When we deepen Respect, we expand Opportunity.
When we expand opportunity, we enable Achievement.
And when we enable achievement, we unleash the power of Diversity in our neighborhoods and our workplaces.
In November 2020, the Enterprise Holdings Foundation announced the ROAD Forward program and pledged $55 million over five years to organizations that advance social and racial equity in the communities where the company operates.
As part of the initiative, the company is allocating $20 million across four nationally renowned nonprofit partners – The Obama Foundation’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, United Negro College Fund, Girls Inc. and Parents as Teachers – as part of a commitment to young people of color in underserved communities.
In the video above, Executive Director Michael Smith shares about his organization’s mission and their effort to build a new generation of leaders.
Get to Know the My Brother's Keeper Alliance
Six years ago, in the aftermath of the tragic killing of Trayvon Martin, President Obama called on Americans to recognize that all have a stake in the success of the nation’s boys and young men of color (BYMOC). America could never live up to its potential or its ideals unless all its children had an opportunity to thrive. We are all our brother’s keeper.
Today, that mantra has become a movement—an Alliance of nearly 250 My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) Communities led by mayors and elected officials, tribal leaders, nonprofit heads and private sector partners across 50 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, all dedicated to breaking down the barriers that too often leave boys and young men of color at a disadvantage and clearing pathways that can lead them to opportunity.
The MBK Alliance is guided by a three-pronged approach centered on lifting up communities, promoting what works and mobilizing citizens and institutions to work towards change.
1. The MBK Alliance acts as a solutions partner, helping local leaders organize stakeholders to identify and adopt proven practices that reduce youth violence, grow the pipeline of mentors and advance life outcomes for BYMOC.
2. The MBK Alliance is a standard setter, working with partners to offer tools, resources and convening opportunities designed to bolster the network of MBK Communities and all those that share our mission.
3. The MBK Alliance is a galvanizer, mobilizing corporations, philanthropy and everyday citizens to support MBK Communities in meeting goals and participating in ongoing campaigns to uplift outstanding individuals and interventions.
In late 2018, the MBK Alliance announced more than $5 million in grants to organizations, working in partnership with municipal leaders, that serve as national models on reducing youth violence, growing effective mentorship programs and measurably improving the lives of BYMOC. Impact and Seed communities include 19 organizations across 10 states and Puerto Rico 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.
MBK Alliance is truly grateful for its partnership with Enterprise Holdings and the ROAD Forward initiative. This grant enables the MBK Alliance to meet its key objectives including providing robust technical assistance to support program implementation, collective impact facilitation, data and evaluation capacity and sustainability planning. It will also continue efforts to support MBK Impact Community Leaders, create virtual spaces for increased knowledge sharing between grantees, and leverage their platforms to tell the stories of local impact in grantee communities to help scale their work for future growth over the next five years.
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