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'Reset to Rise' event offers men empowerment amid pandemic

'It's time for us to get solutions,' organizer Jacoby Waters says
Posted at 6:46 PM, Sep 15, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-15 18:46:13-04

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — COVID-19 has changed how we do business. There are more virtual meetings being done, both corporately and personally.

The pandemic has also impacted how strangers connect, and there's a virtual summit to empower men spawned by strangers forced to reset amid the pandemic.

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Like most South Floridians, Jacoby Waters spends a lot of time in front of the computer. He's also bombarded by the headlines.

"These last few months have been a revelation," Waters said.

Waters said he is also tired of hearing about COVID-19, the uncertain economic outlook, vote-by-mail fraud and racial injustice, to name a few.

"It comes to a point where it's time for us to get solutions," Waters said.

For Waters, solutions came in the form of scouring the internet. That's where he stumbled upon the social media pages of other men who sought solutions and empowerment.

Jacoby Waters
Jacoby Waters says the virtual event with cover a variety of topics including entrepreneurship and perseverance.

"We're doctors, lawyers, surgeons, nurses -- and we have all these different businesses. And it's time to teach others how to be self-sustaining. Because if we're looking for help from other people, it's just not coming," said Dr. Joshua Smith-Benson, an Orlando based pharmacist and entrepreneur.

Smith-Benson and Waters will join five other men from Texas, Illinois, Georgia and other parts of Florida for a virtual summit this weekend called Reset to Rise.

"We want to set people up for a comeback," Waters said.

The summit will tackle issues from generational wealth and entrepreneurship to social unrest and perseverance.

"There's actually an ex-con that turned his life around from being a prisoner to now having his own non-profit and trucking business," said Waters. "People have to watch what infiltrates their minds and their spirit."

Click here to learn more about Reset to Rise.