About Us

Turning Interest Into Action

Let’s Be Proactive is a registered 501c3 public charitable organization serving Houston, Texas and surrounding areas. Our mission is to inspire communities to visualize how technology can impact their world through increased STEM exposure, education, engagement and mentorship. Through our work, students are empowered and inspired to pursue professions in IT, AI, machine learning, and robotics businesses.

About: About Us

Who We Are

Our Roots

When our Founder and Executive Director, Michael Sales, overheard someone mention that they “lost [their] job to technology” he responded by telling them the solution is to “learn how to fix the technology!”. The conversation gave Michael an idea; his community needs greater exposure and access to technical skills training, and he’d like to help. In 2020, Michael founded Let’s Be Proactive to take the lead and facilitate community learning opportunities in STEM and entrepreneurship. His goal is for everyone, no matter their background or socioeconomic status, to have the technical skills necessary to meet the future’s impending demands.

We envision a world where our students- both youths and unemployed or underemployed adults- can become minority technical business owners regularly successful on par with the world’s Billionaires. More importantly, we hope these successful business ventures will serve to give back to communities through products that improve the lives of our fellow humanity. In keeping with these goals, the following four principles guide our efforts each day:

Firstly, we believe technology is highly impactful in our world today and should be leveraged to benefit marginalized communities and individuals. Secondly, the moral values of respect and empathy are integral to our operations. We strive to instill a deep feeling of admiration for all those within the community we serve as well as for their abilities and achievements, no matter how large or small. Third, we believe in the importance of humility and honesty. Lastly, we believe in the principles of family and inclusivity. We strive to ensure that our organization values diversity in all facets. No person will be turned away from the LBP family or denied access to our programs based on gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, economic status, ability or disability.

About: Who We Are

Our Team

Michael Sales

Before founding LBP, Michael worked in Corporate America for almost 26 years where he was involved in numerous high level recruitment and staffing operations. Time after time, he watched corporate retention, recruiting and mentoring programs fail due to incompatibility of the mentors and mentees. After seeing decades of minority talent walking out the corporate door depressed and deflated, he began volunteering to informally mentor the limited number of minorities in technical positions within fortune 500 companies in his area. After decades in corporate America’s “rat race”, Michael is energized and motivated to positively impact people and empower communities to become more forward thinking and develop an entrepreneurial mindset through LBP.

Wanda Thompson

Wanda is a Philadelphia native who loves mentoring and coaching young adults. She also spends time in adult assistance care facilities working with geriatric patients. Wanda is passionate about making sure young people avoid the pitfalls and traps that lead them into the criminal justice system. Being a single mom, raising a child in the inner city of Philadelphia while working 2 jobs was not her goal when she was in high school. However, she had a goal to ensure her son graduated from College and that he could take care of himself. She has served as a community role model for all adults who may have had reasons to not pursue a college degree for many decades. After her son left home, Wanda spent nights at school to obtain her associate’s degree. Not being satisfied with a 2-year diploma, she pressed on and obtained her bachelor’s in nursing. She recently obtained her master’s in nursing and she is now opening her own business at the age of 63. Wanda exhibits all the qualities that Let’s Be proactive holds near and dear. She is a great role model for parents who may feel it’s too late to get a college education and is dedicated to encouraging every child to always invest in themselves and continue to gain knowledge for their future.

About: Meet the Team

Dr. Vernicka Sales

Growing up in the Houston inner city, Dr. Sales always had a passion to help her family, friends and neighbors. She harnessed that passion to propel her through high school, college, residency, and finally to owning and operating a successful pediatric practice in Beaumont, Texas for 5 years. In her daily work, she was adamant to ensure her patients received the best care and she also held her patient’s parents accountable. Dr. Sales now serves as a Chief Medical Director (CMO) developing programs with insurance companies and the government to improve the quality of care for Houstonians. She is excited about this role because it gives her a broader reach to positively impact more people. Her reach is increasing exponentially each day as she participates in lessons learned with other CMOs around the country. Dr. Sales is excited to be part of the Let’s Be Proactive journey where she can encourage young men and women that science is fun, and our future will need talented minority men and women who can create businesses, new technology that will positively change the world. Like many of us, Dr. Sales has a story to tell that will inspire others to join the LBP family.

The Story Behind Our Logo

A Note From our Founder

The image below is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs pyramid, a concept I became interested in during my maters program when I was focused on becoming a better leader. As the various levels of Maslow’s pyramid were explained, I began to realize why communication and relationship building would stall with certain individuals. We were at different levels of the pyramid. Which resulted in people being at a higher level not appreciating what a person at a lower level was dealing with. This disparity can cause frustration if the parties are not aware of what is going on. I decided to incorporate the Maslow’s philosophy into my leadership toolbox as I transitioned into corporate America. Being proactive to understand what level of the pyramid people are on allowed me to bridge gaps and build positive and productive working relationships, making me successful in my career.

Years later, a friend said that he lost his job because technology replaced him. I immediately told him to learn how to fix the technology. After a few moments of explaining how that could be done, I realized my friend was not ready to receive my message because he was in the Physiological needs level of Maslow’s Pyramid. So I decided to help provide physiological needs for him and his family so he could use his free time learning a new technical skill. After a few months, my friend finally transitioned to the safety needs level and obtained a good job to continue to provide for his family.

This experience helped me realize that many people in my community are not aware how STEM skills can positively impact their lives because they are too busy focusing on other challenges. I decided to found LBP to educate people and help them become proactive about learning technical skills to be competitive in the job market. But it was also important to me to help our community achieve their physiological needs so they can accept education and employment opportunities. Our logo was designed as a reminder of our goals, a reflection of Maslow’s pyramid’s principle that in order to truly help our community, we must meet each individual on their current level and help them rise above.