MY Lansing CAP News Release and Report

OFFICE OF MAYOR VIRG BERNERO
124 W. MICHIGAN AVENUE NINTH FLOOR

LANSING, MI 48933

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Bishop David Maxwell
Wednesday, June 25, 2014 517/483-4141

Mayor Bernero, Community Partners Launch New Initiative to Position
Lansing Youth of Color for Success

(LANSING) - Mayor Virg Bernero was joined at City Hall this morning by a broad spectrum of community partners
to officially launch the Mayors Young Lansing Commission and Partnerships (MY Lansing CAP), a collaborative
and multidisciplinary approach to building ladders of opportunity and unlocking the full potential of young people of
color in the Lansing region.

The MY Lansing CAP initiative will integrate and coordinate the many existing programs in our community to
establish a seamless, proactive network to leverage Lansings assets to impact young people of color through
mentorship, educational achievement and other innovative building blocks of success.

The My Lansing initiative will be a major step forward in our collective efforts to affect the quality of life in
Lansing and to achieve positive outcomes for young people of color, said Mayor Bernero. Our driving ambition
is to spark a new wave of engagement, intervention, investment and success in building a better future for
young people of color across the Lansing region.

Coalition partners in the MY Lansing CAP initiative include the Lansing School District, Church of Greater Lansing
(COGL), Action of Greater Lansing, Lansing Community College, One Love Global, Michigan State University,
The Clergy Forum, Opportunity Knox, IBEW local 352, The Power of We, Lansing Police Department, Ingham
County Great Start, N.E.O.N., Boys and Girls Club of Lansing, and many others.

At todays kickoff, Mayor Bernero released a 167-page report that outlines the challenges faced by young people of
color in our community, describes the wide array of organizations and initiatives that are currently working to
overcome these challenges, and outlines a strategy for pulling together all of these efforts in a coordinated, data-
driven approach that will deliver measurable results for young people of color in the Lansing region.

As Mayor of Lansing, I refuse to accept the notion that we are powerless in the face of poverty, that there is
nothing we can do to help at-risk young people who need a guiding hand, educational opportunities, and a
recognition and appreciation of their intrinsic value as members of our community, Bernero said. If we do
these things, we can change the systematic biases and failures that relegate far too many of our young people of
color to the same negative outcomes we read in the papers all too often.

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Commission and Partnerships
Virg Bernero, Mayor

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Mayors Young Lansing Commission and Partnerships June 2014
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MY Lansing Commission

Mayor Virg Bernero
Bishop David Maxwell, Liaison to Mayor
Angela Waters Austin, Chair
Michael Austin
James Butler
Stephanie Butler
Aida Cuadrado
Bishop Samuel Duncan III
Ronshon Fisher
DeLisa Fountain
Francine Francis
Captain Dr. Daryl Green
Damian Gregory
Shanell Henry
Shawn Holland
Jayson Howell
Cameo King
Derrick Knox, Jr.
Rev. Melvin Jones
Tim Lloyd
Germaine Redding
Andre Ridley
Derrell Slaughter
Isaias Solis
Maurice Stepp
Karlin Tichenor
Resa Tran
Arthuria Watkins
Adam Williams
William Young

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Acknowledgements

The MY Lansing Action Plan is made possible thanks to the investment of the Ingham Change
Initiative and a W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant to Ingham Great Start Collaborative/Ingham
Intermediate School District on behalf of the Lansing Early Childhood Equity Partnership to
improve outcomes for families with children of color ages 0-8.

The City of Lansing Mayor's Office of Community and Faith-based Initiatives acknowledges our
partnership with One Love Global, a grass roots community group addressing the challenges of
young men of color. Mayor Virg Bernero is committed to partnerships that offer solutions in this
much needed area.

We thank Angela Waters Austin and applaud One Love Global's efforts in drafting the MY Lansing
Commission and Partnership plan and for taking the lead on behalf the City of Lansing in
organizing and alignment of organizations that play a vital role in enriching the lives of young
men and women of color. These outstanding organizations include the Ingham Change Initiative,
Peace and Prosperity Youth Action Movement, and Nurturing Early On Is Necessary (N.E.O.N.).

Our office holds One Love Global in high esteem and we urge community stakeholders to
embrace your efforts to improve our city. The Mayors Office for Community and Faith-Based
Initiatives will seek to initiate greater cooperation and integration of services to young men and
women of color through this alliance with One Love Global.

A special thank you to Captain Daryl Green, Ph.D. (Lansing Police Department) and Stephanie
Butler (Church of Greater Lansing) for editing the MY Lansing document. We extend our thanks
to Power of We Consortium and the VISTA program for assistance with research and data
collection.

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OUR OPPORTUNITY

Dear Friends,

You may recall the following statements from my State of City 2014
speech:

Our local economy is roaring back. Unemployment in the Lansing
region has been in the single digits for 37 straight months and weve
had 27 straight months of job growth in the city. Home values and sales are also on the rebound.
Just since last June, the median price of a home sold in Lansing climbed from $67,000 to over
$95,000.

These things didnt happen by accident; they happened by design. They happened because we
made smart choices; we made tough choices. We took the heat for driving change faster than
some people thought we should, faster than some thought we could.

Let me be clear: We will keep right on pushing. Harder. Faster. Smarter. My foot will remain
planted firmly on the gas pedal, because Lansing cannot wait. Our time is now.

Just as we need to invest in our physical infrastructure, we must also invest in our human
capital, starting with our children. The safety of our children and the education of our children
are perhaps the most important issues of our time. With rampant gun violence across our
nation -- too much of it in our own city -- we must step up to the plate to keep our kids safe in
and around our schools.

My friends, there are important lessons in partnership. The only way we will grow Lansing -- and
the Lansing region -- is to do it together, to unite behind a common cause, on a path that we
decide to follow together. The alternative is division and failure, as weve seen in other cities.
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I invite you to keep these values and ideals of Lansing as A City of Promise for All in mind as you
continue reading the vision for MY Lansing Commission and Partnerships. For now, more than
ever, we have the opportunity to unite behind a common cause to improve outcomes for all of
our children, by investing in equity for children of color so that we all may reap the full return
of our investment in human capital in the classroom and in the community.

Virg Bernero
Mayor

Virg Bernero, Mayor

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Office of Community and Faith-based Initiatives

"We want to do more than give people a fish; we want to teach them how to fish,"

- Bishop David Maxwell, Director

Maxwell facilitates planning meeting of MY Lansing Commission & Partnerships

During his first year in office Mayor Bernero established the Mayor's Office of Community and
Faith Based Initiatives to form a powerful new partnership between city government and
Lansing's faith community. To date, under the leadership of Bishop David Maxwell, the MOCFBI
has played a vital role in coordinating the City's human service activities, promoting minority
business enterprises in partnership with the Lansing Economic Development Corporation and
organizing Lansing's annual Diversity Festival.

The Mayors Office for Community & Faith Based Initiatives taps into social capital through a
network of faith-based communities, which in turn leads to greater fundraising a vital function
for seeding and sustaining the Mayors Young Lansing Commission and Partnerships (MY Lansing
CAP). In January, the office helped the city secure a $1.5 million grant from Bloomberg
Philanthropies for a Financial Empowerment Center to give free financial counseling to low-
income residents.

The office helped organize the Church of Greater Lansing in 2008. As of June 2013 the
organization has raised $375,000 to assist persons in need and has served over 55,000 men,
women and children with emergency food needs over the last five years.

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Executive Summary: MY Lansing Initiative

The Mayors Young Lansing Commission and Partnerships (MY Lansing) is a proactive response to the
call for municipalities and local governments to produce more equitable outcomes for males of color.
Our partners had already begun the work years ago of looking internally and externally at the policy
and systemic barriers that perpetuate the school to prison pipeline and economic gridlock for
children of color. Our families and young people were already engaged as leaders in transforming the
world around them to better meet their needs. Our grassroots organizations and institutions have
developed a model for working together across sectors to dismantle structural barriers and improve
early life outcomes.

The road ahead must be paved with bringing more of these solutions to scale that address the
underlying conditions and root causes that perpetuate inequities from birth and exacerbate them
throughout the life course of Black and Brown men and women. We now know that without systemic
solutions that take an honest and critical look at the programs and services that are offered to
families, including how, where and who delivers them, we are likely to see similar outcomes for
generations to come. Actually, the trend is towards widening of gaps between White/Caucasians and
most other racial/ethnic groups so we must approach our work in Lansing with urgency and passion
if we are to seize the opportunity to invest in the next generation of talent and civically engaged
citizens.

MY Lansing seeks the collective impact of many social innovators sharing knowledge and working
towards a common goal: Post-secondary Success for Young Men and Women of Color through
Strategic Investment and Supports from ages 0-25. We believe not only in children having a great
start but we are committed to tracking and measuring the impact of our investment so that children
have a great finish by graduating from high school and post-secondary education or training so they
can provide their children with a great start. This is how we will break trans-generational cycles of
poverty and trauma.

Creative solutions are essential, but MY Lansing is not about reinventing the wheel. MY Lansing is
about organizing our collective assets from the strengths of our families and neighborhoods, to the
community and faith based institutions that now serve them, to leveraging the influence of the
private sector, policy makers, elected officials, and the citizenry of Lansing. There is not one
organization or program that could effectively eliminate disparity and inequity, but programs woven
together in the tapestry of MY Lansing, will indeed enhance our community to reach the goals of
equity. We must think progressively and act with intention to ensure every resource available to
children ages 0-25 and their families. My Lansing does seek to give a person a fish, but rather we
seek to empower them to fish on their own.

The MY Lansing plan is presented in two major sections: 1) An action guide/plan for males of color
and 2) An action guide/plan to support females of color. The action plans highlight key partners and
strategies for collective impact, with family and youth engagement as a central tenet. The plans
present research that many of us will find both surprising and disheartening, given the billions of

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dollars that have been invested across systems to provide a safety net for children and families. These
strategies presented should give us all hope, for they are well within reach.

My Lansing will bring needed attention by rallying our community behind the central themes of
empowerment and enrichment of young people of color. It will position our community to be more
effective in accessing philanthropic and governmental grant funding for the greater Lansing area, thus
providing My Lansing and our partners with the needed financial resources to effectuate
transformation. This is a call to action and a resolution to double down on new and existing efforts
to bring about positive outcomes for our children of color.

The My Lansing plan encapsulate the gathering of data along with programmatic and solution
oriented approaches in response to that data along with measurable benchmarks that will keep us
on track and quantify our successes.

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Invitation to Investment
MY Lansing seeks annual investment of $2.7 million from public and private entities to fully fund
the initial implementation phase of a coordinated system of mentoring and social supports for
Black males and females, a mass media policy campaign, evaluation and technology, and
backbone support.

We invite you to help us achieve our goal of securing $300,000 in pledges for startup funds for
infrastructure and staffing for the 1
st
year of operations:

Mayors Summit Goal: $300,000 pledged in 30 days
$102,500 needed up front for 90 days of operations (July 1 September 30)
Major investment partners will be announced at Saving Our Sons Launch
Local investment will be leveraged through grants, earned income and other resource
development strategies

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Lansing Action Plan for Black Male Achievement

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E=(MC)
2

E=(MC)
2
is a multi-sector coalition of partners committed to working with the City of Lansing and
collectively to ensure males of color and other disadvantaged children are thriving from early
childhood to school, career, community and family life. A Commission was formed by the Mayors
Office for Faith & Community-Based Initiatives to begin aligning Lansing assets to improve
outcomes for Black males between the ages 0-25. The Commission is comprised of community
organizers and others who began convening in November of 2013 to consider a series of critical
questions and map assets for children of color ages 0-25:

1. How do we organize ourselves to solve problems, like poverty, that are very complex and that
require solutions from multiple sectors?
2. Why does racial equity have to be at the forefront of solving complex problems?
3. How must we transform ourselves and local systems to create equitable outcomes for males of
color?
4. How do we hold ourselves accountable for collective action and shared outcomes?
5. What strategies will close gaps in achievement so that Lansing is leading the nation in the return
on investment in human capital?

E=(MC)2 Partners (as of June 18, 2014)

Michael Austin Imprint
Mandeville Berry Turning Point
Andrew Brewer Men Making a Difference
Stephanie Butler Church of Greater Lansing
Aida Cuadrado Action of Greater Lansing
Bishop Samuel Duncan III Lansing Church of God in Christ
Ronshon Fisher Boys & Girls Club of Lansing
Damian Gregory Gridiron Group
Kolmarge Harris Lansing Youth Sports Organization
Shaun Holland Teens LOL
Jayson Howell Peace & Prosperity Youth Action Movement
Rich Lewis Kappa Alpha Psi
Andre Ridley Lansing School District
Melvin Jones Lansing Clergy Forum
Germaine Redding Labor Ready/College Entertainment Productions/m.a.d.e Alliance
Lori Adams Simon National Pan Hellenic Council of Lansing
Derrell Slaughter Ingham Change Initiative
Isaias Solis Power of We Consortium/Ingham Change Initiative
Derrick Knox, Jr. Opportunities Knox
Maurice Stepp Peace & Prosperity Youth Action Movement
Karlin Tichenor Lansing School District/Ingham Change Initiative
Adam Williams One Love Global/NEON/Peace & Prosperity

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The Groundwork

On January 28, 2014 President Barack Obama
announced a new initiative with leading foundations
and businesses that will take a collaborative, multi-
disciplinary approach to build ladders of opportunity
and unlock the full potential of boys and young men of
color. He signed a Presidential Memorandum
establishing the My Brother's Keeper Task Force to
help determine which public and private efforts are
working, how the Federal government can support
those efforts, and how we can get more folks involved
in those efforts across the board.

As the Mayor of the City of Lansing, I stand with
the President and the best minds in the nation
on creating measurable improvement in the lives of boys and men of color. We will determine
what is working in our community, how the City of Lansing and its governmental resources can
support those efforts, and how we can get everyone involved in these efforts.

How we understand and develop solutions to unlock the full potential of boys and men of color
will impact not only the City of Lansing, but the Capital Region, and the economy of the state of
Michigan for generations to come. The White House website boldly challenges us all to
understand the problem and how its solution doesn't only benefit our kids facing tough
circumstances it benefits all Americans.

This document lifts up the tremendous work that is being done across the nation to provide a
context for the work that is being done by, with and on behalf of young men of color in Lansing.
The challenges and small wins referenced throughout the document are the direct result of
strong partnerships and multi-sector collaboration in the City of Lansing and with our colleagues
across the state and nation.

Clifford Johnson, the Executive Director of the Institute for Youth, Education, and Families at NLC
urges us to action: The SOS calls that we witness every day as reflected in the red flags
already apparent to so many in our communities all too often go unanswered. Those of us
committed to improving life outcomes for young black men and boys must find ways to heighten
the sense of urgency surrounding their plight. We have a moral obligation, as individuals and as
a nation, to mount a rescue mission for them as well.

Peace & Prosperity Youth Action Movement Ambassadors featured in Lansing
State Journal: Tariq Brown, TaPara Simmons, Jr., and Maurice Stepp

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School to Prison Pipeline: A National Phenomenon

Before we take a closer look at the data on boys and men of color in Lansing, let us take a look at
the data that is creating a sense of urgency at the White House and in cities across the nation:

Boys and young men of color regardless of where they come from are disproportionately
at risk from their youngest years through college and the early stages of their professional lives.

By the time they hit fourth grade, 86 percent of African American boys and 82 percent of
Hispanic and Native American boys are reading below proficiency levels compared to
58 percent of white fourth graders reading below proficiency levels. Source: U.S.
Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education
Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2013 Reading
Assessments
African American and Hispanic young men are more than six times as likely to be victims
of murder as their white peers and account for almost half of the country's murder
victims each year.

What these two data points illustrate is a continuum of inequity in the well-being of young men
of color. Across the nation, we are failing to assure our boys of color are getting off to a great
start in life and in many ways we are all but guaranteeing that the subsequent years of their lives
will see them increasingly at risk and in harms way.

Marian Edelman Wright, Founder of Childrens Defense Fund coined and copyrighted the term
Cradle to Prison Pipeline which she describes as the growing criminalization of children at
younger and younger ages, and the unjust treatment of minority youths and adults in the juvenile
and adult criminal justice systems. In 2009, Ms. Wright advised the nation that no single sector
or group can solve these child- and nation-threatening crises alone but all of us can together.
Leaders must call us to the table and use their bully pulpits to replace our current paradigm of
punishment as a first resort with a paradigm of prevention and early intervention. That will save
lives, save families, save taxpayer money, and save our nation's aspiration to be a fair society.
Health and mental health care and quality education cost far less than prisons.

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Disconnected Youth

Halve the Gap by 2030: Youth Disconnection in Americas Cities was co-authored by Sarah
Burd-Sharps and Kristen Lewis and reports: Disconnected youth are people between the ages of
16 and 24 who are neither in school nor working. Young people in this age range who are working
or in school part-time or who are in the military are not considered disconnected. Youth
disconnection rates in this report are calculated by Measure of America using employment and
enrollment data from the 2011 American Community Survey (ACS) of the US Census Bureau.
Nationwide, African Americans are about three times as likely as Asian Americans and twice as
likely as whites to be disconnected in their teens and early twenties.
2

Data on disconnected youth is one very urgent indicator of the need to focus our attention on
young males of color from ages 0-25. We know that the factors and conditions creating inequity
are present in the lives of young males of color from birth. Trauma has a negative impact on brain
development and Black boys are far more likely to be exposed to the trauma of poverty and
violence. The trauma is further exacerbated by disproportionate disciplinary action as early as
pre-school, sending Black boys into the prison pipeline before Kindergarten reinforcing
perceptions of Black males as behavior problems. Recent studies have revealed evidence of
both implicit and explicit bias in classrooms that unfairly disadvantages Black children,
necessitating solutions that disrupt the structures and processes that exacerbate gaps in
achievement for Black males.
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Pushed Out

Aisha Ray, Ph.D., the Rochelle Zell Deans Chair Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and
Dean of Faculty Erikson Institute reports the following findings from her studies on the factors
shaping Black child development:

Black students, especially males receive more control-directed or qualified praise from
teachers, while females, especially White females, have warmer, more positive contact
with teachers (Grant, 1985).

