mentee in 2014, and he's one of the hundreds of people coming to Oakland this week for MBK Rising!, a nationwide gathering of community members and partners that represent the My Brother’s Keeper movement," his caption began.

"Today, I'm turning my Instagram account over to Jerron to tell you a little about his experience with mentorship," the post continued. "His story shows us what’s possible when we invest in our young people and show them we believe in their promise."

From there, Hawkins spoke about his insecurities functioning without a purpose, and explaining that joining a mentoring group catered to Black men encouraged him to be more open and honest about their struggles.

"At the beginning of high school, I felt like I wasn’t operating with purpose. I wasn't helping anyone," Hawkins revealed. "But in senior year, I found AMATE—African American Males Aspiring to Excel—a mentoring program for young men of color. What was so powerful to me about the group was the vulnerability. As guys, we were used to not talking about our problems. We bottled it all up and called it pride. So to be in this group of young men, sharing their feelings and being vulnerable with each other, was life-changing for me."

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Speaking with Howard, Hawkins called the entire experience a "blessing," and added his personal growth serves as a permanent fixture in his life.

"This entire experience has been nothing short of a blessing," the 21-year-old said. "I am proud of the story that was shared. It's part of my life and therefore part of my existence and I am proud of who I am where I've came from.

Founded in 2014, President Obama started My Brother's Keeper as a "call to action to close opportunity gaps facing boys and young men of color." The My Brother's Keeper Rinsing! conference focused on mentoring and developing a future generation of minority men, and the Harvard Law alum was joined by star-studded friends like NBA star Steph Curry and actor Michael B. Jordan during the three-day conference.

Now, check these out:

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Jerron Hawkins

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