Carl Donaldson is a clinicial who has devoted much of his career to promoting
Project Self which involves resiliency research with children who come from disadvantaged
and disenfranchised background. The research involves protection of at-risk children
in urban populations. Project Self addresses predominantly African American children
who benefit from assistance in the promotion of self-esteem, self-efficacy and
problem-solving skills. Project Self recognizes the unique cultural circumstances
affecting urban youth and reifies their knowledge of ancestry, biological and
cultural inheritance and their self-empowerment skills. The results of these pilot
programs which have been applied to fourth grade student body in urban districts
have resulted dramatic improvements in children's knowledge of the curriculum
and social problem solving skills.