Black students receive more negative behavioral feedback and ambivalent academic
feedback than White students (Irvine, 1985).

Teachers tend to reward Black children differently than White children, often encouraging
passive behavior that does not result in greater academic achievement (Entwisle &
Alexander, 1988).

Entwisle and Alexander found that first grade teachers respond differently to African
American and white children displaying the same behavior, indicating different ways of
interpreting child behavior based on childrens race.
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Guiding Frameworks

Thankfully, in Lansing we have not been caught by surprise by this data. We have been diligently
gathering and analyzing our own numbers and indicators to determine the local impact of what
is unfortunately a national phenomenon. Thanks to the dedicated and ongoing research of our
partners, we have the resources at our fingertips for a deeper analysis and understanding of the
data to drive action planning, implementation and evaluation.

Children Defense Funds Cradle to Prison Pipeline Report
Joint Center for Economic Policy Studies Dellums Commission
Open Society Campaign for Black Male Achievement
Policy Links Americas Tomorrow: Equity is the Superior Growth Model
Collective Impact
Measuring What Matters
National League of Cities Municipal Action Guide

The next section highlights key recommendations and guidance from a few of these resources to
inform Lansings road to transformation for boys and men of color. The Lansing Action Plan
adopts the framework created specifically for municipal leaders by the National League of Cities
Municipal Action Guide.

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Dellums Commission

In 2006, Ronald Dellums led a commission organized to study the historical impact of policy on
the life outcomes for young men of color. As a result, more than a dozen studies were released
elaborating on inequities for young men of color in physical and mental health, in education from
preschool to post-secondary, child welfare and contact with the courts, all aspects of economic
development and finally, the reports reveal inequities in the representation and portrayal of
young men of color in the media. The Ingham Change Initiative Commission was founded in 2008
as a local model of the Dellums Commission. The Ingham Change Initiative Commission is chaired
by Clarence Underwood, Michigan State University Athletic Director Emeritus. A complete roster
of ICI Commissioners is provided on page 26.

Black Male Achievement Foundation

Released in May 2014, the Black Male Achievement Foundations Building a Beloved Community:
Strengthening the Field of Black Male Achievement is described as more than a call to action; it
represents more than analysis and encouragement, theories of change and multidisciplinary
approaches. It represents the full potential and hope of philanthropy and civil society. It
represents what Martin Luther King, Jr. called The Beloved Communitya global vision in which
injustice will not be tolerated because we as a people will not allow it.

The report inspires us to think about the positive opportunities created by reframing norms and
shaping new conversations. It calls for understanding success and spreading it, for leveraging
powerful voices (such as that of the President of the United States), for informing our work with
data and looking for intersections across sectors.
5

Key findings from Building the Beloved Community include:

Philanthropy. Foundation commitments have grown steadily in recent years. In 2011,
foundations awarded more than $40 million in grants, up from $29 million in the previous
year. Between 2008 and 2011, 191 unique foundations made nearly 900 grants to more
than 400 organizations.

Nonprofit Organizations. Survey data from the Institute for Black Male Achievement show
that nonprofits with programs focused on black men and boys are largely engaged in
direct service activities (62 percent). Most are small, grassroots entities with budgets
under $1 million (65 percent). The vast majority (80 percent) work locally, with 32 percent
working at the state level and 34 percent working nationally.

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Research. There is no shortage of research on black men and boys. However, scholars
engaged in the field are increasingly debunking deficit-oriented representations of
black males and contributing to the academic literature by studying factors that
promote success.

Government. Significant local, state, and federal initiatives are underway with leadership
by elected officials. Among the most prominent are Cities United, focused on local
municipalities, and My Brothers Keeper, a national initiative led by the Obama
administration. These initiatives identify comprehensive policies in need of change,
emphasize the strategic use of data, and include cross-sector partnerships.

Corporate, Faith, and Other Sectors. Interviewees identified the corporate and faith
sectors as critical to engage. In addition, a range of other constituencies can be more
deeply involved, including celebrities, national civil rights organizations, and professional
associations.

Building the Beloved Community suggested priorities for sustaining and strengthening the
field of Black Male Achievement include:

Changing the narrative from one that depicts black males as liabilities or threats to
society to one that acknowledges their numerous assets and contributions

Leveraging social media and digital platforms in creative and powerful ways for
grassroots organizing, collaboration, and communication

Increasing the evidence base by being explicit about goals, disaggregating data, and
evaluating interventions

Investing in holistic, preventative, and systemic solutions that change structures limiting
opportunities not only for black males but also for their families and communities

Investing in organizational capacity and resourcing leaders so that their work can
continue over the long haul

Building partnerships and networks to ensure that activities are coordinated across
sectors, issues, and geographic areas and that resources are optimally leveraged

Rethinking philanthropy and addressing the need for longer funding commitments and
permanent endowed funds for black male achievement, as well as considering
alternative models of support

Building leadership at the grasstops and the grassroots, recognizing that courageous
advocates are needed all along the pipeline to advance the field.
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Lansing Embraces National League of Cities
Strategies

The National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education and Families released the Municipal
Action Guide, City Leadership to Promote Black Male Achievement. Leon Andrews and
colleagues provide a comprehensive outline of what city leaders can and should be doing to
improve the quality of life for all residents by improving outcomes for Black males.

Municipal leaders in nearly all major cities are addressing issues that disproportionately affect
young black males, such as low high school completion rates, high rates of incarceration,
devastating levels of violent crime, an epidemic of childhood obesity, and pervasive poverty.
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E=MC
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adopts the strategies presented in the NLC Municipal Guide as those that best align
multiple frameworks with and build upon existing community-driven efforts. Lansing is fortunate
to have some of the most innovative and passionate community leadership in the nation who
have been diligently committed to improving outcomes for young men of color. It is because of
the proactive and comprehensive methodology of our partners in building public will and a local
field of expertise for children of color that we have a critical mass to undertake the following
strategies:

STRATEGY 1: Ensure a Strong Focus on the Target Population

STRATEGY 2: Use Evidence of Unequal Outcomes to Define the Challenge

STRATEGY 3: Work With Local Partners to Tell the Story behind the Numbers

STRATEGY 4: Identify Key Stakeholders Who Are Working To Improve Outcomes

STRATEGY 5: Establish a Shared Vision, Measurable Goals, and a Clear Plan for Making and
Tracking Progress

STRATEGY 6: Make the Case for Action

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Strategy #1: Ensure a Strong Focus on the Target Population

According to the National League of Cities Municipal Action Guide, While defining the target
population for a black male achievement agenda may seem straightforward only a handful of
local governments have launched initiatives that clearly focus on this subgroup of city residents.
National League of Cities pyramid graphic illustrates how strategies may be defined, which will
then have an impact on how resources are invested, and ultimately the outcomes. The lesson
learned is that the more targeted the strategy and intervention, the more effective we are with
measuring the results of our work.

Figure 1: National League of Cities Municipal Action Guide

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LansingActionPlan:SavingOurSons

E = (MC)
2
invites the entire community in supporting a campaign called Saving Our Sons, which
was created by NEON (Nurturing Early On is Necessary), an organization founded by parents to
work with others to break down barriers and take greater control over the conditions s in which
they are raising children ages 0-25. The Saving Our Sons campaign was developed in partnership
with youth, parents, community organizers, and faith leaders specifically focused on engaging
Black men and boys in the identification of promising strategies. Saving Our Sons is challenging
every member of our community to apply a Black Male Achievement Lens to the way we learn,
work, play and serve. What this means is paying attention to who is at the table and who is not
when decisions are made, being more strategic about where we invest our public and private
resources, and changing the way we perceive and portray Black males in our culture.

Strategy #2: Use Evidence of Unequal Outcomes to Define the Challenge

E = (MC)
2
prioritizes data driven innovation and asking the right questions to unearth root causes
and underlying conditions of inequities. It also means tracking resources to determine if we are
investing in solutions rather than symptoms and holding ourselves accountable to end practices
that do not produce the intended outcomes.

Who is living in poverty? Why?
Who is not graduating? Why?
Who is coming in contact with the courts? Why?
What factors are contributing to Black Male Achievement in Lansing?
What factors are impeding Black Male Achievement in Lansing?

One of the most significant barriers to improving outcomes for young men of color is the lack of
disaggregated data that is collected and reported by agencies and institutions. Grassroots
organizations also experience challenges in tracking program outcomes due to limited capacity
to collect and analyze participant data from service delivery. Billions of dollars are invested in
universal programs and strategies that somehow miss the mark on closing gaps for both
historically and currently marginalized populations. We will realize a tremendous cost savings
from targeted solutions and strategies that produce the intended outcomes.

Dr. Manuel Pastor is Professor of American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern
California, founding director of the Center for Justice, Tolerance, and Community at the
University of California, Santa Cruz, and director of the Program for Environmental and Regional
Equity at USC. According to Dr. Pastor, by 2042, the county will be majority-minority, by 2023
the majority of those under the age of 18 will be youth of color, and this year (2010) or next will
the first (but not the last) in which the majority of births in the U.S. will be to black, Latino and
Asian parents.
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Dr. Pastor challenges us all to think differently about race and ethnicity and to aspire to a new
level of bravery in facing changing demographics. After all, the demographic change the nation
will soon experience has already washed over many of our larger metros. And building bridges to
create a shared regional identity between diverse communities white and non-whites, cities
and suburbs, business and labor is just part of the job description for those forging new
metropolitan coalitions.

With this preface, we invite you to view local Census data through a racial equity lens. For
example, if Blacks or African Americans comprise 23.7% of the entire Lansing population, in what
systems are Black or African Americans disproportionately represented?

EarlyChildhoodData

N.E.O.N. (Nurturing Early On is Necessary) is a new primary source of data on families of color
in Lansing with parents taking the lead in data collection. With the investment of almost $1
million dollars, Ingham Great Start Collaborative and partners including One Love Global,
Michigan State University, Power of We Consortium, Ingham County Health Department, and
Capital Area United Way have formed the Lansing Early Childhood Equity Partnership (LECEP) to
explore approaches to co-creating solutions for systems transformation with families.

It took the better part of a year for the initial team to determine that traditional approaches to
strategic planning, consensus-building and community engagement would yield the traditional
results. One Love Global was contracted to coordinate LECEP and charted a course to build the
power of families to tell their own stories and work alongside influential leaders across sectors
to establish a common goal and a shared agenda.

NEONs mission is to build the capacity of parents to partner with others to take greater control
over conditions and break down barriers to improve outcomes for children of color ages 0-8.
Armed with disaggregated data and the stories of Lansing families, NEON has partnered with
policy and advocacy organizations such as Ingham Change Initiative, ACLU, NAACP, Action of
Greater Lansing, and Michigans Children to educate and organize our community to develop
solutions that will produce measurable improvements in baseline data collected over the past
three years of the Lansing Early Childhood Equity Partnership:

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21.3% gap in Lansing schools reading scores between black and white 3rd graders
279 Lansing parents with children of color ages 0-8 identified lack of jobs/income as the
#1 barrier to raising children; transportation ranked 2
nd
followed by violence and crime.
There is a void in Black leadership dedicated to early childhood outcomes in Lansing; most
organizations are focused on children in grades K-12, with the vast majority concentrating
on ages 10-17
In 2009, black infants died at a rate of 15 deaths per 1000 compared to white infants died
at a rate of 5 deaths per 1000
37% of total deaths in Michigan were of black infants
According to Michigan League for Public Policy, Ingham County ranked No. 58 of 83
counties (No. 1 has the best, or lowest, rate) with 40.3 percent of young children (ages
0-5) eligible for food assistance, compared with 37 percent statewide
According to national study by Harvard University that included Great Start Readiness,
Head Start, faith and community based childcare classrooms, expulsion rates are 3 times
higher in pre- school than for K-12
91% of children expelled from pre-school programs are Black boys

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Suspension&ExpulsionRates

The above table illustrates disproportionate and inequitable disciplinary action for Black students
across districts. With the largest percentage of Black student enrollment and the lowest rates of
Black students graduating in the region, Lansing schools have the opportunity to lead the region
in reducing inequities and promoting factors that improve outcomes for Black males.

[O]bserved patters of racial disproportion do not correlate with higher incidence of disruptive
behavior by Black students and, therefore, conclude that [Disproportionate Minority Contact] in
school discipline is due in part to differential treatment of [students of color] by teachers and
administrators (p. 1006). From this finding, it follows that the unequal application of exclusionary
discipline may not be in response to differential classroom disruption patterns, but instead may
be a function of differential treatment (see also Losen & Skiba, 2010). While largely empirical and
rooted in autoethnographic methods that are considered non-generalizable (Casella, 2003),
some studies have also found that Black boys and men struggle to achieve in racially segregated
environments. In these environments, negative stereotypes about Black males, informed largely
by media representations of Black males as perpetrators of urban violence, are pervasive (Jones,
A.R., 2011; Farmer, 2010; Schott Foundation for Public Education, 2008).
9

GraduationRates2013Cohort

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GenerationalCycleofPoverty

Disaggregated educational performance data provide the most critical indicators for E = (MC)
2

and Lansing. Parent educational attainment is strongly correlated with child poverty and the
likelihood of future poverty as the child is unable to overcome barriers to success.

National Center for Children in Poverty, Michigan Demographic Profiles

Lansings share of individuals with less than a high school education is 13% of our citys
population. What we cannot derive from Census data is what share belongs to children of color
living in low-income families. Understanding the data is essential to targeted and effective
problem solving. Interventions that utilize aggregated data rarely consider barriers caused by
implicit or explicit bias.

MediaData

The Ingham Change Initiative is one of a handful of organizations in the nation with a specific
focus on media engagement and the development of content to transform perceptions of young
men of color. A literature review conducted by Ingham Change Initiative amplifies why it is so
important for E = (MC)
2
to diligently counteract the steady flow of negative and stereotypical
misinformation about communities of color, particularly Black and Latino males. Negative
portrayals of Black males is often limited to crime and violence, even when the story pertains to
a celebrity or other public figure.

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Young Men of Color in the Media: Images and Impacts

Source: Robert Entman, Young Men of Color in the Media: Images and Impact

What happens when black and/or Hispanic characters are represented as violent, unintelligent,
or lazy? Research shows:

Violence & youth, especially male youth, are closely linked; most stories that feature
young people depict violence or suffering
One study found that blacks are twice as likely as white defendants to be subject to
negative pretrial publicity, and Latinos are three times as likely

The KIDS COUNT policy report, Race for Results: Building a Path to Opportunity for All Children,
unveils the new Race for Results index, which compares how children are progressing on key
milestones across racial and ethnic groups at the national and state level. The data can assist
leaders who create policies and programs that benefit all children, and identify areas where
targeted strategies and investments are needed.

By 2018, children of color will represent the majority of children in the United States. The report
highlights serious concerns that African-American, Latino, Native American and some subgroups
of Asian-American children face profound barriers to success and calls for an urgent, multi-
sector approach to develop solutions.

For African-American children, the situation is dire. In general, states in the Rust Belt and the
Mississippi Delta are places where opportunity for black children is poorest. African-American
kids face the greatest barriers to success in Michigan, Mississippi and Wisconsin.
10

Race Violence Unintelligent Lazy

Blacks 47% 21.9% 34.3%
Hispanics 37.4% 23.9% 21.9%

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Strategy #3: Work With Local Partners to Tell the Story Behind The Numbers

Strategy 3 addresses the perceptions of young
men of color more directly through partnerships
with youth to take the lead in telling their own
stories and shaping public policy.

Dr. Manuel Pastor offers sage advice to leaders
struggling with making a commitment to racial
equity: While the traditional argument has been
that lifting up racial and ethnic differences could
alienate white voters, the changing
demographics mean that people of color also
need to be seen in the conversations we have
and the political signals we send. The risk of
alienation, in short, needs to be balanced against
the risk of undermobilization.
11

We have examples set by Philadelphia Mayor
Michael Nutter and New Orleans Mayor Mitch
Landrieus launch of Cities United, an initiative to
reduce violence-related deaths among Black
men and boys.
12
National League of Cities Cities United prioritizes Authentic Youth
Engagement to Prevent Violence Against African American Males and has grown to a
partnership of 58 cities including Grand Rapids and Southfield, MI.
13
The resounding lesson
learned? Meet Youth Where They Are!

The E=MC2 Plan is a collaborative effort informed not only by national evidence and strategies,
but by the true experts. The plan before you reflects the ideas and needs expressed by young
men of color in Lansing. We are grateful to NEON, an organization created by parents for
convening a series of conversations with some of our most vulnerable young men and women. It
is because of NEONs commitment to community engagement that we know what our young
men and women want to help them succeed: Love, Mentoring and Persistence. The Saving Our
Sons campaign was created out of these conversations when a participants stated, No one has
ever told me they were proud of me. I need a mentor who can just be proud of me.

