My Brother's Keeper Alliance
Mission & History
We believe communities are the unit of change to realize improved life outcomes for boys and young men of color. Research shows that the collective work of community leaders, members, and public and private agencies pursuing the same goals for boys and young men of color can lead to sustainable, place-based change.
Our History
President Obama launched the My Brother’s Keeper program in February 2014, in response to the death of Trayvon Martin. The program sought to address the persistent opportunity gaps boys and young men of color face and to ensure all young people can reach their full potential.
We believe communities are the unit of change to realize improved life outcomes for boys and young men of color. Research shows that the collective work of community leaders, members, and public and private agencies pursuing the same goals for boys and young men of color can lead to sustainable, place-based change.
My Brother’s Keeper Alliance at the Obama Foundation
In 2018, 19 organizations across 10 states and Puerto Rico were chosen as national models to expand evidence-based initiatives to reduce youth violence, grow effective mentorship programs, and measurably improve the lives of boys and young men of color. The MBK Alliance team is working with these Impact and Seed communities to support the development of long-term strategic plans that chart life outcomes changes for boys and young men of color across the six milestones.
The Alliance is working with partners to offer tools, resources, and convening opportunities designed to support the growing network of nearly 250 MBK Communities that participated in the My Brother’s Keeper Community Challenge.
Our goal is to bolster the network of MBK Communities and all those that share our mission while promoting action, strengthening interventions, and sharing practices and policies that work.
Our approach
MBK Alliance works to unleash the power of communities working together to solve problems for boys and young men of color, at a level to improve real life outcomes. We believe communities are the unit of change to realize improved life outcomes for boys and young men of color. Research shows that collective work of community leaders, members, and public and private agencies pursuing the same goals for boys and young men of color can lead to sustainable, place-based change.
We believe that cross-sector collaborative action is central to how communities will achieve improved outcomes for boys and young men of color.
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Local leaders
Local leaders champion efforts across departments to shift policies and improve outcomes for boys and young men of color.
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Nonprofits
Nonprofits are healthy and increasing scale of high-quality service offerings directed towards boys and young men of color from cradle to career.
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Corporations
Corporations commit resources to support boys and young men of color and create targeted hiring and retention strategies
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Philanthropy
Philanthropy commits sustained financial resources to support boys and young men of color.
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Residents
Residents (e.g., YOUTH) are engaged and commit time and their voices to shape priorities and initiatives.
6 Key Milestones to Success
The MBK Equity Framework will help you uncover the disparate outcomes for boys and young men of color in your community.
Learn moreOur challenges
Our country's persistent social inequities are widespread, rooted in structural and institutional racism, and prevent our boys and young men of color from reaching their full potential.
How we do it
My Brother’s Keeper Alliance at the Obama Foundation
Latest news
All My Brother’s Keeper Alliance- MBK Alliance
- Stories
MBK Yonkers received recognition as an MBK Model Community in 2023 for demonstrating population-level impact in Milestone 3, achieving a graduation rate of 91% by 2021.
Learn more- MBK Alliance
- Youth
MBK Omaha has become a Model Community for showing a population-level impact on Milestone 6, all youth remain safe from violent crimes by demonstrating a 30 percent decrease in homicides from 2011 to 2022.
Learn more- MBK Alliance
- Stories
ImpactTulsa has fostered a network of partners in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who are specifically focused on impacting the systems that affect BYMOC.
Learn more- MBK Alliance
- Health & Wellbeing
Here at the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, we support communities of color across the United States and Puerto Rico that are taking action to create systemic solutions to the most pressing issues facing boys and young men of color.
Learn more- MBK Alliance
- Youth
Check out the Freedom Summer 2023 grant recipients!
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