Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
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Sartorial Sweetness With his neW limited-edition jeWelry line, jP by Cy FredriCs, PhilanthroPist and entrePreneur Jarrett Payton Finds a stylish Way to helP ChiCago's emerging leaders. as told to meg mathis "My dad started the Walter Payton Foundation, which turned into the Walter & Connie Payton Foundation in '99. [He] started out giving $500,000 in gifts to the State of Illinois, and they didn't know where it was coming from until he got sick around '98. He wanted nothing from it—he was just doing it from the kindness of his heart. That's what I want to do. Seeing what my parents started, I wanted something with my name on it, so once my son grows up he'll understand that this is a part of what we do. Being a parent now, I have the opportunity to create my own legacy. I want it to carry on from generation to generation. "I got bullied my junior year in high school sports, and it changed the way I looked at things. I didn't want other kids to go through the same things I went through, and now that I have a voice, I want to speak. My mission is to create leaders. Both programs at the Jarrett Payton Foundation go hand in hand—Project: No Bull is in the schools, and the Jarrett Payton Leadership Academy is outside of the school. My wife, Trisha, came up with the concept of Project: No Bull to go into the schools, and what we've got in the process right now is the Jarrett Payton Leadership Boards. It's a student council board that is handpicked, and we're bringing them all together to keep the message going that all of us are more similar than we are different. "On the other hand, you have the Jarrett Payton Leadership Academy. I thought it was going to be about football, but it's also strengthening leadership— how to be better football players, how to communicate more with your teammates— to give the kids confidence. We're growing, but we're also keeping it tight-knit so I can have one-on-ones with these kids. I am seeing that it is making a difference when I listen to the parents say, 'Thank you. We're seeing a difference. He's taking a little bit more initiative in school now.' All you can really do is plant seeds and give them that knowledge, and the next thing you know, things start to sprout, and they start to understand that they can do this, they can do that. Both programs are trying to teach kids to do that 180 and take everything they've learned in sports back to school. That's what helped me. "I want to inspire people to find the greatness inside of them, because everybody has it. Not everybody gets told that—but I want to be that person who pushes them to that place where they go, 'Whoa, I can achieve this.' I want to live on forever: that's what my dad did. We talk about football, but the man was bigger than football, and he's remembered every single day that he's talked about. Charitable giving is a family legacy for Jarrett Payton (top left) who is passionate about helping Chicago's next generation of leaders (above). left: Proceeds from this bracelet in the JP by Cy Fredrics collection benefit school programming for children. continued on page 74 72 michiganavemag.com PEOPLE Spirit of Generosity