We thank the Ingham Change Initiative, Lansing School District and Peace & Prosperity Youth
Action Movement for their collective groundbreaking work on the African American Male
Student Voice report which provides recommendations that we can all embrace to better support
academic success. Thanks to this partnership with Michigan Department of Education, Lansing
youth are informing the work of dropout prevention across the nation.

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Peace&ProsperityYouthActionMovement

Peace & Prosperity Youth Action Movement is a coalition of Lansing and Lansing area students
who are making a difference in the community. PPYAM promotes positive outcomes and
advocates for policies to improve outcomes such as peace, diversity, inclusion, healthy lifestyles,
dropout prevention, preparation for higher education, and entrepreneurship.

Interns complete 40 plus hours of training with core lessons of social justice and equity in
hundreds of hours of community projects. Some of the projects include the Got Health? Expo,
Sparrow Mural Project, Healthy Corner Store Project, and the HIV/AIDS Awareness NO ID Fashion
Show, where roughly 200 people attended and students produced and organized both
educational and artistic components of the show. PPM students have planned and implemented
these projects and more in the surrounding community and across the state, exemplifying youth
leadership which was recognized by Mayor Virg Berneros Hometown Hero Award in
2013. PPYAM youth leaders are extremely excited to be moving ahead with chapters at our local
middle and high schools as well as in faith-based congregations.

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NEON(NurturingEarlyOnisNecessary)

NEON is another E=(MC)
2
partner that is raising the bar in authentic community voice and
leadership. NEON has been trained by David Hunt, internationally renowned community
organizer and storytelling facilitator. The training has equipped NEON with tools to leverage one
their greatest strengths, the power of their stories. NEON has utilized storytelling to learn about
the experiences of families and to create a safe space to honor the truths of historically silenced
populations.

Strategy #4: Identify Key Stakeholders Who Are Working To Improve Outcomes

As Mayor of the City of Lansing, I strongly agree with the National League of Cities and other leaders
in this movement that Black Male Achievement initiatives should invite the participation of Black
male youth and young adults from the very beginning. We know that the best solutions come from
those with intimate, lived experience with the conditions that perpetuate problems like violence
and school push-out.

We have begun the process of identifying key stakeholders and we are confident that Black males
are not only providing their voice and input, but taking the lead in improving outcomes for our boys
and men and our entire city. The City of Lansing is behind these powerful leaders 100% and we
know you will join us in supporting the development of new leadership by opening doors of
opportunity and rethinking how we conduct business across sectors, cultures, and generations.

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34
The Mayors Office applauds the stakeholders in our large institutions and agencies that have
already committed to improving outcomes for children of color. We are stronger with stakeholders
such as Power of We Consortium, described as a network of networks; Lansing Clergy Forum,
whose long-term commitment to promoting success for Black males has brought the power of
Black Christian congregations to the fight for social justice. By uniting with other leaders of faith
such as Church of Greater Lansing and Action of Greater Lansing, E = (MC)2 is mobilizing thousands
of individuals and allies to build public will to support Black Male Achievement.

Ingham Change Initiative

The City of Lansing is committing our resources to promote the success of Black
males and we are confident that our investment will be leveraged by the work of
partners such as the Ingham Change Initiative. The Ingham Change Initiative
Commission is a group influential community leaders with a mission to improve
the success of young men of color and other disadvantaged youth by identifying
opportunities and recommending strategies that encourage our community to
initiate system change and policy reform.

Commissioners as of May 2014 include:

Clarence Underwood, Jr., Chairman
Honorable Donald Allen, 55
th
District Court
Matthew Anderson, Michigan State University
Sarah Anthony, Michigan College Access Network
Barbara Ball-McClure, Michigan State University
Jacquelynne Borden-Conyers, Quincy & Associates, Inc.
Renee Canady, Michigan Public Health Institute
Dorinda Carter-Andrews, Michigan State University
Nate Colon, Michigan State University
Tim Daman, Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce
Stuart Dunnings III, Ingham County Prosecutor
Paul Elam, Public Policy Associates Inc.
Noel Garcia, Michigan Latino/Hispanic Commission
Edythe Hatter-Williams, Capital Area Michigan Works!
Jim Pettibone, Ingham County Prosecutors Office
Joan Jackson Johnson, City of Lansing
Derrell Slaughter
Gloria Stephens Smith
Isaias Solis, Power of We Consortium
Karlin Tichenor, Lansing School District
Willard Walker, Public Policy Associates Inc.
Mike Yankowski, Lansing Police Chief

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The ICI Commission has studied policy implications across multiple systems and the negative
impact of those policies on males of color. The ICI Commission will partner with MY Lansing and
E(MC)
2
on proactive measures to shape policies that can help close gaps in opportunity and
achievement. Included in the Appendix are three reports developed by the Ingham Change
Initiative that are useful resources for MY Lansing and others seeking a better understanding of the
work of the Ingham Change Initiative to reduce racial inequities through policy reform: 1) African
American Male Student Voice, 2) Advancing Change: Our Youth, Our Future!, and 3) Capital Region
Racial Equity Update

Strategy #5: Establish a Shared Vision, Measurable Goals, and a Clear Plan for
Making and Tracking Progress

OurApproachSavingOurSonsthroughCollectiveImpact

NEON Community Organizer Shanell Henry quotes a very important scripture at community
engagement events: Without a vision, the people will perish. Thanks to our partners at One Love
Global and Power of We Consortium, our entire region is beginning to have a vision for the success
of children of color through the promotion of a framework entitled Collective Impact for Racial
Equity.

Collective Impact initiatives are long-term commitments by a group of important actors from
different sectors to a common agenda for solving a specific social problem.
14
Successful collective
impact initiatives typically have five conditions that together produce true alignment and lead to
powerful results. The framework is beautiful in its seeming simplicity:

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36

However, unlike most Collective Impact initiatives, building community power from the grassroots
is the 1
st
phase of E=(MC)
2
. When a racial equity lens is applied to Kania and Kramers Collective
Impact model, it is apparent that the definition of powerful champions typically excludes those
outside of institutional and philanthropic leadership networks. When combined with community
organizing principles that build the power of marginalized populations, Collective Impact comes into
the fullness of its name with grassroots leadership setting the agenda, driving systems
transformation, and making decisions about service delivery working in partnership with
institutional leaders and elected officials.

SavingOurSonsCommonAgenda-DoublingPost-SecondarySuccessforBlack
Males

The goal of Saving Our Sons is increasing graduation rates and post-secondary success for Black
male through dismantling systemic and policy barriers, better alignment of community
resources and increasing the efficacy of supports from birth through age 25.

E=(MC)
2
MutuallyReinforcingActivities

We are appreciative of the Race for Results recommendations released by Annie E. Casey
Foundation in April 2014 to help ensure that all children and their families achieve their full
potential:
Gather and analyze racial and ethnic data to inform polices and decision making

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37
Utilize data and impact assessment tools to target investments to yield the greatest
impact for children of color
Develop and implement promising and proven programs and practices focused on
improving outcomes for children and youth of color
Integrate strategies that explicitly connect vulnerable groups to new jobs and
opportunities in economic and workforce development
15

The E=(MC)
2
collective impact strategy involves 4 Primary Pathways for Action:

1) Policy Identifying the rules and regulations, legislation, and systemic factors that can be
transformed to improve outcomes for Black males. Advocating for policy and systemic
changes where there is evidence of disproportionate and inequitable impact.

2) Program and Service Delivery Giving careful consideration to funding coordinated and
collaborative services that can be brought to scale, as well as where and how they are
delivered.

3) Practice Monitoring and tracking how policies and programs are carried out and
whether or not they produce measurable improvement in outcomes for Black males.
Developing protocols that promote fairness and equitable outcomes.

4) Perception Identifying and treating implicit bias; understanding how privilege and
internalized racism exacerbate systemic inequities; Understanding and transforming the
messages, images and traditions that promote stereotypes and reinforce racial equities
as being acceptable or tolerable.

ContinuousCommunication

Kania and Kramer share insights from Collective Impact initiatives: Developing trust among
nonprofits, corporations, and government agencies is a monumental challenge. Participants need
several years of regular meetings to build up enough experience with each other to recognize
and appreciate the common motivation behind their different efforts. They need time to see that
their own interests will be treated fairly, and that decisions will be made on the basis of objective
evidence and the best possible solution to the problem, not to favor the priorities of one
organization over another.
16

E=(MC)
2
is built upon a core of relationships that have been cultivated over time with
organizations who have developed trust and the ability to honor one anothers self-interests that
contribute to the common agenda.

External communications is an equally important factor in building public will and increasing the
assets available to improve outcomes for young men of color. Careful messaging that focuses on

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systemic barriers is essential to promoting positive perceptions and opening doors of
opportunity.

SharedMeasurementSystem
Saving Our Sons preliminary outcome indicators include:

Family
Create Opportunities for Positive Involvement of Fathers in their Sons Lives
Enhance Fathers Capacity to Financially Support their Children
Connect Families with Effective Parent Education and Support Programs
Boost Family Incomes and Assets

Education
Promote Reading Proficiency by the End of Third Grade
Recruit Mentors to Help Black Boys Stay on Track in School
Push for In-School Alternatives to Suspension and Expulsion
Work to Reduce Chronic Absence and Truancy
Develop Alternative Pathways to High School Completion

Workforce
Expand Opportunities for Early Work Experience and Career Exploration
Invest in YouthBuild Programs and Local Youth Corps
Explore Ways to Create Transitional Jobs for Young Black Men
Ensure Equal Access and Effective Targeting in Workforce Development Programs
Promote Linkages to Foster Care and Juvenile Justice Systems
Reduce Employment Barriers for those with a Criminal Record
BackboneSupportOrganization(s):

Effective backbone support is a critical condition for collective impact. In fact, it is the number
one reason that collective impact initiatives fail. FSG, the founders of Collective Impact shared
lessons learned in an article published in July 2012. We learned that backbone organizations
essentially pursue six common activities to support and facilitate collective impact which
distinguish this work from other types of collaborative efforts. Over the lifecycle of an initiative,
they (backbone organizations): 1) Guide vision and strategy, 2) Support aligned activities, 3)
Establish shared measurement practices, 4) Build public will, 5) Advance policy, and 6) Mobilize
funding.

The City of Lansing has explored the various roles and structures of backbone organizations
through research published by FSG and others. According to Turner et al in Understanding the
Value of Backbone Organizations, As a collective impact initiative initially launches and gets

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39
organized, a backbone organization is likely to prioritize guiding vision and strategy and
supporting aligned activities as two key activities. For example, in 2006, the Strive Partnership
established the first ever Cradle to Career vision for the regions urban core, including a
roadmap for student success with shared goals and measures of student achievement. For the
past six years, the Strive Partnership has maintained an active and engaged executive committee
comprised of cross-sector leadership from Cincinnati (OH), Covington, and Newport (KY).

As backbone organizations mature, they often shift focus to establish shared measurement
practices on behalf of their collective impact partners. For example, Partners for a Competitive
Workforce (PCW), with its partners, has created a common, region-wide workforce data
collection and reporting system to track results and improve performance for multiple agencies.
To date, approximately 50 public and nonprofit agencies are utilizing the system, and a regional
workforce dashboard is being built to aggregate key measures.

OneLoveGlobal

One Love Global came to the attention of the City of Lansing through its track record as a
backbone support organization for Ingham Change Initiative, Peace & Prosperity Youth Action
Movement, and the Lansing Early Childhood Equity Partnership (LECEP). The City of Lansing is
committed to investing the capacity of One Love Global to serve as backbone support
organization for E=(MC)
2
, bringing together multiple strategies already in action. Our
commitment to One Love Global was solidified upon learning about the LECEP Racial Equity
Community of Practice planned by a 30-member, inclusive multi-sector ad hoc committee in
partnership with NEON, Ingham Great Start Collaborative, Ingham Intermediate School District,
Michigan State University, Ingham Change Initiative, and Michigans Children

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40
.
Through the planning, coordination and facilitation of One Love Global, the Community of
Practice is exploring methods of engaging leaders to promote racial equity and identify tool to
support institutions in identifying barriers for families with children of color ages 0-8 that may be
a result of structural racism. Community of Practice members include: Power of We Consortium,
Capital Area Community Services Head Start, Community Mental Health for Clinton, Eaton and
Ingham Counties, Americorps, and Michigan State University Outreach & Engagement as well as
faith and community based organizations.

One Love Global is the founder of the m.a.d.e. Alliance which engages young people through
media, arts, design and entertainment opportunities such as Lansing Hip Hop Festival, Style
Michigan and the Power of 9 Teen Edutainment Series. One Love Global and partners are in the
process of launching FamBiz Inc., Michigans first nonprofit incubator to promote economic
success families through multi-sector partnerships for social innovation and job creation. One
Love Global is the founder of Equity Equals, a radio program on Michigan Business Network.com
promoting nonprofit businesses and social entrepreneurs that impact Michigans double bottom
line.

Strategy #6: Make the Case for Action

The City of Lansing Mayors Office is a powerful bully pulpit from which to make the case for
action on behalf of disadvantaged black men and boys. In addition to using local platforms to
galvanize the community, mayors are also in a position to elicit national attention to the issue of
black male achievement. Regrettably like many other cities, Lansing must increase efforts to
prevent violence and gun-related injury. We are a part of the national movement and will do

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41
everything within our power to bring the resources to our community that other cities across the
nation are able to tap into to improve outcomes for boys and men of color. Examples of what is
working in other cities confirm that we are indeed already on the path to transformation and
should inspire new ideas of what we can accomplish together:

Philadelphia,PA
Philadelphia Youth Commission is comprised of youth ages 12-23 and provides on the ground
voice on planning. Youth testify to city council on policy recommendations, serve on committees
and task forces. The youth are then activated to serve throughout city based on leadership
experience gained through service on Commission.

Milwaukee,WI
Priorities include a database that connects agencies across sector working on BMA. Have been
focused on BMA prior to My Brothers Keeper Initiative. Driven by quantitative and qualitative
data and making connections across sectors. The importance of champions and having a strong,
intergenerational, coalition of the willing to galvanize commitments. Using Collective Impact
framework. Connect with and highlight those already doing the work and fill any gaps. Cultivating
youth leaders, including partnerships with schools. Youth are setting agenda and taking the lead
on grant making. Activities include online surveys, focus groups, reports on findings of assets and
what is working, and determining levels youth participation in agencies. Culturally the city has
grown and recently included deejays and spoken word in a town hall meeting.

BrooklynPark,MN
Focus on entrepreneurship based on two years of focus groups with young men of color. Real
authentic economic opportunities that shift focus from violence to an opportunity mindset.
Weekly training to explore business startup and connect youth with local multicultural business
owners. Improved grades for students struggling to stay in school. Lecture and lab that
emphasizes real world experiences. Includes a track specifically for information technology that
focuses on mobile technology and social media. Partnering with public housing to bring resources
into the community to make initial connections to community partners who deliver ongoing
programming. Core values of diversity, trust, and a thriving community that supports all members.
Youth led education for homeless youth in shelters.

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Saving Our Sons Launch Event June 28

We invite you to join us for the
E=(MC)
2
& Saving Our Sons
Launch Event On Saturday, June
28, from 11:00 am 3:00 pm.
The City of Lansing and NEON
will be engaging partners and
the public through speakers,
resources, and inspirational
entertainment. Mike Muse, is
the keynote speaker. In addition
to running Muse Recordings,
Muse can be heard as a guest
commentator on the business of
music, pop culture, and politics
at the highest rated urban radio
stations in the country.
17

Whats Trending?

Stay tuned for more
opportunities to join E = (MC)
2

in improving outcomes for
children of color as we keep our
finger on the pulse of
transformative social
innovation:

Workforce Development
and Career pathways in
STEAAMM (Science,
Technology, Engineering, Arts/Agriculture, and Mathematics/Medicine)
Social Entrepreneurship and Business Development Incubators in Communities of Color
Improving Outcomes for Black Girls and Women

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LANSING ACTION PLAN FOR BLACK FEMALE ACHIEVEMENT

MY Lansing

44

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Introduction to 3G Network

In 1999, the American Psychology Association published findings that very little research and
knowledge existed on girls development. The APA drew the conclusion that interventions for
girls could hardly be expected to meet the unknown, marginalized and mostly overlooked, needs
of girls, in particular girls of color. Mothers, women teachers, and "othermothers" hold the
possibility of providing relational hardiness zones for adolescent girls. Listening and fostering
meaningful participation in school and community life, as well as providing the opportunity for
self-development through effective sociocultural critique, are means by which adults can support
the strengths of girls. Schools and communities that engage girls in social critique and in activist
experiences appear to be particularly effective, as do adults who demonstrate commitment,
respect for youth, and a willingness to involve them in making change within their communities.

In 2014, we redefine hardiness as grit, which is the ability of a girl to stand firm and resist threats
to a self-defined identify and her ability to rise above the trauma of negative developmental
experiences, including the long-term harm of institutionalized racism and sexism. Considering
relationships with significant adults in girls' lives as spaces of real engagement and opportunities
for girls to experience control, commitment, and challenge-one moves the focus from the
individual girl to the network of relationships that create girls' social worlds and environments,
allowing girls access to skills, relationships, and possibilities that enable them to experience
power and meaning. Through this perspective, the relational and educational contexts, in both
schools and other community organizations, in which girls find themselves can be assessed in
terms of their capacity to facilitate hardiness.

