Breaking Cycles: Amber Govan's Path to Community Leadership

When Amber Govan was about eight years old, she learned sign language. But not for the usual reasons a child might want to learn another language. It was to help her father complete a drug deal.

A deaf man who regularly bought drugs from her family had taught her to sign the alphabet. In turn, she helped him communicate to her father what he wanted to buy, taking on a role no child should ever have to assume.

“I was in survival mode. I had two younger siblings. I had to make sure they were okay,” explains Amber. She says it’s her nature to be a provider and a nurturer. And that meant making sure her family at least had the basics: food on the table and a roof over their heads.

Selling drugs became her way of life, a skill she had picked up from an early age. Even if it came with the risk of getting caught and possibly locked up, she felt she had no other choice. Her sense of responsibility towards her family took precedence.

By the age of 18, she had moved to Oklahoma and was actively engaged in transporting drugs across state lines. She faced numerous barriers, including homelessness and being a victim of domestic violence and gun violence. She also battled substance abuse, including an addiction to Xanax.

Her life seemed set on a dangerous trajectory until community members intervened, not just for her but for her entire family.

But today, Amber is the executive director of a youth organization called Carter’s Crew. “I’m putting my heart back out to the community that I caused destruction in for so many years,” she says.

Carter’s Crew is named after Amber’s son, Carter, who is nine years old and affectionately known as “Boss Man” in the organization. “He is my heart and the most valuable thing that I have in this world,” she says.

Carter’s Crew works with at-risk teens who have been in the justice system or live in areas of high crime. The nonprofit aims to support youth and their families by addressing educational and poverty-related needs, breaking cycles of crime and substance abuse.

“Their parents are drug dealers or their parents have been in prison, and they are repeating the cycle of what they see in their environment,” Amber says. “They have access to drugs, like I did when I was young, because that’s what they’re around in their community. That’s why it’s important for us to show kids that the world is so much bigger than just their neighborhoods.”

Amber’s professional journey began with an unexpected encounter. After graduating from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, she met a project director in an elevator, which led to a job offer. Starting with data entry, Amber quickly rose through the ranks, contributing to various community initiatives and model demonstration projects.

She worked hard to get certifications and training related to her work. Her dedication culminated in a role as a regional director for the Arkansas Promise Project, a $36 million grant initiative.

She then received an award from the University for superior service, and the College of Education and Health Professions assisted her in drafting the bylaws for what would become Carter’s Crew. “We’ve been rocking and rolling ever since,” she says with a smile.

And they have been. Amber excels at getting funding and other support for government and community initiatives to help at-risk youth. One of those initiatives is an after school program with funding from the national Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Carter’s Crew currently collaborates with almost one hundred community partners to offer a range of supplemental services, ensuring that families receive comprehensive assistance.

Amber's involvement in juvenile justice extends beyond Pulaski County and Arkansas. She regularly represents Arkansas at the federal level in conversations on youth crime. In June, she took a group of girls to Washington, D.C. for discussions focused on the needs of young people who are in the juvenile justice system.

The Gun Problem

A significant issue among the youth that come to Carter’s Crew is gun-related crimes. Amber estimates around 60% of those referred to the program have charges related to gun possession or use. One of the young men she is working with just turned 17 and was arrested for two capital murders.

She advocates for mandatory gun safety classes for these youth to address their desensitization to gun violence and educate them on the real consequences of their actions.

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“I think there needs to be something for the youth who are coming out of the courts and have a gun- related charge, so that they know the effects. They know what happens once they pull that trigger. Not just on their side, but on the other side of the gun with the victim and their families and how it affects everybody,” says Amber.

“A 16-year-old can walk down the street and ask somebody at the Pic-Pac to buy a gun, and they have access to it. We are also seeing a lot of ghost guns that they’re making. So there’s no background as to where the gun came from.”

A ghost gun is a homemade firearm put together by purchasing individual components or a kit containing the necessary parts. “The kids are also getting access to switches and Dracos, semi-automatic guns, and it’s just the availability of it in the community. We have to bring the community in to be a part of fixing the issues within the community.”

Amber hopes members of the community will speak up more frequently about crimes they witness and guns they see. So she organizes events in collaboration with law enforcement and the prosecutor’s office so that people might start to feel more comfortable talking to them.

“We hope that assists with the community policing efforts of our law enforcement agencies in the area. About six months ago, somebody brought a shotgun wrapped in a towel to me to turn in to the police because they wanted to get it off the street.”

Carter’s Crew works closely with the juvenile courts, a relationship that started when Judge Earnest Brown of Pine Bluff became impressed with the program’s effectiveness. He then connected Amber with judges across central Arkansas, facilitating better support for youth.

While guns and drugs are the most common issues Amber sees among teens she works with, she notes there are also a number of young people being referred because of behavioral issues at school, like fighting. They are in need of conflict resolution skills.

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The Road To Stability

Amber’s story demonstrates the power of just one person to completely change the course of someone’s life. Her transformation began with an intervention from her yearbook teacher, Miss Guthrie. Amber had enrolled in the yearbook class because she thought it would be less rigorous than other classes. An easy way to earn a few credits.

Miss Gutherie took note of Amber. “She understood what it was that me and my family were going through,” explains Amber.

Miss Gutherie helped Amber apply for college and fill out financial aid forms, setting Amber on a path to higher education. “She was the person who was the first community intervention for us. I think people get an idea that a community intervention has to be a program. But it’s anybody or anything that steps in and switches the trajectory of where your life is going. And for me, the first person who did that was my yearbook teacher,” she says.

From there, others in the community, including pastors and her school counselor, began to step in to help her family. They provided comprehensive support and connected her family with essential services.

A Sense of Belonging

A hallmark of Carter’s Crew is its family-like atmosphere that promotes a sense of belonging. “That’s intentional,” Amber says. She believes treating participants like family and providing the necessary support can significantly impact their success.

Amber’s father and mother are now actively involved in Carter’s Crew. They volunteer their time to support the organization’s events and programs. They also cater food during youth activities. Her mother received a pardon from former governor Asa Hutchinson. Amber is hoping her father will also be pardoned one day.

Bettering the juvenile justice system, Amber says, requires providing young people across Arkansas and their families greater access to community programs. “I think prevention and intervention and diversion is super important. There are many places within our state that don’t have these types of programs.”

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Amber says such programs should be data-driven because what works for one part of the state may not work for another. “I am a part of the juvenile justice reform initiative with the Supreme Court of Arkansas. I am part of the data provider team and the community provider team. So I look at data from jurisdictions all around Arkansas and make recommendations to the judges,” she says.

The data recently allowed them to show discrepancies in sentencing in certain areas of the state.

Carter’s Crew has served thousands of people in Arkansas. Amber will continue to collect data on outcomes to show the effectiveness of the model. She also plans to develop a toolkit for other service organizations around the nation who have received grant funding and are looking for guidance.