Nonprofits to Pilot New Boys and Men of Color Leadership Initiative in Atlanta

Four­teen local lead­ers have been select­ed for a new six-month pilot pro­gram to help build the capac­i­ty of non­prof­its work­ing on behalf of boys and men of col­or in sev­er­al coun­ties across Geor­gia — includ­ing Clay­ton, Cobb, DeKalb, Ful­ton, Gwin­nett and Rockdale.

Par­tic­i­pants include:

• Chris Apple­ton, Won­der­Root
• Ken­neth Braswell, Fathers Incor­po­rat­ed
• Cheryl Livsey Bursh, Neigh­bor­hoods Focused On African-Amer­i­can Youth, Inc.
• Scott Chat­man, A Titus Man
• Ian Cohen, Next Gen­er­a­tion Men
• John S. Ken­nebrew, Show­case Group
• Waver­ly T. Lucas II, Bal­leth­nic Dance Com­pa­ny, Inc.
• Cat­ri­na DaCos­ta McAfee, LaAmis­tad
• Ervin C. Owens, CABEL Foun­da­tion
• Man­soor Sabree, Inner-City Mus­lim Action Network
• Susan­na Marie Spic­cia, re:imagine/ATL
• Jason Ter­rell, Pro­found Gentlemen
• Lydia E. Thack­er, YMCA of Metro Atlanta
• Ken­neth Williams, The Schol­ar­ship Academy

The Boys and Men of Col­or Exec­u­tive Direc­tor Col­lab­o­ra­tion Cir­cle is a joint effort by the Casey Foun­da­tion and Foun­da­tion Cen­ter South to help local lead­ers build part­ner­ships, net­work and secure addi­tion­al fund­ing to devel­op edu­ca­tion­al and eco­nom­ic oppor­tu­ni­ties for this his­tor­i­cal­ly chal­lenged population.

“We need to move from iden­ti­fy­ing the chal­lenges boys and men of col­or face, to cul­ti­vat­ing lead­ers who are will­ing to step up and address them,” said Kweku Forstall, who leads Casey’s work in Atlanta. ​“We hope the Cir­cle will be an avenue for par­tic­i­pants to eval­u­ate promis­ing approach­es and advo­cate for much need­ed changes to the pub­lic poli­cies and sys­tems that have kept us from invest­ing in boys and men of col­or as the assets they are — here in Geor­gia, and across the nation.”

Casey’s Chang­ing the Odds report high­lights many of the bar­ri­ers boys and men of col­or face and the root caus­es in Atlanta, including:

• a his­to­ry of seg­re­ga­tion in pub­lic hous­ing and zoning;
• under-resourced schools and poor learn­ing envi­ron­ments; and
• the unequal dis­tri­b­u­tion of jobs and career opportunities.

“Non­prof­its sup­port­ing boys and men of col­or often tack­le these com­plex bar­ri­ers with tight bud­gets, small teams and lim­it­ed oppor­tu­ni­ties for staff to learn, grow and regroup from the many demands that are com­mon to the field,” said Utoia Gab­by Wooten from the Foun­da­tion Cen­ter. ​“How­ev­er, we are opti­mistic that with the right sup­ports behind them, these lead­ers will breathe new life into Atlanta and help more boys and men of col­or nav­i­gate through life successfully.”

The exec­u­tive lead­ers will meet month­ly for inter­ac­tive work ses­sions to devel­op strate­gies for engag­ing the phil­an­thropic sec­tor and gen­er­at­ing rev­enue, and to cre­ate col­lab­o­ra­tive, com­mu­ni­ty-based pro­gram­ming to close the per­sis­tent racial and equi­ty gaps that exist in Atlanta.

The par­tic­i­pants will also get the chance to present their col­lab­o­ra­tive projects to poten­tial fun­ders and com­pete for a grant of at least $25,000 to pilot their con­cept begin­ning in fall 2017.

For more infor­ma­tion, con­tact Gab­by Wooten.