The critical questions we are challenged to answer together to achieve our fullest potential as a
city are:

What protective factors can stronger collaborative networks offer girls ages 0-25?
How can significant adults in girls' lives support them in ways that promote healthy
development from ages 0-25?
What developmental and relational experiences do girls need from birth to adulthood to
resist the long-term harm of institutionalized racism and sexism?
What roles do female role models such as aunts, grandmothers, adult friends, teachers,
or community members, play in establishing supportive networks?
What are the positive and protective aspects of mother-daughter relationships?
What benefits and possibilities for support exist within girls' relationships with their
fathers or other significant adult men in their lives?
18

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If you really want to fight poverty, fuel growth and combat extremism, try girl
power Nancy Gibbs, Time Magazine

When Girls Fail to Thrive, Everyone Suffers

In addition to the school to prison pipeline, young women of color also contend with a culture of
deficient expectations stemming from gender and racial stereotyping and systemic institutional
inequalities that lead to a school-to-low-wage-work-pipeline.

According to the National Womens Law Centers 2007 report, When Girls Dont Graduate, We
All Fail, 40 percent of Black female students and 37 percent of Hispanic female students do not
graduate high school, compared to just 22 percent of White female students. Too many girls of
color are either pushed into the criminal justice system or relegated to a life of low-wage jobs on
which they cannot sustain a family.
19

For Black girls, who must overcome gender bias as well as racial and class bias, the deck is stacked
against success. The good news is that the 3G Network is organizing for action to invest in girls!

3G Network Partners (as of June 18, 2014):

Sarah Anthony, Michigan College Access Network and Ingham Change Initiative
Angela Waters Austin, NEON and One Love Global
Stephanie Butler, Church of Greater Lansing
Aida Cuadrado, Action of Greater Lansing
DeLisa Fountain, NEON
Francine Francis, ROSE Lansing
Shanell Henry, NEON and Soundsgood Ministries
Cameo King, NEON and Good Girl Radio
Angie Mathews, The Connection TV Show
Peggy Vaughn Payne, Northwest Initiative
LaShawn Sithole, Next Young Phenom
Lori Adams Simon, National Pan-Hellenic Council of Lansing
Carmen Turner, Boys & Girls Club of Lansing

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School to Prison Pipeline: A National Phenomenon

The school-to-prison pipeline refers to the policies, practices, and conditions that facilitate both
the criminalization of educational environments and the processes by which this criminalization
results in the incarceration of youth and young adults. Black students face much harsher
discipline in public schools than other students, according to new data from the Department of
Education. For Black females, this creates an intersection of risk and vulnerability that continues
to remain in the margins with the recent much needed attention on the outcomes for Black
males.

Although Black students made up only 18 percent of those enrolled in the schools sampled, they
accounted for 35 percent of those suspended once, 46 percent of those suspended more than
once and 39 percent of all expulsions, according to the Civil Rights Data Collections 2009-10
statistics from 72,000 schools in 7,000 districts, serving about 85 percent of the nations students.
The data covered students from kindergarten age through high school.

An article by Tarin Lewis published in The New York Times, Black Students Face More Discipline,
Data Suggests reports that more than one in 10 Black girls in the nation received an out-of-
school suspension. Over all, Black students were three and a half times as likely to be suspended
or expelled than their white peers. And while Black and Hispanic students made up 44 percent of
the students in the survey, they were only 26 percent of the students in gifted and talented
programs. The data also showed that schools with a lot of Black and Hispanic students were likely
to have relatively inexperienced, and low-paid, teachers.
20

Intersectionality: Girls of Color in the Juvenile Justice System

The theory of intersectionality in Blind Discretion: Girls of Color and Delinquency in the Juvenile
Justice System argues that race, gender, and class converge to create a distorted image of girls
of color. More concretely, actors in the juvenile justice system are likely to view girls of color
and Black girls in particular as delinquentsas social problems themselves rather than as young
girls affected by social problems. To some extent, every actor in the juvenile justice system
exercises discretion consistent with that distortion, even while operating under nominally neutral
rules. The cumulative effect of this is that girls of color find themselves effectively locked into the
system and locked out of opportunities that would attend to the underlying causes of their social
vulnerability.

Jyoti Nandas studies in Blind Discretion provide that (1) the number of girls entering the
juvenile justice system is on the rise; (2) girls of color are disproportionately represented in this
group, reflecting the role of race; and (3) the cause of girls delinquency differs in important ways
from that of boys in that girls are more likely to receive harsher punishment than boys for similar
offenses and for status offenses (for example, running away or truancy), and they are more likely
to receive harsher punishment at younger ages. These studies further suggest that gendered

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difference is also racialized. That is, while girls generally are subject to harsher punishment for
status offenses, girls of color are particularly vulnerable to discriminatory treatment.
21

Research on the suspension disparity found that Black girls were disproportionately suspended
from middle school for behaviors that are subjectively determined worthy of reprimand. In 2007,
a study found that teachers perceived Black girls as being loud, defiant, and precocious and
that Black girls were more likely than their white or Latina peers to be reprimanded for being
unladylike. Additional research finds that the issuance of summons and/or arrests appear to
be justified by students display of irate, insubordinate, disrespectful, uncooperative, or
uncontrollable behavior.
22

Indeed, the dearth of adequate gender/race intersectional analysis in the research and the stark
absence of significant system tools directed at the specific characteristics of and circumstances
faced by girls of color have tracked alarming trends such as the rising number of girls in the
system and the relatively harsher punishment they receive compared to boys for similar offenses.

When a girl of color enters the juvenile justice system, a complex set of legal rules gives each
system actor the discretion either to treat her as a child with background social problems for
which she is not responsible or to commit her to the juvenile justice system as a delinquent who
should be held accountable for her conduct. This discretion is at the heart of the juvenile court,
and is central to its function. Moreover, the way juvenile justice decision-makers exercise this
discretion helps to explain the significant increase in the number of girls of color who are under
the supervision of the juvenile justice system.

There has been virtually no acknowledgment of this overrepresentation either in case law or as
a policy matter. This creates the impression that all girls in the system deserve to be there. What
is particularly troubling about this state of affairs is that, as a formal matter, the juvenile justice
system is explicitly structured to provide individualized, contextualized, case-by-case
assessments.
23

Given the nature of facially race-neutral laws that in effect, treat Black females as co-conspirators
in their partners criminal behavior, many young Black females who have not committed crimes
themselves, or done so only under duress, may also find themselves in custody or under the
supervision of the criminal and juvenile justice systems even if they have not, themselves,
committed any crime. For Black girls who are disconnected or alienated from school, there are
multiple conditions such as poor relationships with mothers, substance abuse, mental health
disorders and other conditions that converge to affect their increased vulnerability to become
commodities of, or participants in, the underground economy, or as intimate partners of males
and females who participate in the underground economywhich may eventually lead to their
incarceration.
24

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Guiding Framework

Because no comprehensive municipal framework exists specifically to improve outcomes for girls
of color, the National League of Cities (NLC) Municipal Action Guide for Black Male Achievement
was used as a starting point to construct a plan for Black Female Achievement. The 3G Network
adopts the six NLC strategies to mobilize resources and public will for Collective Impact
25
to
increase investment in girls of color in Lansing:



STRATEGY 3: Work With Partners to Tell the Story Behind the Data


STRATEGY 5: Establish a Shared Vision, Measurable Goals, and a Clear Plan for Making and
Tracking Progress



In 1999, the American Psychological Association published a book entitled, Beyond Appearance:
A New Look at Adolescent Girls which presented a research agenda that includes
recommendations to fill the void on studies of girls of color. According to the authors, During
the last few decades, the collective efforts of women psychologists and the feminist movement
have established and legitimized the psychological study of women and girls, and have created
an intellectual climate in which it is now commonplace to conceptualize gender as a social
construction of enormous influence in individual psychology and female self-definition. Within
these movements, however, there has been a marginalization of women of color.
26

Seemingly, since 1999, there has been an increase in data collected and disaggregated by race
and gender which has led to a national movement to improve outcomes for boys and young men
of color where for whom, arguably, the inequities are most severe. A review of literature to
produce the 3G Network Guide suggests that there are traces of findings that there is both need
and promise in better understanding how the lived experience of girls of color differs from that
of boys of color. The literature further suggests that there is still very little distinction made
between girls of color in comparison to white females and almost none in comparison to
outcomes for white males of color.

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According to the American Psychology Association (APA), an adolescent's ethnicity has intense
influence on her development, as it affects her sense of belonging in a world that often
determines inclusion and exclusion on the basis of skin color. To understand these experiences,
it is important to assess the interplay of what occurs within families and what occurs in the
political, economic, social, and racial climates in which young girls are challenged.

At the heart of the 3G Network is embracing the APAs assertion that perhaps the most resilient
factor common to all ethnic minority groups is identification with family and community. The
bonding and sharing of values for families of people of color can provide strength and resources
for adolescent girls of color. Strong, persistent families "inoculate" adolescent girls against the
ravages of ethnic and gender discrimination. The degree to which families have incorporated the
positive messages of their culture and heritage despite a history of poor treatment is a predictor
in the healthy development of an adolescent girl of color. Research must continue to focus on
diversity and especially the intersection of gender and ethnicity.

The 3G Network seeks answers to many of the questions posed fifteen years ago to the field of
psychology. In 2014, we view these questions through the lens of racial equity which considers
how policy, practice and perception have limited the focus and investment in research on girls of
color:

AmericanPsychologyAssociationResearchAgenda:AdolescentGirlsofColor

1. What components of racial-ethnic culture are critical for the development of positive
identities in girls of color? Do the components vary across racial-ethnic groups?
2. What is the impact of economic status on the development of adolescent girls of color
in terms of education, motivation, and behavior? Is the impact the same or different
across racial-ethnic groups?
3. Do race/ethnicity and social class have the same impact for adolescent girls and
adolescent boys of color? Do the differences, if any, suggest different intervention
strategies?
4. What are the direct and indirect effects of the oppressive and exploitative historical
legacies on the identities, attitudes, and aspirations of adolescent girls of color?
5. What is working for these immigrant girls of color? What factors foster their ability to
adapt to the particular changes brought about by immigration and their development as
adolescent girls?
27

According to Monique Morris, whose research on Black girls in the juvenile justice systems
confirms the need for 3G Network and an intentional focus on the outcomes of girls of color, the
absence of a lens that explores genderfemale and malefacilitates the absence of a structural
analysis of the education-systems factors and experiences associated with the discipline of Black
youth in many schools. Without this analysis, the conditions of Black girls are often compared
with those of Black boys, rather than compared with other girls, which would be more

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appropriate. Morris acknowledges, While some jurisdictions may be beginning to include girls
in the conversations about the disproportionate rates at which youth of color are in contact with
the justice system, many state and county agencies are still not structured to respond to females
of color with appropriate, culturally-competent and gender responsive interventions.

Practitioners are challenged to frame interventions in the language and methodology of risk
reduction while increasing resilience and protective factors. This approach to youth development
promotes connections to parents, significant adults, school, community, etc. without taking into
consideration how Black and Latina girls are situated within these structures. The American
Psychology Association confirms the 3G assumption that as with young men of color, girls'
struggles are rooted in systemic problems such as poverty, racism, and sexism - that require a
collective, rather than an individual, response. This suggests a need for a new concept of health
and stress resistance that locates the struggle between the girl and her world, not within the
individual girl, and that holds the adults in girls' environments accountable for providing girls with
experiences and opportunities for them to understand, engage with, and potentially transform
what limits and harms them.
28

BlackGirlPower

The following excerpt from Ruth Browns Remembering Maleesa: Theorizing Black Girl Politics
and the Politicizing of Socialization is one that challenges the typical framework of programs
and poses questions that inspire new approaches to engaging girls in developing and
implementing solutions to meet their needs.

Rarely, even in spaces of girl empowerment, are girls, especially if they are Black, listened to.
Rarely are they thought to be smart. Rarely is their home culture affirmed If we acknowledge
that power is ever-present, and that power does not have to be about punishing girls, these
assumptions should accompany another: Everyone in the program is capable of transforming the
program into something more meaningful. As many programs hope to incite youth to collective
action and/or voice, sometimes the context of the program offers itself as a foundational step to
grasp how power is different than control is different from authority, providing a space where
we can work with Black girls and also can together transform the rules we play by, thus changing
the game.

Brown challenges many of the assumptions that limit the success of programs with a universal
design and evaluation methodology in improving outcomes for girls. What if we abandon the
notion that we Black girls are not good enough? What if we got rid of the thinking that says
programming makes young people better? What if we did not define "adolescence" as inherently
problematic? What if we valued who Black girls are, including what they say and how they speak?
What if we understood Black girls as producers of knowledge rather than consumers? Power, not
programming, would become a point of emphasis that grounds the logistical work of when,
where, and how to create a space for Black girls. I believe when grounded in concerns of power,

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working with Black girls is understood in a historical, sociopolitical, cultural, and educational
context that allows for the possibilities of transformative processes and critical collective
projects.
29


There is ample evidence from our literature review that Black and Brown girls are one of our most
over-looked target populations for comprehensive intervention and breaking cycles of poverty
and trauma. The 3G Network will build a comprehensive and coordinated systemic response to
national, state and local data that incorporates evidence-based practices as well as promising
innovations from local partners.

RacingforResultsforGirlsofColor

The KIDS COUNT policy report, Race for Results: Building a Path to Opportunity for All Children,
unveils the new Race for Results index, which compares how children are progressing on key
milestones across racial and ethnic groups at the national and state level. The data can assist
leaders who create policies and programs that benefit all children, and identify areas where
targeted strategies and investments are needed.

By 2018, children of color will represent the majority of children in the United States. The report
highlights serious concerns that African-American, Latino, Native American and some subgroups
of Asian-American children face and calls for an urgent, multi-sector approach to develop
solutions. For African-American children, the situation is dire. In general, states in the Rust Belt
and the Mississippi Delta are places where opportunity for black children is poorest. African-
American kids face the greatest barriers to success in Michigan, Mississippi and Wisconsin.
30

GirlScoutsReleasesDataonBlack/AfricanAmericanGirls

The State of Girls: Unfinished Business report published in December 2013 demonstrates that
while there is a lot of positive news, many girls are being left behind. In particular, Black/African
American girls face significant challenges in making successful transitions to adulthood.
Black/African American girls have a greater likelihood of growing up in a poor family and living in
a single-parent household. Their physical health is at risk, with higher obesity rates than their
peers. In addition, they are more likely to report being bullied and physically abused by a
significant other and also report higher incidence of sexual activity than other girls their age.
Finally, Black/African American girls spend more time at home, unsupervised, and have lower
levels of participation in out-of-school time (OST) activities than their peers.
31

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EconomicWell-Being

Black/African American girls have a greater likelihood of growing up in a poor family.
In 2010, poverty rates ranged from 12 percent among white girls to 37 percent among
Black/African American girls.

PhysicalandEmotionalHealth

Black/African American girls have higher obesity rates than their peers.
In 2010, 32 percent of girls ages 6 to 19 were overweight or obese. Black/African
American girls were the most likely to be overweight or obese (44 percent) compared
with 41 percent of Hispanic/Latina girls and 26 percent of white girls
Black/African American girls are less likely to exercise daily or be involved in school
sports compared to other girls
Among tenth graders, 38 percent of Black/African American girls exercised daily,
compared to 44 percent overall in 2009; and 52 percent of Black/African American girls
participated in a school sport, compared to 56 percent overall
Black/African American girls are more likely to report being bullied and physically
abused by a significant other
About 9 percent of black/African American girls reported that they have been
threatened with harm, compared with 6 percent of white girls and 6 percent of
Hispanic/Latina girls

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Black/African American girls are the most likely to report being hit by a boyfriend: 15
percent, vs. 7 percent of white girls and 11 percent of Hispanic/Latina girls

FamilyComposition

Black/African American girls are more likely to live in single-parent families compared with girls
in other racial/ ethnic groups. The changing family structure has implications for many girls
economic and educational experiences. Girls growing up with single parents do not have access
to the same social and economic resources as girls in married-couple families, and they are more
likely to be poor.
In 2010, 27 percent of girls nationwide lived in single-parent families, but the share was
much higher among Black/African American girls (57 percent).

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Education

Black/African American girls have lower proficiency rating scores in math and reading compared
to their female peers, but higher scores than Black/African American boys.
In 2011, 20 percent of Black/African American girls were proficient in fourth-grade
reading (compared to 37 percent overall), and 14 percent were proficient in eighth-grade
math (compared to 34 percent overall).

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Out-of-SchoolTime

Black/African American girls spend more hours at home, unsupervised, compared to their peers.
They also have lower levels of participation in out-of-school time (OST) activities but report high
levels of religious service attendance.
In 2009, 16 percent of tenth-grade girls were home alone for at least four hours, and
Black/African American girls overall were most likely to be home alone for four or more
hours (25 percent).
Black/African American girls also spend longer periods of time watching television. While
one-third of all high school girls in 2009 reported watching three or more hours of
television on the average school day, this was true for 57 percent of Black/African
American girls.

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Sports are the most common OST activity for Black/African American girls, followed by
performing arts, academic clubs, and student government.
With the exception of student government, Black/African American girls spend less time
in OST activities than white girls but are most likely to regularly attend religious services
compared to any of their peers.
In 2009, 41 percent of tenth-grade Black/African American girls attended religious
services once a week, compared to 36 percent overall.

AccesstoTechnology

Fewer Black/African American girls have access to electronic technology than other girls in this
country.
As of 2011, more than three-fourths of girls ages 12 to 17 had a computer at home, had a
cell phone, and played video games. However, only two-thirds of Black/African American
girls had cell phones.
Among those with cell phones, only about one-fourth of all girls (27 percent) have a
smartphone, and this share is slightly higher among white girls than among girls in other
racial/ethnic groups.

