In Partnership with the New Rochelle Community Justice Center (NRCJC)

About CTG

Change The Game (CTG) is an educational and personal development program designed to break cycles of survival and build cycles of power.

Developed by author and educator T.M. Jefferson, CTG helps participants take control of their story, shift how they think, and rebuild identity from the inside out. The program was born from lived experience and refined through real-world implementation with justice-impacted youth and adults navigating incarceration, poverty, system involvement, and environments where opportunity often feels out of reach.

CTG does not begin with behavior.
It begins with mindset.

The CTG SHIFT Method™

At the core of the CTG Program is the SHIFT Method™, a mindset-first framework that explains how real change happens.

SHIFT is the internal logic that powers CTG. It guides participants through a progression from survival thinking to intentional action by focusing on five stages:

Self-Awareness. Habits. Identity. Focus. Trajectory.

Rather than asking participants to perform compliance or repeat surface-level affirmations, SHIFT teaches them how to examine their thinking, interrupt limiting patterns, redefine who they believe they are, and move forward with clarity and direction.

This method is what makes CTG durable across environments and populations.

The Four Modules:

The SHIFT Method™ is delivered through CTG's four-module curriculum over 12 weeks:

Module I: Foundation (Weeks 1-3)

Change Your Mindset

Participants examine how they think, where their beliefs originated, and how those beliefs influence decisions. This module builds self-awareness and begins habit formation.

Focus: Pattern recognition, narrative examination, internal vs. external control

Module II: Transformation (Weeks 4-6)

Change Your Moves

Participants map their decision-making, identify triggers, and practice new responses. This module focuses on interrupting automatic patterns and building intentional action.

Focus: Habit formation, behavioral recalibration, identity reconstruction

Module III: Leadership (Weeks 7-9)

Change Your Influence

Participants examine how their actions affect others and develop communication, self-regulation, and consistency. Leadership is framed as internal coherence, not positional authority.

Focus: Identity alignment, strategic thinking, personal brand

Module IV: Legacy (Weeks 10-12)

Change Your Impact

Participants connect daily decisions to long-term outcomes. They learn financial literacy, relationship building, and how to structure life for sustainability beyond the program.

Focus: Long-term trajectory, resource management, continuity

How It's Delivered

CTG uses a blended learning model:

• 2x weekly facilitated group sessions (60-90 minutes)

• Individual digital platform access for self-paced work

• Writing as the primary tool for reflection and analysis

• Progress tracking without surveillance

Participants engage with structured lessons, writing prompts, and facilitated discussions. Facilitators guide the process, they don't lecture or fix. The work is participant-driven but structurally sound.

→ [Learn About Facilitator Training]

🔹 Mindset Transformation

Learn how to break old patterns, rebuild confidence, and develop a new way of thinking. CTG helps participants move from survival mode to success mode.

🔹 Personal Growth & Discipline

Participants build structure, self-awareness, and consistency. The program teaches how to make intentional choices and turn short-term decisions into long-term change.

🔹 Leadership Development

Through guided exercises and group dialogue, participants gain the skills to communicate, lead, and inspire, at home, at work, and in their communities.

🔹 Financial Literacy & Wealth Building

CTG bridges the gap between mindset and money. Participants learn budgeting, credit, investing, and entrepreneurship, real-world tools to build financial stability and independence.

🔹 Real-World Application

This isn’t theory. Every activity connects directly to daily life, helping participants apply what they learn in relationships, education, and career.

🔹 Legacy & Empowerment

CTG doesn’t stop with personal success. The program teaches how to turn growth into impact, building generational strength, stability, and leadership.

Change The Game equips participants with what traditional systems overlook:
the tools to think strategically, act intentionally, and live powerfully.

Key Benefits

Workbook Sample Pages

CTG for Middle School Youth: Impact Starts Early

Change The Game (CTG) is fully adaptable for middle school students (ages 12-14), meeting them at a critical turning point in identity, resilience, and personal growth.

Our curriculum has been specially designed to connect with and empower middle schoolers:

• Age-Appropriate Content: Lessons and activities are tailored for younger minds, using relatable language, smaller group discussion, and hands-on projects.

• Social-Emotional Learning Focus: CTG’s storytelling, self-reflection, and group work deliver the SEL tools that early adolescents need to handle peer pressure, build self-worth, and make positive choices.

• Flexible Delivery: CTG can be run in schools, after-school programs, clubs, or community centers, virtually any setting, including those with limited space.

• Proven Engagement: Feedback from educators and students affirms that CTG’s lived experience approach builds trust, inspires participation, and nurtures lasting transformation even at the middle school level.

We invite partners, educators, and youth leaders to join us in bringing CTG’s breakthrough model to middle schoolers citywide, providing practical tools and hope when it matters most.