Giving Compass' Take:

• New York City Young Men’s Initiative (YMI) and the Milwaukee Public Schools Department of Black and Latino Male Achievement (BLMA) both demonstrate the potential for place-based initiatives that focus on increasing employment opportunities for young men of color. 

• How will these types of initiatives strengthen the workforce? How can place-based philanthropists look to support more programs that serve young men of color? 

• Read more about philanthropic support for black male achievement.

A growing number of US cities are working to help Black and Latinx young men unleash their full potential.

These efforts emerged during a decade of increased political and economic will dedicated to improving the lives of young men of color, which was sparked by a series of high-profile police shootings of Black men and expanded by the Obama administration’s 2014 My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) initiative.

Two efforts—the New York City Young Men’s Initiative (YMI) and the Milwaukee Public Schools Department of Black and Latino Male Achievement (BLMA)—demonstrate the potential of place-based strategies to increase economic opportunity for young men of color. These initiatives combat local challenges with locally tailored solutions, and they recognize that contextual factors beyond education and training, such as structural racism, shape the lives of young men of color.

New York and Milwaukee are working to address the complex and interacting factors—beyond education and training—that affect the ability of young men of color to succeed in the workforce, including physical and mental health, criminal justice system involvement, community safety, and school culture and discipline.

Read the full article about economic opportunities for young men of color by Natalie Spievack and Madeline Brown at Urban Institute.