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RiskBehavior

Smoking and drinking are lower among Black/African American girls compared to their peers, but
sexual activity is higher.
Black/African American girls report lower levels of smoking and drinking alcohol compared
to their peers. In 2009, 12 percent of Black/African American girls in high school had been
recently binge drinking, compared with 23 percent overall.
Black/African American girls are more likely to have had at least one sexual partner (58
percent) compared with white and Hispanic/Latina girls (45 percent each). Black/African
American girls were also more likely to report multiple sexual partners compared with girls
in other racial/ethnic groups.
A larger share of Black/African American girls become teen mothers compared to all girls
ages 15 to 17. Nationwide, there were 20 births per 1,000 girls ages 15 to 17 in 2009.
There were about 32 births per 1,000 black/African American girls ages 15 to 17.

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Leadership

Black/African American girls are more likely than average to consider themselves leaders.
While 39 percent of girls say they want to be leaders, more than half of Black/African
American girls (53 percent) express a desire to be a leader.
Black/African American girls are also more likely to think of themselves as leaders.
About three-quarters of Black/African American girls (75 percent) consider themselves
leaders, compared to 61 percent of all girls.
Black/African American girls (78 percent) are more likely to have leadership experience
compared with all girls (67 percent). They are also more likely to have enjoyed their
leadership experience.
Black/African American girls rate themselves more highly on leadership skills and
dimensions such as extraversion, organizational skills, creativity, caring, dominance, and
positive problem-solving.

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STRATEGY 3: Work With Local Partners to Tell the Story behind the Numbers


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Peace & Prosperity Youth Action Movement is a coalition of Lansing and Lansing area students
who are making a difference in the community. PPYAM promotes positive outcomes and
advocates for policies to improve outcomes such as peace, diversity, inclusion, healthy lifestyles,
dropout prevention, preparation for higher education, and entrepreneurship.

Interns complete 40 plus hours of training with core lessons of social justice and equity in
hundreds of hours of community projects. Some of the projects include the Got Health? Expo,
Sparrow Mural Project, Healthy Corner Store Project, and the HIV/AIDS Awareness NO ID Fashion
Show, where approximately 200 people attended and students produced and organized both
educational and artistic components of the show. PPM students have planned and implemented
these projects in the surrounding community and across the state, exemplifying youth leadership
which was recognized by Mayor Virg Berneros Hometown Hero Award. PPYAM youth leaders
are extremely excited to be moving ahead with chapters at our local middle and high schools and
faith-based congregations.

NEON(NurturingEarlyOnisNecessary)

NEON is another E=(MC)
2
partner that is raising the bar in authentic community voice and
leadership. NEON has been trained by David Hunt, internationally renowned community
organizer and storytelling facilitator. The training has equipped NEON with tools to leverage one
their greatest strengths, the power of their stories. NEON has utilized storytelling to learn about
the experiences of families and to create a safe space to honor the truths of historically silenced
populations.

Dr. Manuel Pastor is Professor of American Studies & Ethnicity at the University of Southern
California, founding director of the Center for Justice, Tolerance, and Community at the
University of California, Santa Cruz, and director of the Program for Environmental and Regional
Equity at USC. According to Dr. Pastor, by 2042, the county will be majority-minority, by 2023
the majority of those under the age of 18 will be youth of color, and this year (2010) or next will
the first (but not the last) in which the majority of births in the U.S. will be to black, Latino and
Asian parents.
32

Dr. Pastor challenges us all to think differently about race and ethnicity and to aspire to a new
level of bravery that faces changing demographics. After all, the demographic change the nation
will soon experience has already washed over many of our larger metros. And building bridges to
create a shared regional identity between diverse communities white and non-whites, cities
and suburbs, business and labor is just part of the job description for those forging new
metropolitan coalitions.

With this preface, we invite you to view local Census data through a racial equity lens. For
example, if Blacks or African Americans comprise 23.7% of the entire Lansing population, in what
systems are Black or African Americans disproportionately represented?

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EarlyChildhoodData

N.E.O.N. (Nurturing Early On is Necessary) is a new primary source of data on families of color
in Lansing with parents taking the lead in data collection. With the investment of almost $1
million dollars, Ingham Great Start Collaborative and partners including One Love Global,
Michigan State University, Power of We Consortium, Ingham County Health Department, and
Capital Area United Way have formed the Lansing Early Childhood Equity Partnership (LECEP) to
explore approaches to co-creating solutions for systems transformation with families.

It took the better part of a year for the initial team to determine that traditional approaches to
strategic planning, consensus-building and community engagement would yield the traditional
results. One Love Global was contracted to coordinate LECEP and charted a course to build the
power of families to tell their own stories and work alongside influential leaders across sectors
to establish a common goal and a shared agenda.

NEONs mission is to build the capacity of parents to partner with others to take greater control
over conditions and break down barriers to improve outcomes for children of color ages 0-8.
Armed with disaggregated data and the stories of Lansing families, NEON has partnered with

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policy and advocacy organizations such as Ingham Change Initiative, ACLU, NAACP, Action of
Greater Lansing, and Michigans Children to educate and organize our community to develop
solutions that will produce measurable improvements in baseline data collected over the past
three years of the Lansing Early Childhood Equity Partnership:

21.3% gap in Lansing schools reading scores between black and white 3rd graders
279 Lansing parents with children of color ages 0-8 identified lack of jobs/income as the
#1 barrier to raising children; transportation ranked 2
nd
followed by violence and crime
There is a void in Black leadership dedicated to early childhood outcomes in Lansing; most
organizations are focused on children in grades K-12, with the vast majority concentrating
on ages 10-17
In 2009, black infants died at a rate of 15 deaths per 1000 compared to white infants died
at a rate of 5 deaths per 1000
37% of total deaths in Michigan were of black infants
According to Michigan League for Public Policy, Ingham County ranked No. 58 of 83
counties (No. 1 has the best, or lowest, rate) with 40.3 percent of young children (ages
0-5) eligible for food assistance, compared with 37 percent statewide
According to national study by Harvard University that included Great Start Readiness,
Head Start, faith and community based childcare classrooms, expulsion rates are 3 times
higher in pre- school than for K-12

LansingPopulationbyRace/Ethnicity

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Suspension&ExpulsionRates

Source: ACLU School to Prison Pipeline Committee

The above table illustrates disproportionate and inequitable disciplinary action for Black students
across districts. With the largest percentage of Black student enrollment and the lowest rates of
Black students graduating in the region, Lansing schools have the opportunity to lead the region
in reducing inequities and thus promote factors that improve outcomes for Black females.

[O]bserved patters of racial disproportion do not correlate with higher incidence of disruptive
behavior by Black students and, therefore, conclude that [Disproportionate Minority Contact] in
school discipline is due in part to differential treatment of [students of color] by teachers and
administrators (p. 1006). From this finding, it follows that the unequal application of exclusionary
discipline may not be in response to differential classroom disruption patterns, but instead may
be a function of differential treatment.

BlackGirlsandSchoolsofChoice

A study conducted by Simone Ispa-Landa at Northwestern University showed how gender politics
and gender performance impacted the way the minority students were seen at the school. The
study shows that as a group, the Diversify (the name of the program) boys were welcomed in
suburban social cliques, even as they were constrained to enacting race and gender in narrow
ways. Diversify girls, on the other hand, were stereotyped as ghetto and loudbehavior
that, when exhibited by the boys in the program, was socially rewarded.

While the boys could display a certain amount of aggression, the girls felt they were penalized
for doing so. Ispa-Landa, in an interview, expressed surprise at how much of a consensus there
was among the girls about their place in the school. She also found that overall, the girls who
participated in diversity programs paid a social cost because they failed to embody
characteristics of femininity that would have valorized them in the school hierarchy. They also
felt excluded from the sports and activities that gave girls in those high schools a higher social
status.
33

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GraduationRates2013Cohort

GenerationalCycleofPoverty

Disaggregated educational performance data provides the most critical indicators for 3G
Network and Lansing. Parent educational attainment is strongly correlated with child poverty
and the likelihood of future poverty as the child is unable to overcome barriers to success.

National Center for Children in Poverty, Michigan Demographic Profiles

Lansings share of individuals with less than a high school education is 13% of our citys
population. What we cannot derive from Census data is what share belongs to children of color
living in low-income families. Understanding the data is essential to targeted and effective
problem solving. Interventions that utilize aggregated data rarely consider barriers caused by
implicit or explicit bias.

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Total number of city births: 1,918
Births to low-income mothers paid by Medicaid:* 1,152
Percent of city total: 60%
*Pregnant women are eligible for Medicaid coverage with income up to 185% poverty level.

Births to Mothers
- no high school diploma/GED* 300 16
Rest of county 58 4

Source: Michigan League for Public Policy (Michigan Department of Community Health, Vital Records and Health Data
Development Section)
Hispanic is not included in the racial categories.

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MediaData

3G Network is informed by media research that suggests a negative impact of television on Black
girls in relationship to self-esteem. Many legal battles have been waged to fight the often
misogynistic and profane references to and depictions of Black women. The academic
journal Communication Research published a study by two Indiana University professors called
Racial and Gender Differences in the Relationship Between Childrens Television Use and Self
Esteem: A Longitudinal Panel Study. Researchers studied 396 black and white preteens in
communities in the Midwest United States over a year. Researchers focused on how much
children watched TV, and how that impacted their self-esteem. The study reported that an
exposure predicted a decrease in self-esteem for white and black girls and black boys, and an
increase in self-esteem among white boys.

1. Male characters are portrayed as powerful, strong, rational, and the main character,
while in contrast, female characters are portrayed as emotional, sensitive, and more likely
to be a sidekick or love interest. In contrast to white characters, black male characters are
more likely to be depicted as menacing or unruly, and black female characters are more
likely to be shown as exotic and sexually available. As a result, young white boys have
greater access to positive media representation. Social identity theory would argue that
exposure to this coded messaging helps young white boys believe that anything is
possible, and that they can attain, achieve, and be heroes.

2. If television serves to reinforce gender and racial stereotypes, then social identity theory
also predicts that the white girls, black girls, and black boys in the study used messages
from the media to evaluate themselves, and that these comparisons can impact self-
esteem. In addition to messages kids get from family members, peers, community
members, and other areas in their lives, if white and black girls and black boys also absorb
messages from the media, it could impact their self-esteem if they do not see themselves
as successful, as main characters, or as heroes.
34

Girls,HipHopandPower

3G Network provides the space and opportunity in community to explore different contexts for
girls to define their own identities and sense of power. In "Remembering Maleesa: Theorizing
Black girl politics and the politicizing of socialization, Ruth Brown published in the National
Political Science Review in 2007, offers a theoretical explanation of how spaces dedicated to
girls and discourses of girlhood do not automatically or substantially address issues relevant to
young Black girls. I make the point that "narrative discrepancies" exist when there is a
theory/practice mismatch. Saving Our Lives Hear Our Truths (SOLHOT) is my practice of hip-hop
feminist pedagogy that champions a kind of Black girlhood celebration that works against
programming. In SOLHOT it is our stories as Black women and girls that are privileged.

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Brown quotes organizational theorist Barbara Czarniawska "Other people or institutions
sometimes concoct narratives for us, without including us in any conversation; this is what power
is about." Czarniawska argued that it is useful to treat identity as a continuous process of
narrative where both the narrator and the audience are involved in formulating, editing,
applauding, and refusing various elements of the ever-producing narrative. As Black girls and
women in SOLHOT, we think of ourselves as both the narrator and the audience, actively resisting
totalizing narratives of Black girlhood that do not include us.

It is significant that hip-hop feminist pedagogy can happen in a school setting, and I believe we
need to hear more about those engaging the school system not just in terms of using "hip-hop"
as a "tool" to educate but using hip-hop feminist pedagogy that requires a brave commitment
and dedication to an entirely "different" approach to school norms in general, "behavior
management" in particular.

Brown proposes that Hip-hop feminist pedagogy can mean working with Black girls to value who
we are and what we can be, based on our own terms, negotiating our language, attitudes, and
experiences. Explicitly cultural, political, and educational, the work we are doing borrows from a
variety of sources to continually go beyond what is expected

The significance of Hip Hop in youth engagement is a matter of relevance. The ability to meet
girls of color where they are is also the opportunity challenge misogynistic messages and
perceptions of Black girls in popular culture.


Key stakeholders in improving outcomes for Black girls are those that can most effectively engage
them in opportunities for learning and leadership. 3G Network partners include a diverse range
of experiences and areas of expertise, including parenting, early childhood, racial equity,
education, ministry, policy, social work, media, and of course, Hip Hop. The Network will continue
to expand to include new partners based on the needs and priorities expressed by girls, with an
emphasis on seeking the input of girls with multiple risk factors whose needs may not be met by
existing programs. A few of the stakeholders involved in MY Lansing that are part of the 3G
Network include:

m.a.d.e.ALLIANCE

By investing in the development of creative entrepreneurs and exposing individuals to career
pathways in media, arts, design and entertainment, m.a.d.e. is leveraging opportunity for all
young people to succeed in the global knowledge economy. One Love Global, Inc. and partners
created the m.a.d.e. framework in 2009 to tap into the hidden potential of Michigan's urban
creative entrepreneurs.

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The m.a.d.e. ALLIANCE has collaborated on the creation and presentation of Lansing Hip Hop
Festival, the first of its kind in the region. Lansing Hip Hop Festival has provided a family-friendly
platform for local artists and entrepreneurs to showcase their talents for new audiences. The
festival promotes Hip Hop as a community-building genre through messaging around peace,
justice and unity. The festival provides a bridge between faith and secular, attracts a diverse
cross-section of races and ethnicities, and creates a space for intergenerational and cross-
generational celebration of culture.

In January 2014, One Love Global's launched Style Michigan as part of the m.a.d.e. Center for
Youth Entrpreneurship at Fahrenheit Ultralounge, the region's first community-based youth
business incubator. In addition, Style Michigan offers interns between the ages of 12-25 an 18-
week program designed to bolster skills and networks in the garment industry while building a
plan for college and career.

GoodGirlRadio

The Grit, Glam, Guts Girls Conference has provided an opportunity for girls ages 12-18 to learn
more about organizations and individuals that have a passion for empowering young women to
learn more about other programs and services for girls to increase collaboration and cooperation
between mentoring and youth development organizations. For the 2
nd
year, Good Girl Radio
partnered with One Love Global to provide a full-day experience for girls to interact with some
of Lansings most dynamic and talented professionals. Organizations are invited to host resource
tables to help connect girls with programs and services that will continue to sow into their
development beyond the event. MY Lansing identified key stakeholders from the network of
sponsors, presenters and providers that have helped produce two successful and rewarding
conferences for girls.

NEON

As the fathers and male community organizers of NEON (Nurturing Early On is Necessary) take
the lead on building MY Lansings coalition for males of color (E=MC
2
), the mothers and female
community organizers of NEON take the lead on organizing the 3G Network on behalf of girls of
color ages 0-25.


The Grit, Glam, and Guts Conference is staffed by the youth Ambassadors of the Peace &
Prosperity Youth Action Movement, a youth leadership development coalition sponsored by One
Love Global. The 3G Network will ensure that girls are recruited and supported as leaders in

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Lansing schools, community organizations and congregations as key partners in improving
outcomes for themselves and their peers.

OneLoveGlobal

The next section provides a framework for how the 3G Network will operate and align activities
to improve outcomes for girls of color. One Love Global is a key stakeholder in the 3G Network
to provide a focus on policies and systems transformations that are critical to reducing inequities
in education, health, employment, and other domains of well-being for girls and young women
of color.

STRATEGY 5: Establish a Shared Vision, Measurable Goals, and a Clear Plan for
Making and Tracking Progress

CollectiveImpactforGirls

NEON Community Organizer Shanell Henry quotes a very important scripture at community
engagement events: Without a vision, the people will perish. Thanks to our partners at One Love
Global and Power of We Consortium, our entire region is beginning to have a vision for the success
of children of color through the promotion of a framework entitled Collective Impact for Racial
Equity.

Collective Impact initiatives are long-term commitments by a group of important actors from
different sectors to a common agenda for solving a specific social problem.
35
Successful collective
impact initiatives typically have five conditions that together produce true alignment and lead to
powerful results. The framework is beautiful, yet seemingly simplicity:

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However, unlike most Collective Impact initiatives, building community power from the grassroots
is the 1
st
phase of MY Lansing. When a racial equity lens is applied to Kania and Kramers Collective
Impact model, it is apparent that the definition of powerful champions typically excludes those
outside of institutional and philanthropic leadership networks. When combined with community
organizing principles that build the power of marginalized populations, Collective Impact comes into
the fullness of its name with grassroots leadership setting the agenda, driving systems
transformation, and making decisions about service delivery working in partnership with
institutional leaders and elected officials.

ACommonAgendaforGirlsofColor

The 3G Network will develop a campaign to increase graduation rates and post-secondary
success for Black females through dismantling systemic and policy barriers, better alignment of
community resources, and increasing the efficacy of supports from birth through age 25.

Vision: Girls of color will attain post-secondary success in careers, civic engagement and family
life.

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Goals

Prioritize the dismantling of policies that criminalize Black girls for non-criminal
behavior, such as violating dress codes, refusing to produce identification in school, or
using profanity with a teacher
Educate ourselves and key stakeholders on the ways race, ethnicity, culture, class, and
sexual orientation affect the experiences of adolescent girls
Support adolescent girls of different ethnicities, races, cultures, classes, and sexual
orientations to build strengths during different developmental stages of adolescence
Develop relational and community networks for girls (i.e., places within kinship
networks and families and in schools, churches, and neighborhoods where there are
opportunities for control, commitment, and challenge)
Engage adolescent girls of different ethnicities, races, cultures, classes, and sexual
orientations to define the strengths they would like to possess

3GNetworksMutuallyReinforcingActivities

We are appreciative of the Race for Results recommendations released by Annie E. Casey
Foundation in April 2014 which help to ensure that all children and their families achieve their
full potential:
Gather and analyze racial and ethnic data to inform polices and decision making
Utilize data and impact assessment tools to target investments to yield the greatest
impact for children of color
Develop and implement promising and proven programs and practices focused on
improving outcomes for children and youth of color
Integrate strategies that explicitly connect vulnerable groups to new jobs and
opportunities in economic and workforce development
36

The 3G Network

collective impact strategy involves 4 Primary Pathways for Action:

5) Policy Identifying the rules and regulations, legislation, and systemic factors that can be
transformed to improve outcomes for Black males. Advocating for policy and systemic
changes where there is evidence of disproportionate and inequitable impact.

6) Program and Service Delivery Giving careful consideration to funding coordinated and
collaborative services that can be brought to scale, as well as where and how they are
delivered.

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7) Practice Monitoring and tracking how policies and programs are carried out and
whether or not they produce measurable improvement in outcomes for Black males.
Developing protocols that promote fairness and equitable outcomes.

8) Perception Identifying and treating implicit bias; understanding how privilege and
internalized racism exacerbate systemic inequities; Understanding and transforming the
messages, images and traditions that promote stereotypes and reinforce racial equities
as being acceptable or tolerable.

ContinuousCommunication

Kania and Kramer share insights from Collective Impact initiatives: Developing trust among
nonprofits, corporations, and government agencies is a monumental challenge. Participants need
several years of regular meetings to build up enough experience with each other to recognize
and appreciate the common motivation behind their different efforts. They need time to see that
their own interests will be treated fairly, and that decisions will be made on the basis of objective
evidence and the best possible solution to the problem, not to favor the priorities of one
organization over another.
37

3G Network

is built upon a core of relationships that have been cultivated over time with
organizations that have developed trust and the ability to honor one anothers self-interests that
contribute to the common agenda.

External communications is an equally important factor in building public will and increasing the
assets available to improve outcomes for girls of color. Careful messaging that focuses on
systemic barriers is essential to promoting positive perceptions and opening doors of
opportunity.

SharedMeasurementSystem

3G Network will collaborate to develop shared outcome indicators to parallel the E=(MC)
2
coalition for
males of color:

Family
Create Opportunities for Positive Involvement of Fathers in their Daughters Lives
Enhance Young Mothers Capacity to Financially Support their Children
Connect Families with Effective Parent Education and Support Programs
Boost Family Incomes and Assets

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Education
Promote Reading Proficiency by the End of Third Grade
Recruit Mentors to Help Black Girls Stay on Track in School
Push for In-School Alternatives to Suspension and Expulsion
Work to Reduce Chronic Absence and Truancy
Develop Alternative Pathways to High School Completion

Workforce
Expand Opportunities for Early Work Experience and Career Exploration
Invest in YouthBuild Programs and Local Youth Corps
Explore Ways to Create Transitional Jobs for Young Black Women
Ensure Equal Access and Effective Targeting in Workforce Development Programs
Promote Linkages to Foster Care and Juvenile Justice Systems
Reduce Employment Barriers for those with a Criminal Record

BackboneSupportOrganization(s):

Effective backbone support is a critical condition for collective impact. Essentially, it is the
number one reason that collective impact initiatives fail. FSG, the founders of Collective Impact
shared lessons learned in an article published in July 2012. We learned that backbone
organizations essentially pursue six common activities to support and facilitate collective impact
which distinguish this work from other types of collaborative efforts. Over the lifecycle of an
initiative, they (backbone organizations):

1. Guide vision and strategy
2. Support aligned activities
3. Establish shared measurement practices
4. Build public will
5. Advance policy
6. Mobilize funding

The City of Lansing has explored the various roles and structures of backbone organizations
through research published by FSG and others. According to Turner et al in Understanding the
Value of Backbone Organizations, As a collective impact initiative initially launches and gets
organized, a backbone organization is likely to prioritize guiding vision and strategy and
supporting aligned activities as two key activities. For example, in 2006, the Strive Partnership
established the first ever Cradle to Career vision for the regions urban core, including a
roadmap for student success with shared goals and measures of student achievement. For the
past six years, the Strive Partnership has maintained an active and engaged executive committee
comprised of cross-sector leadership from Cincinnati (OH), Covington, and Newport (KY).

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As backbone organizations mature, they often shift focus to establish shared measurement
practices on behalf of their collective impact partners. For example, Partners for a Competitive
Workforce (PCW), with its partners, has created a common, region-wide workforce data
collection and reporting system to track results and improve performance for multiple agencies.
To date, approximately 50 public and nonprofit agencies are utilizing the system, and a regional
workforce dashboard is being built to aggregate key measures.

OneLoveGlobal

One Love Global came to the attention of the City of Lansing through its track record as a
backbone support organization for Ingham Change Initiative, Peace & Prosperity Youth Action
Movement, and the Lansing Early Childhood Equity Partnership (LECEP). The City of Lansing is
committed to investing the capacity of One Love Global to serve as backbone support
organization for E=(MC)
2
, bringing together multiple strategies already in action. Our
commitment to One Love Global was solidified upon learning about the LECEP Racial Equity
Community of Practice planned by a 30-member, inclusive multi-sector ad hoc committee in
partnership with NEON, Ingham Great Start Collaborative, Ingham Intermediate School District,
Michigan State University, Ingham Change Initiative, and Michigans Children.

Through the planning, coordination and facilitation of One Love Global, the Community of
Practice is exploring methods of engaging leaders to promote racial equity and identify tool to
support institutions in identifying barriers for families with children of color ages 0-8 that may be
a result of structural racism. Community of Practice members include: Power of We Consortium,

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76
Capital Area Community Services Head Start, Community Mental Health for Clinton, Eaton and
Ingham Counties, Americorps, and Michigan State University Outreach & Engagement as well as
faith and community based organizations.

One Love Global is the founder of the m.a.d.e. Alliance which engages young people through
media, arts, design and entertainment opportunities such as Lansing Hip Hop Festival, Style
Michigan and the Power of 9 Teen Edutainment Series. One Love Global and partners are in the
process of launching FamBiz Inc., Michigans first nonprofit incubator to promote economic
success families through multi-sector partnerships for social innovation and job creation. One
Love Global is the founder of Equity Equals, a radio program on Michigan Business Network.com
promoting nonprofit businesses and social entrepreneurs that impact Michigans double bottom
line.


CradletoCareertoCradle

According to the United Nations Foundation, when You Invest in a Girl, She Will Contribute to
Economic Growth When She Becomes a Woman. The report finds clear and convincing
evidence, amassed over the past two decades, that investing in girl-specific resources in the areas
of education, health services, reproductive health, and financial literacy leads to better educated,
safer, healthier, and economically powerful adolescent girls. This can contribute to a substantially
better future not just for the individual girls, but for their families, communities, and our world.

Every year of schooling increases a girls individual earning power by 10 to 20 percent,
while the return on secondary education is even higher, in the 15 to 25 percent range.
Girls education is proven to increase not only wage earners but also productivity for
employers, yielding benefits for the community and society.
Women who have control of their own income tend to have fewer children, and fertility
rates have shown to be inversely related to national income growth. Girls and young
women delaying marriage and having fewer children means a bigger change of
increasing per capita income, higher savings, and more rapid growth.
When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of it into their families.
The impact of investing in girls is intergenerational. A mother with a few years of formal
education is considerably more likely to send her children to school, breaking the
intergenerational chain of poverty. In many countries each additional year of formal
education completed by a mother translates into her children remaining in school for up
to an additional one-half year.

In December 2013, Girl Scout Research Institute published the following data-driven
recommendations for Black/African American Girls in The State of Girls: Unfinished Business:

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1) Education is important for putting girls on a path toward reaching their full potential.
From the need for high-quality early-childhood education to the benefits
associated with completing high school and going to college, education is key
to girls financial success and economic security in adulthood.

2) Physical health and wellness is critical to girls development, academic achievement,
psychosocial adjustment, happiness, and overall well-being.
All girls need access to health care, better access to healthy food, and
opportunities for exercise and physical activity.
Relational issues such as bullying should be made a top priority to ensure the
safety of all girls.
Girls who experience physical violence are at a higher risk of serious mental
and physical health problems, including depression and suicide.

3) Participation in extracurricular activities such as sports, clubs, and other structured
activities has a positive influence on girls development and leadership skills.
These activities should be readily available in all communities to lessen the
burden of child care after school.

4) Despite the prevalence of social media and technology, use and access among girls
varies significantly.
These differences should be taken into account when working with and
reaching out to girls, since it cannot be assumed that technology is
universally available.

5) Despite the challenges faced by black/African American girls, there are opportunities for
growth, development, and leadership.
Black/African American girls appear to connect better with leadership roles
and have more apparent leadership aspirations than their peers.
Youth developmental organizations need to work with girls, who are passion-
ate about making a difference, to help them foster their interests and
continue to build skills around effecting change in themselves, the
community, and the world at large.
Girls need mentors and role models to help them optimize their interests and
skills so they will be ready to take on the leadership challenges of the next
generation.

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EducationEquityforGirls

As Kimberl Crenshaw, Executive Director of the African American Policy Forum (AAPF), writes in
the foreword to a new AAPF report, We can no longer afford to focus exclusively on the plight
of Black boys and men and hope that in the end our work will translate entirely into intervention
efforts intended to bring our girls and women out of crisis. Instead we must develop gender and
race conscious lenses and interventions. The most critical challenge facing young women of
color today is a lack of meaningful research detailing the barriers to their educational success.

Data moves actionwithout hard data, we cannot hope to dene a problem or develop systemic
policy solutions. Producing this type of research is the rst and most important goal of the Schott
Foundations Girls Equity Grant Program. The program is also focused on creating an actionable
blueprint for advocate and policymakers and funds academic and community-based
organizations to begin building a movement for girls equity.

Until the eld of girls equity research and advocacy can supply policy proposals specic to girls
issues, policymakers can put into effect proven reforms that benet all students, which many
states have begun to implement. As outlined in the National Opportunity to Learn Campaigns
2020 Vision Roadmap: A Pre-K Through Postsecondary Blueprint, policymakers should:

1) Improve access to high quality early childhood and development programs: Arkansas has
proven to be a leader in improving universal access to pre-K and early learning services.
2) Increase overall school funding levels and ensure that funds are equitably distributed:
Following Abbott v. Burke, New Jersey has moved towards a more equitable funding
model to ensure students zip codes do not determine their access to instructional
resources.
3) Strengthen recruitment, preparation and distribution of high quality teachers and school
leaders: Illinois and South Carolina have placed a strong emphasis on the Grow Your Own
Teachers program to support a diverse teaching workforce, and a 2009 Ohio law
established residency programs for educators to prepare them to be effective school
leaders.
4) Ensure access to a college-and career-ready curriculum: In Texas, the El Paso
Collaborative for Academic Excellence ensures that students have the resources and
opportunities they need to be on track for college.
38

3GNetworkSupportsforGirls

In Teaching Black Girls: Resiliency in Urban Classrooms, Venus Evans-Winters addresses the historical
context of structural and social implications in the lives of Black girls because she has found that,
the most competent and resilient minority female students possess a race, class, and gender
consciousness.

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Family, community, and school support are directly related to school resilience. All three aspects
need to be available for students to draw from simultaneously in order to buffer adversity.
Most resilient students were more adept at blurring the boundaries between family,
community, and school.

Family Supports:
Any family member who is a main source of support
Generally a female caregiver who fits into the category of main support
Does not necessarily need to be a biological parent
Provide a sense of love and care that show that the students educational
accomplishments are important
Support or assist in completing homework assignments or studying for tests
Monitor school participation
Community Supports:
Offers temporary job opportunities
DCFS (Department of Community and Family Services)
Provides mentors
Provides programs that offer some type of direct or indirect support to students
families.
Provides gender specific activities
Provides a safe space
School Supports:
Provides extra-curricular activities that support long term goals
Provides at least one adult whom the student feels positive about
Provides tutoring/academic assistance
Provides (firm) but understanding teachers

Self Supports:
Has a plan
Looks forward to completing high school
Develops a long-term plan in life
Long-term career goals
College plans and hopes
Conscious of grades in school
Consciously chose friends who were not associated with their neighborhood
39

GirlsWithSTEAAMM!

Arguably, the greatest return on investment in girls of color will be leveraged through their
preparation as knowledge creators and architects of the future global economy. With the
increasing emphasis on male-dominated math, science and technology as the talent in demand

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by employers, it is no surprise that Black and Latina girls are more likely to be underrepresented
in those fields and over-represented in the even faster growing, lower-wage service industries.

We conclude the 3G Network Action Plan for Black Female Achievement with the following
excerpt from Patrice Juliet Pinder and Edith L. Blackwells The Black Girl Turn in Research on
Gender, Race, and Science Education: Toward Exploring and Understanding the Early
Experiences of Black Females in Science, a Literature Review. Pinder and Blackwell paint a
picture of ways that educators can become more conscious advocates for Black girls in
Science, Technology, Arts/Agriculture, Engineering, Math and Medicine (STEAAMM):

From the early 1990s to presently, little focus has been placed on Black girls or the education
movement has failed to adequately address the Black girl turn in education, particularly, science
education. Texts and literary books (in general) have always been designed to represent and
reflect the popular culture of the time, but the problem with it is, instead of being used as a
catalyst for change, it instead has been used as a continuous agent that fuels the denial of Black
girls and women full inclusiveness in science (education). During the early 1800s, childrens
literature became highly divided based upon gender. Girls were exposed to literature that
emphasized domestic and subservient roles. Louisa May Alcotts little Women and Charlotte
Brontes Jane Eyreall captured the fairy tale love life of dreamy females.

In the 1970s, there were very few works portraying Black females as main characters and today
in the twenty-first century, a few of the popular books in print focuses on the negative aspects of
being Black and female in America. To counter societal images of poor and working class urban
adolescent girls as the school drop outs, the teenage welfare mothers, the drug addicts, and
the victims of domestic violence or AIDS, there is a need for positive images of the urban
adolescent female to be prevalent in some common arena (i.e. school books or multicultural
texts).

Teacher and science education researchers who have continuously denied Black females their full
inclusiveness in science (education) have contended that there is too much pressure placed on
publishers of modern day textbooks to be politically correct. They argue that there is an over
emphasis and too much irrational concerns placed on the textbooks usage or portrayal of the
White European male as being symbolic of racism, sexism and oppression.

With increasing diversity in the education system, there is an important need for more gender
inclusive curriculums. Research involving examining strategies for training teachers to foster
gender equity acknowledges that while there is the need to prepare teachers for the diverse needs
of their students, recommendations for how teachers can go about accomplishing this goal varies.
Some strategies to foster equity may simply involve raising teachers awareness of their teaching
practices; whereas, another focus may be on getting teachers to examine and select gender-fair
or gender-neutral content materials.

The essentially overarching point of all the debates is that careful thought and planning should
be given to K-12 school curriculums and materials in order for them to meet the needs of girls and

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boys of different races and ethnicities. The imperative is for independent research to be conducted
on the ground in schools and other educational environments.

Besides culturally biased curricula lending to the denial of Black girls turn in science education,
the culture of White male power dominance and Black girls being denied access to the dominant,
White male cultural capital (that may afford them opportunities for full inclusion in science
education research) may all explain why Black girls are denied their turn in research on gender
and science education. Critical (feminist) theorists insists that the culture of power or power
conflicts must always be taken into account to some degree, whether it is the informants power
or lack of it.

A woman who walks into a mans meeting or a person of color who has walked into a White
organization knows what it is like to walk into a culture of power that is not your own. The woman
or person of color may feel insecure, unsafe, disrespected, unseen, or marginalized. Whenever,
one group of people accumulates more power than another group, the more powerful group
creates an environment that places its members at the cultural center and other groups at the
margins. People in the more powerful group are accepted as the norm, so they may not see the
benefits they receive (i.e. the access to the dominant White male cultural capital system), or may
not see the exclusion, uneasiness, or unwelcoming environments the out group or powerless
groups receive. Black girls and women are the marginalized group that experiences all of the
aforementioned negativities of the out group mentioned, and continuously are ignored and
excluded from full participation in science arenas - that is, science education research and in
science education literature.

Curriculum bias/stereotyping, tracking, and division of labor are some of the ways in which
institutions carry out the so call gender regime which can greatly affect gender relationships
between (Black) females and their male peers. However, curriculum or content materials can
become more positive agents in helping to assist Black females in formulating more positive
socially constructed meanings and interpretations for themselves in an aid to improve gender and
race relationships and to dismantle the gender regime (& maybe race regime) that can be seen
as existing in some K-12 schools and university programs in science and math. To achieve this end,
the research explores the utilization of more school girl fictions and how positive images or
messages in literary texts may positively motivate Black female adolescents, while at the same
time improve their overall self-image.

Despite the volume of research on equity issues for girls and women in science, there have been
relatively few studies, that is, qualitative studies employing phenomenological approaches that
entailed interviewing the clientele - the Black student - to explore and seek to understand the
early experiences of these Black females in science, and how the science education literature can
be informed by correlating the early experiences of young Black females in science to Black
females later university and career decisions (& low retention rates). Most post-adolescent
behaviors in regard to science and engineering can be understood clearly only by reference to
earlier life experiences.

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In research involving students, students voices are forced to the margins of the specific issue,
whereas, researchers and teachers voices are put forward as the foremost experts on the topic
or issue. Students actual words are very rarely presented, but rather, they are presented as
subjects and their words interpreted by researchers.

Dialogues with Black young, elementary and pre-elementary age girls to shift power dynamics,
so that students and teachers can share in the development and research process. Students
should therefore not be seen as mere subjects, but as active participants with their own voices,
opinions, and suggestions. The information gained from the proposed studies can provide useful
data for effecting change in schools and in science education specifically. Students might possess
important perspectives that would benefit science education research and programs:

Correlate the early science experiences of (Black) females with later science career or
university decisions;
Investigate the benefits of having better curriculum developers who can design more
gender neutral and racially fair K-12 curriculums
Investigate the idea of more teacher training programs to aid teachers in promoting more
gender and racially inclusive environments in their classrooms.
Gender and racially fair curriculum that fully includes the significant contributions of Black
girls and Black women.
40

Together, we can provide Black girls and other girls of color opportunities to explore and tap into
their greatest potential. The 3G Network is committed to opening hearts, minds and doors to provide
girls of color with the experiences that matter to them and will help them define for themselves a
pathway to success. We hope you will join us.

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APPENDICES

APPENDIX A: ICI Capital Region Equity Report
APPENDIX B: African American Male Student Voice
APPENDIX C: Advancing Change: Our Youth, Our Future!

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References

i
City of Lansing, Mayors State of the City Address 2014, http://www.lansingmi.gov/media/view/2014_SOC/6338
2
Chicago Youth Justice Data Project, New Report Ranks the Rate of Disconnected Youth in the U.S., October
2013, http://chiyouthjustice.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/479/
3
Education Week Webinar, Closing the Academic Achievement Gap for African American Boys, August 23, 2011
4
Ibid.
5
Open Society Foundation, Black Male Achievement Foundation, Building the Beloved Community, 2014,
http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/reports/building-beloved-community
6
Open Society Foundation, Black Male Achievement Foundation, Building the Beloved Community, 2014,
http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/reports/building-beloved-community
7
National League of Cities, Municipal Action Guide, 2012, http://www.nlc.org/find-city-solutions/youth-education-
and-families/at-risk-youth/city-leadership-to-promote-black-male-achievement
8
Manuel Pastor, Citiwire.net, Race and Our Metropolitan Future, July 1, 2010
9
Monique W. Morris, Race, Gender and The School-To-Prison Pipeline: Expanding Our Discussion To Include Black
Girls, African American Policy Forum, 2012
10
Ibid.
11
Ibid.
12
National League of Cities, Municipal Action Guide, 2012
13
National League of Cities Cities United Webinar on Authentic Youth Engagement to Prevent Violence Against
African American Males
14
Fay Hanleybrown, John Kania, & Mark Kramer, Channeling Change: Making Collective Impact Work, Stanford
Social Innovation Review, , January 2012
15
Annie E. Casey Foundation, Race for Results, April 2014
16
John Kania, Mark Kramer, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Collective Impact, Winter 2011
17
I Am Mike Muse.com
18
Beyond Appearance: A New Look at Adolescent Girls, American Psychology Association, 1999
19
Monique W. Morris, Race, Gender and The School-To-Prison Pipeline: Expanding Our Discussion To Include Black
Girls, African American Policy Forum, 2012
20
Tamar Lewin, Black Students Face More Discipline, Data Suggests, New York Times
March 6, 2012
21
Jyoti Nanda, Blind Discretion: Girls of Color & Delinquency in the Juvenile Justice System, UCLA LAW REVIEW
UCLA L. Rev. 1502 (2012)
22
Morris
23
Nanda
24
Morris
25
26

27
APA
28
Ibid
29
Brown, Ruth N. "Remembering Maleesa: Theorizing Black girl politics and the politicizing of
socialization."National Political Science Review 11 (2007): 121-136.
30
Ibid.
31
The State of Girls: Unfinished Business, Black/African American Girls, December 2013, Girl Scout Research
Institute
32
Manuel Pastor, Citiwire.net, Race and Our Metropolitan Future, July 1, 2010
33
Aboubacar Ndiaye, Black Boys Have an Easier Time Fitting In at Suburban Schools Than Black Girls, The Atlantic,
June 12, 2014

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34
Racial and Gender Differences in the Relationship Between Childrens Television Use and Self Esteem: A
Longitudinal Panel Study, Communication Research
35
36
Annie E. Casey Foundation, Race for Results, April 2014
37
John Kania, Mark Kramer, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Collective Impact, Winter 2011
38
Breaking Down Barriers: The Schott Foundation and Girls Equity in Education, The Legislator, December 2012
39
Evans-Winters, Venus E. ( 2005). Teaching Black Girls: Resiliency in Urban Classrooms. New York: Peter Lang
Publishing, Inc.
40
Patrice Juliet Pinder and Edith L. Blackwell, The Black Girl Turn in Research on Gender, Race, and Science
Education: Toward Exploring and Understanding the Early Experiences of Black Females in Science, a
Literature Review, Journal of African American Studies, March 2014, Volume 18, Issue 1, pp 63-71

Racial Equity and Young Men of Color
Michigan Capital Region

March 2014

Angela Waters Austin
One Love Global
www.oneloveglobal.org

Page 2 Racial Equity & Young Men of Color in Michigan Capital Region | Drafted by One Love Global

Racial Equity and Young Men of Color - Michigan Capital Region
In 2007, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation provided the initial investment for Public Policy Associates (PPA) to
support the work of the Dellums Commission in Washington, D.C. The Joint Center for Political and
Economic Studies Health Policy Institute convened the Dellums Commission to study and draft
recommendations for policy reform to improve outcomes for young men of color. PPA leveraged W.K.
Kelloggs investment by replicating the Dellums Commissions work in Ingham County through the
investment of time and expertise in organizing local leaders and studying local data to form the Ingham
Change Initiative Commission (ICI).

The return on W.K. Kelloggs initial investment is measured by the Ingham Change Initiative in collective
regional momentum towards racial equity. Regional accomplishments include financial and in-kind
support, multi-sector partnerships dedicated to systems transformation and dismantling structural
racism, youth and grassroots leadership development, and targeted strategies to improve outcomes for
families raising young males of color.

2007 PPA and Ingham Lansing Community Coalition for Youth (CCY) partner to create the Ingham
Change Initiative based on local disparity data which revealed a significant gap in outcomes for
Black and Latino males across all systems including: Education, Health, Employment, Justice, and
Media.

Clarence Underwood, MSU Athletic Director Emeritus, is appointed chairman of the Ingham
Change Initiative.

2008 Ingham County Board of Commissioners and City of Lansing provide funding in excess of $30,000
annually through 2011 to staff CCY and Ingham Change Initiative. Capital Region Community
Foundation awards CCY a startup grant for $5,758.

CCY partners with One Love Global, a community based 501c3 with a focus on improving
outcomes for children of color, to provide backbone support for the Ingham Change Initiative.

2009 ICI Commission introduces its mission, membership and goals to the local media with a press
conference moderated by PPA to present local data on racial disparities for young men of color.

Power of We Consortium awards CCY/ICI a $25,000 grant from its Urban Redevelopment Fund to
pilot Peace & Prosperity Youth Action Movement (PPYAM), a youth engagement strategy to
ensure that policy and data analysis is inclusive of the views and voice of those youth who may
be disproportionately and negatively impacted by certain policies resulting in disparate outcomes
for youth across systems.

One Love Global (OLG) is contracted to coordinate the pilot project in which over 200 youth of
color and their families are engaged through a six-week leadership development program and a
series of edutainment events to build partnerships and increase investments in youth
development.


2010 Community Voices at the Morehouse School of Medicine awards OLG a $40,000 contract on
behalf of the Ingham Change Initiative Commission to organize a statewide forum in Michigan as
one of three sites in a national town hall series on juvenile justice and to draft a final report on
the series of convenings. Public Policy Associates moderates a panel which includes systems
leaders, young men of color, and an audience of over 200 individuals from across Michigan in a
dialogue on existing and recommended strategies to dismantle the school to prison pipeline.

ICI Education Work Group publishes recommendations for policy reform and presents to regional
superintendents group strategies to improve graduation rates by reducing
suspension/expulsions and increasing effectiveness in student engagement.

Ingham County Health Department awards subcontract of $40,000 to One Love Global via W.K.
Kellogg Foundation grant to support PPYAM youth leaders in coordinating Got Health?
Conference and Expo.

2011 Ingham Change Initiative launches website to provide access to local data, the ICI Action Plan and
supporting documents including the Dellums Commission reports.

Ingham County Health Department awards $1,500 subcontract to One Love Global via MDCH to
support PPYAM youth leaders in coordinating an event to celebrate Michigan Minority Health
Month. PPYAM engages ICI Commission in dialogue and planning via a Change Agent Workshop
and Press Conference.

One Love Global CEO/ICI Director Angela Waters Austin elected as co-chair of Power of We
Consortium (PWC) and co-authors PWC 2.0, a strategy to promote racial equity and collective
impact in the Capital Region.

W.K. Kellogg Foundation awards grant of $947,499 to the Lansing Early Childhood Equity
Partnership. Ingham Great Start Collaborative awards contract to One Love Global to coordinate
the partnership which has since grown from the initial team of institutional leaders to over 20
members including parents, faith leaders, educators, early childhood specialists, community
organizers, and policy advocates working together for collective impact in closing racial gaps in
early childhood outcomes.

2012 Ingham County Health Department awards $4,500 subcontract to One Love Global via MDCH to
support youth leaders in planning and implementation of Michigan Minority Health Month
strategy to increase awareness of free test available for teens at high risk of infection of HIV.

Ingham County Health Department awards $4,000 subcontract to One Love Global via Food
Systems Workgroup grant from MDCH to support youth in increasing access to fresh produce in
one local neighborhood store.

The Lansing Early Childhood Equity Partnership launches N.E.O.N. (Nurturing Early On is
Necessary), an organization founded by parents to improve outcomes for young children of color
through a 3
rd
grade reading campaign and a campaign to engage Black males of all ages in
community leadership called Saving Our Sons.


2013 Michigan Department of Education partners with Michigans Children, Ingham Change Initiative,
One Love Global, and Lansing School District to conduct focus groups with African American male
students and publishes African American Male Student Voice report which is presented at
Michigan Achievement Gap Summit and at the National Dropout Prevention Conference.

Power of We Consortium secures $200,000 in resources from the Corporation for National and
Community Service to increase the number of low-income students moving into college
educational programs and to assure economically disadvantaged and minority children (ages 0-8)
will be ready to succeed in school through implementation of school readiness programs. Lansing
Early Childhood Equity Partnership and Ingham Change Initiative are awarded full-time VISTA
volunteers to build capacity.

Power of We Consortium meets with Senator Debbie Stabenow on July 1, 2013 to discuss the
PWC restructuring and re-envisioning process and brainstorm how to enhance access to higher
education and state and federal employment opportunities for young men of color.

Power of We Consortium adopts Racial Equity & Healing as one of four tenets of a Common
Agenda along with Youth & Education, Economic Opportunity, and Transportation &
Infrastructure.

Peace & Prosperity Youth Action Movement is elected by the membership of Power of We
Consortium as new coalition representing youth voice and leadership with a focus on educational
opportunity, violence prevention, access to healthy food, safe places for physical activity and
HIV/AIDS prevention.

One Love Global and partners launch E=MC
2
, a multi-sector coalition focused on dismantling the
school to prison pipeline through more effective alignment of existing community assets
targeting children ages 0-25.

2014 PPA Senior Consultant and ICI Commissioner Willard Walker is elected co-chair of Power of We
Consortium to provide guidance for the alignment and implementation of the Power of We
Consortium Common Agenda across PWC coalitions, partnerships and alliances.

One Love Global and partners launch Equity Equals on Michigan Business Network.com, an
internet radio program targeting Michigans business community to raise awareness of the
importance of investing in nonprofits and social entrepreneurs that impact Michigans double
bottom line by reducing racial inequities.

Ingham Change Initiative is elected by Power of We Consortium as a coalition to provide
guidance and support for the Racial Equity & Healing and Youth & Education goals of the PWC
Common Agenda.

One Love Global partners with ACLU, N.E.O.N., NAACP and others on a School to Prison Pipeline
series to engage multiple audiences on policy solutions to suspensions and expulsions, including
pre-school where rates are three times higher than for K-12.
February 2013
AFRICAN AMERICAN MALE STUDENT VOICE
Report on Ingham County Focus Groups

A f r i c a n A m e r i c a n M a l e S t u d e n t V o i c e P a g e | 2

Report to Michigan Department of Education February 21, 2013
The following report is contributed to Michigan Department of Education with respect to State
of Michigan Board of Education Priority Goal to close academic achievement gaps, with an
initial focus on rapidly improving the academic outcomes of African American males for whom
data show are Michigans persistently lowest achieving subgroup. To this end, the Michigan
Department of Education (MDE) has formed a work group to develop a strategy to address this
important issue. The project mission is to close the achievement gap between African American
males and the highest achieving student group in all subjects by the 2021-2022 school year. The
project outcomes include developing and committing to a comprehensive, coordinated
Achievement Gap Framework that supports districts in helping African American males to
improve achievement.

Working Group:

Henry Cade, Michigan Department of Education (MDE)
Leisa Gallagher, Michigan Department of Education
Jacquelynne Borden-Conyers, Ingham Change Initiative (ICI)
Michele Corey, Michigans Children
Karlin, Tichenor, Lansing School District (LSD)
Bersheril Bailey, Great Lakes Comprehensive Center (GLCC)
Angela Waters Austin, One Love Global (OLG)

Acknowledgements:

The working group expresses thanks to the students and staff who made the focus groups
possible and to Beverly Brown, Michigan Department of Education for supporting outreach to
Lansing School District.

Drafts Submitted to Working Group by Angela Waters Austin: February 13, 19, 2013
Approved by Working Group: February 19, 2013


Contents
Purpose ........................................................................................................................................... 4
Participants ..................................................................................................................................... 4
Methodology ................................................................................................................................... 4
Use of Findings ................................................................................................................................ 5
Summary of Emergent Themes and Student Beliefs ...................................................................... 6
Insights and Recommendations ...................................................................................................... 7
Appendix A: Facilitators Guide
Appendix B: Research and Guiding Principles from One Love Global


Purpose

The African American Male Student Voice Working Group conducted two focus groups to
inform Michigan Department of Educations (MDE) strategy to close academic achievement
gaps, with an initial focus on rapidly improving the academic outcomes of African-American
males. The Michigan Department of Education collaborated with the Ingham Change Initiative
(ICI), One Love Global, and Michigans Children to conduct two focus groups with African
American male students to ensure that student voice is included in the framework design
process. Beverly Brown, excerpt from letter of invitation to Yvonne Camaal Canul, Lansing
School District Superintendent.

Participants

Lansing School Districts Superintendent was enthusiastic about the inclusion of African
American male students from her district in the focus groups. Dr. Yvonne Camal Canuul
responded immediately and favorably to conducting a focus group at Sexton High School with
the support of Karlin Tichenor, a specialist supporting student achievement in the Districts 7-
12
th
grade buildings. A second focus group was coordinated by One Love Global with the Peace
& Prosperity Youth Action Movement (PPM), which is a youth leadership organization with
African American male student in grades 7-12. PPM members participating in the focus group
attend schools across four school districts: Lansing, Holt, Waverly, and East Lansing. Two young
adult African American male staff of One Love Global (one a PhD student at Michigan State
University) participated in the Peace & Prosperity Youth Action Movement focus group in
addition to the high school students and one middle school student.

Methodology

The Sexton focus group was conducted by two African American adult males. The Peace &
Prosperity focus group was facilitated by an African American male and an African American
adult female. Both conversations were recorded by a Caucasian female. (Appendix A: Focus
Group Protocol)

Special Note: It should be noted that cultural context and community environment (where
student lives) does matter when conducting focus groups. For the most part in the Lansing area
African American students do not state that their race is a significant factor in how they are
treated or how they experience life in school and in the community. They did express
differences between themselves and other students of the same race: African American
students are not interested in learning. In this community, generally race is not perceived as a
problem. Additionally, many young people have grown up without explicit racism and do not
have a historical context to name racial issues when they do in fact occur.


For this reason equity was defined at the beginning of the sessions. Students were asked how
they felt about meeting as a group of Black males. Students were asked to describe a situation
where a relative or another African American student did not do well and explain why they
thought this occurred.

Partners Use of Findings

The information gathered (using a semi-structured interview protocol) during the 90 minute
face-to-face focus group was transcribed by Michigans Children and analyzed by members of
the working group in preparation of a report to MDE. Transcripts and findings will be used
exclusively by the collaborators for the following purposes:

The Michigan Department of Education will use the transcripts solely to inform the
Achievement Gap Framework. This may include sharing of the transcripts among the MDE
offices, its Achievement Gap work group, and school districts throughout the state, particularly
Focus and Priority schools. (Beverly Brown)

Michigans Children will assist in the review and analysis and consider using it in
communications with policymakers and others as compatible with the mission of Michigans
Children to improve public policies that create strategic investments from cradle to career.

Ingham Change Initiative will review the analyzed data from the focus groups and consider
incorporating the data in its future work. Participating in and conducting focus groups of young
African American males is compatible with the mission of the ICI to improve the success of
young men of color and other disadvantaged youth by identifying opportunities and
recommending strategies that encourage our community to initiate system change and policy
reform.

One Love Global will use the data from the focus groups to inform the development of
programs and services geared to improve educational opportunities for African American males
and other students in advancing its mission to strengthen urban centers and build sustainable
communities where justice, peace and opportunity are available to all children. (Guiding
Research and Principles - Appendix B)


Summary of Emergent Themes and Student Beliefs

Common themes from were extracted and discussed with the students from Lansing, East
Lansing, Holt, Waverly, and Grand Ledge schools to confirm and/or clarify their reactions to the
themes. The follow-up meeting was facilitated by an African American male and female.

African American male students are not always included in college prep courses and related
activities.
The majority of participants agreed that African American male students are at a
disadvantage starting high school because the courses they took in middle school did not
prepare them for the academic or cultural transition. As a result, even with limited
honors and advanced placement options offered in some schools, students did not feel
they were prepared for the rigor of high school.

Students do not understand how teachers are being required to be responsible and
accountable for the success of all students.
Most revealing was that the students, particularly those succeeding at school on some
level, expressed the belief that some African American students did not want to learn,
had bad habits and, therefore, the teachers had no responsibility to teach them.

A positive, nurturing relationship with a family member and/or another adult can make the
difference in a students academic success.
In almost all cases students could point to an adult or family member who supported
them and were available to them during difficult times.

The students educational experience would be enhanced with more African American
teachers.
Almost all the students had no African American male teachers and few female African
American teachers in high school. Generally, they felt school would be easier to handle if
there were more African American teachers in the classrooms. The unspoken assumption
is that Black male teachers would be personally interested in their well-being.

Students in need of social and academic additional support are a lower priority than athletes.
Both groups felt athletes in their school got preferential treatment either with academic
support, or were held to a lower academic standard. Athletes were expected to succeed
whether they mastered the academic work or not.

The transition from middle to high school is often difficult and students need extra emotional
and academic support.
Based on student responses, many young men felt no one noticed they were having a
difficult time adjusting not only to the high school environment, but to the academic
demands that many of them stated they were not academically prepared for in middle
school.


Teaching styles should address that students have different styles of learning.
Students unanimously agreed that some are visual, some have to use their hands, and
some have to hear to learn. Students agreed that instruction should meet the needs of
all kinds of learners. All also agreed that content should relate to their interests.

The perceptions teachers have of students positively or negatively influence the perceptions
the students have of themselves.
Students cited instances where a teacher taking a personal interest in them, not giving
up on them and holding them to high behavior and academic performance standards
made a positive difference in their attitudes and efforts.

Students can also be teachers for both peers and adults.
Students stated that they need support and credibility to be in position to teach adults.
Youth organizing models provide a promising approach to supporting students in
building power to transform their schools and communities through policy,
environmental and cultural change. (Appendix B)

The violence and conditions of some homes and communities is a barrier to success.
Examples of challenges outside of school that created barriers included long-term
illness/hospitalization, suspension, adjudication, family conflicts, and negative influences
of siblings.

Students feel they are responsible for their own success or failure.
Acknowledging responsibility for ones own success or failure is a strong asset. Students
were unaware that institutional barriers such as a teachers willingness to assist them,
exclusion from higher level math and science classes, unchallenging academic content
and lack of participation in AP classes could be barriers to their success.

Insights and Recommendations

Rigor

Explicit, culturally sensitive programs should be in place to ease the transition from
middle school to high school
Students recommend more discussion about what happens in the class and how
students can do better
Students recommend better programs in middle school to prepare students for high
school

Ensure all students are connected to resources promoting a college-going culture as
early as elementary school

Relationships

Students requested help finding role models
A student voice process needs to be developmental; focus groups may be useful in
shaping that process (Appendix B)
For youth voice to be an effective change strategy it needs to be organized and powerful
(Appendix B)
Students must know that there are powerful adults that support their voice (Appendix
B)
Trauma is a very real issue for children that affects learning and should be addressed
through comprehensive mental health and family supports
Strategic efforts should be made to increase the number of African American male
teachers in high schools to provide students with potentially trusted worthy adults
personally interested in them.

Relevance

Students are critical key informants about their learning styles, interests, challenges and
aspirations and should be engaged in school improvement design
Students should be given the opportunity and autonomy to create solutions to the
problems they identify so that the educational experience is rooted and connected to
their lived experience and culture
A series of youth-facilitated convenings should be supported to test themes with African
American male students in different regions and educational settings

Racial Equity

Students tend to blame themselves and their peers rather than any external
determinants of academic achievement
African American students blame poor performing African American students for their
lack of performance. All students should know what schools are expected to do, what
their rights are as students and how and when to take advantage of all resources
(advanced classes, AP, etc.). There may also be internalized oppression, self-esteem
issues and some discrimination among students. These areas should be explored.
African American males do not necessarily see themselves as a separate group. The
community and school cultural context matters in assessing the African American
experience.

Students in both groups reported experiences with school-discipline; all of the students
at Sexton reporting having been expelled or suspended. Given the research-based
correlation between truancy, academic achievement and school dropout, addressing
factors that contribute to disproportionate disciplinary actions that remove African
American male students from the classroom must be addressed.
Teacher training programs, professional development and in-school support for
teachers and staff should not only include culturally relevant training, but should
provide opportunities for educators to examine their own race and cultural bias, explain
modern racism and the impact of internalized racism or oppression on students.

Policy

Policies are needed that create more accountability between state and local levels
Allow for sweeping reforms statewide informed by student voice (Appendix B)
Schools need to explicitly communicate the responsibilities of teachers to teach all
students.
Educational institutions should check their policies and practices to ensure that athletes
are not receiving preferential treatment.

Feedback from Students on Process

Students stated that the questions were good and liked that they had the opportunity to give
their opinions. One student suggested adding a question about preparation for the ACT.

A p p e n d i x A : F a c i l i t a t o r G u i d e P a g e | 1

Facilitator Guide African American
Youth Groups
December 5, 2012

Preparation: Put Introductory questions on flip chart; definition of equity

Note taker: Make sure note taker puts name of group, e.g. Black Male Youth, date,
location, name of facilitator and note taker in the footer/header of each page and also
put same information on each flip chart.

Agenda

Convene/Welcome/Overview/Agenda/Goals
What: This project is collaboration between the state department of
education and the Ingham County Change Commission. The Commission
is

Project Goals:
1. Overcome the barriers to prosperity and success in school for all
students especially AA males
2. Hear and understand all voices, opinions, thoughts students have about
their school experiences and what may be needed to remove obstacles
and have success
3. Identify what needs to be done by schools so that AA males can be
successful in public schools

Introduce facilitators, recorders and anyone else in the room

Explain why project is important

Explain Focus Group set-up

Explain Equity (post definition on easel)

Explain Guidelines (post on easel); ask for additional guidelines

Focus Group Session

Closure/Thank You

Youth Group Focus Group Detail

I. Introduction - Explain Process & Generate Initial Interaction
A. Introduction:
1) Introduce self as Facilitator for Focus Group discussion
2) Explain Setup: We are meeting by race and gender to help us understand the similarities and
differences in the thoughts and feelings of AA and other ethnic males. This will help us
learn about experiences in school and other places and how to best to find solutions to
problems you identify.

Someone will be taking notes to help with our report. Nothing will be recorded by your
name and your opinions will be held in confidence. The report will share themes and
sample responses, but your particular responses will not be connected to you. We will
also ask each of you to agree to hold the details of each others opinions and examples
in confidence as well.

B. Goals
Facilitator: Describe goal for session: Today, we are going to discuss the ways in which you
experience equity, success, and fairness in your school and in the community. Might want to
explore how students define success and post on easel.

Additional Explanations: We will focus on ways in which you would like to see equity, success
and fairness, the barriers that keep you and others from achieving success in school. We hope
you will talk about anything --- education, health, jobs, the community, the environment,
housing, transportation, recreation opportunities and any other areas that come up for you.

C. Ground Rules:
Facilitator: Summarize these key points as briefly as possible:
A Focus Group is a guided discussion I want to hear what you have to say, and I have
certain questions we need to cover. We value your time, and I want to make sure that
we stay on task, so let me know if you feel cut off as I move from one person to another
or to the next question.
I need to hear from everyone, every opinion is important.
Please speak one at a time
No right or wrong answers. You do not have to agree.
Try on and notice the opinions that are different from your own.
And let us agree that it is ok to disagree and that we will not blame shame or put
each other down or debate each other because we disagree. It is ok to just state for
example I disagree and add my point of view. Can we agree to practice this
ground rule? (Get agreement). Thanks everyone.

Notice if you are letting yourself be swayed or snowballed by how the rest of the group
thinks or feels, feel free to share your different point of view. Tell us how you feel
whether it is positive or negative.
Please remember you do not have to answer any questions that you do not want to.

Facilitator say: Your participation is confidential and will be used only for the purposes of
developing this project. No names will be used in any report or the findings. We are asking
each of us to agree to keep the personal details of each others sharing confidential. We can
share what we, the facilitator, said or what the questions are, but not the details of what
others have said. Please raise your hands if you agree to this ground rule of confidentiality
as described.

D. Initial Reactions:
Facilitator: Ask, How do you feel about meeting as a group of AA males? Verbally
acknowledge if anyone identifies as biracial, another ethnic group or
not at all (allow time for response). Do you have any questions about
what has been shared so far?

E. Warm-up: First, lets do some introductions. Please share your first name, town you live in,
your school and grade.. (Also have first names on name-tags)
Ask, who is your favorite music artist?

II: Understanding equity, fairness and success (10 minutes)
Facilitator: Post definition
Large Group Exercise
Question 1: What do you think of that definition? How would you change it? (Take a few
answers popcorn style post any changes on easel.

Question 2: Does your school treat all students the same? Do all students have the same
opportunities? (Probe for details)

III: Education, equity and fairness (30 minutes)

Small Group Exercise, Large Group Debriefing

Instruction: Think of an example of academic failure for yourself, or someone you know.
Describe what happenedshare this story with a partner .and then share some with larger
group..After sharing these, we do it again..asking for folks to think of stories of success and
achievement and how these are different.share with a partnerand then share with larger
group.
Note: As Facilitator, you may decide to reverse the order and have people share the stories of
success first and then go through again in failure or disappointment. Decide how to put in pairs
or triads. One option -- have participants count off and get into pairs. Once they are in pairs,
give them the instruction.

Facilitator- Please read this script: Please think about an AA male you know who is not doing
well. He might not have completed high school or might not have gotten settled into something
like going to college, a job or the military or preparing for a career.
Questions:
1. What went wrong with the school system and other things for that person?
2. What needed to be in place to give this young person a chance?
3. What could the school have done differently?
Please share this story with your partner? (May need to repeat this instruction in full)
Again - Repeat

Allow participants about 6 minutes to share with partner.
Facilitator: Please share with the large group from your conversation. What do you think when
you hear these stories? What are the barriers to success?

Take comments from group for about 9 minutes capture themes. The facilitator and
recorder should listen for statements that show differences by race and gender or other
factors that link to education or academic success.


Facilitator: Now lets think about this way.
Instruction: Please think about a young adult you know who is doing well. He may have already
completed high school or is getting close and seems to be moving forward with college or the
military or job training.
Questions:
1. What has gone right with the schools and other things at home or in the community?
2. What was available for this young person from the school, adults and other youth that
supported success?
Please share this story with your partner. Allow participants about 5 minutes to share with
partner.

Facilitator: Please share with the large group from your conversation. In addition to what we
have said already ask if appropriate, What are the barriers to success for AA males?

Note: Depending on group dynamics decide whether to do whole group, prior small groups
or new small groups
III. School Experience
(Capture on easel)
1. Describe your worst day in school?
2. Describe your best day in school?
3. Who is your best teacher and why?
4. Who is your worst teacher and why?
5. Describe what you expect from Black males about school, life
6. Describe an activity (s) you participated in that made you think about your future
7. Describe an activity you wish you had participated in that would have helped you think
about the future.
8. Is there one person in the building that you trust, makes you feel safe, protected and
appreciated?


What are the greatest barriers to staying in
school for students? Completing each grade?
Graduating from high school? Going to college?
Going to the military? Going to job or career
training?
What are schools doing to assist students with
staying in school, successfully completing each
grade, graduating from high school and going to
college, the military, job or career training, etc.?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Etc.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Etc.

IV: Additional Equity, Education and Community Resource Questions- 10 minutes

Facilitator: If time permits, please select as many as possible/feels right from the following
questions as prompts to get any info below that has not been addressed:
1. What are the greatest barriers to your staying in school? Completing each grade?
Graduating from high school? Going to college? Going to the military? Going to job or
career training?
a. How do the barriers differ by race? (How are things easier or harder based on your
race?)
b. How do the barriers differ by gender?
c. How do the barriers differ by your familys income?
d. What are the specific barriers for Black males?
e. How do barriers differ by neighborhood, town?
f. How do barriers differ by school system?

2. If needed --What can the following persons do to support successful educational outcomes
for you and all youth?

o Teachers
o Athletic Coaches
o Guidance Counselors
o School Administrators (e.g. principal)
o Other (specify)
o Parents
o Family members
o Friends
o Faith leaders
o Program providers
o Others (specify)

V. Closure.

Facilitator: Ask, How do you feel about this process? Would you change anything about the
process? Any questions about what happens next. (Record on easel)

If possible express individual appreciation for participation.

###
Appendi x B: Gui di ng Pri nci pl es and Research f rom One Love Gl obal P a g e | 1


OPPORTUNITIES AND CONSIDERATIONS
Student voice can be a bridge between state policy and local transformation. Students, with the
support of their families, communities and Michigan Department of Education, can serve as
both advocates and agitators. Students of color are uniquely qualified to serve as key
informants to local school boards in assessing what works and what might work better.
Students are uniquely positioned to provide real-time feedback to teachers and administrators
to improve school climate, classroom management, instruction and supportive services.
In addition to supporting youth as organizers, advocates and key informants, students are
uniquely qualified to serve as co-authors and co-designers of innovations that meet their needs.
Based on themes that emerged from the Ingham County focus groups, One Love Global
recommends ongoing and active participation of youth in the development of new policies and
programs that build on their interests, assets and aspirations. Youth should be the chief
architects of what, when and how they participate including being supported as leaders at their
own table. When youth and adults come together, efforts to mitigate adult power and privilege
and amplify youth power are essential to create a safe and trust space for co-creation.
RIGOR, RELEVANCE AND RELATIONSHIPS
If Dr. Willard Daggett of the International Center for Leadership in Education is correct in his
theory that "Relevance makes rigor possible," what is more relevant to students than their own
lived experience? Bill Daggett's philosophy of education comes down to three basic principles,
which are rigor, relevance and relationships. When students find their studies relevant,
teachers can increase the rigor to meet the needs of students. Relationships between all
stakeholders in a school system (i.e. students, staff, teachers, administrators, parents, etc.)
make a school system stronger and provide the opportunity to turn schools around.
i
Peter
Local
Districts
Michigan
Department
of Education


Dewitt, Rigor, Relevance and Relationships: An Interview with Bill Daggett Education Week,
January 4, 2012
Daggett states, I think we confuse obedient students with motivated students, and many of
the children who are struggling learners have not had the life experience outside of school to
prepare them for school Many people may walk by a classroom filled with students who are
engaged and may think the classroom is noisy. It's supposed to be noisy. That is what
engagement looks like. Youth organizing is a very noisy endeavor and few activities will engage
students more deeply than solving their own problems together.
An illustration of what this level engagement might look like is captured in the photographs
below from a meeting held Saturday, February 17, 2013. Four African American males and one
female student gathered in Lansing at 10am to analyze and improve governance, recruitment,
membership and advancement protocol for the Peace & Prosperity Youth Action Movement.



Daggetts Rigor/Relevance framework is fully articulated in youth organizing which challenges
students to utilize high-order thinking to assimilate and evaluate knowledge to develop
effective strategies to win (solve) a real-world issue in very unpredictable situations. Youth
organizing is also very much about relationships and helps youth build social capital within and
across peer groups as they engage students, teachers, parents, business/community leaders,
and others as constituents and allies. Viewing and supporting African American male students
as leaders improves both teacher and student perceptions of African American male students
identity and potential. Increasing leadership and civic engagement opportunities for historically
marginalized students will inevitably transform internal and externalized perception of African
2012 International Center for Leadership in Education



American males. A new paradigm of the African American male as positive and productive
thought-leader and influencer provides a foundation for higher expectation and higher
performance that should dramatically transform the individual as well as the relationship
between student and teacher. The teacher becomes a trusted advocate and ally in helping
students build power to achieve both in the classroom and in the community through actions
that transform policy and practice. The Youth Power Ladder graphic below illustrates that the
highest form of power is associated with decision-making and implementation.



Youth
Parents
Constituents
Organizing &
Educating
MDE
CFBO's
Business
Other Allies
Power-Building
& Support Local Districts
Charter Schools
Higher Education
Federal Policy

Systems
Change
YOUTH ORGANIZING CASE STUDY: Peace & Prosperity Youth Action Movement
A Project of One Love Global

The Peace & Prosperity Youth Action Movement (PPM) has 20 members ages 12-25 including 6
youth certified as community organizers through David Hunt & Associates, utilizing the Midwest
Academys Direct Action model. PPMs long term goals are to increase graduation rates and
close the educational achievement gap for students of color based on health equity and social
justice training provided by Ingham County Health Department. PPMs strategy is to build a
coalition of youth leaders throughout Michigan to win resources for peer-mentoring and
tutoring to develop leaders and improve academic outcomes for students of color in local
communities. PPMs model is based on three years of youth action research in school and
community settings including project-based learning, focus groups, photo voice, surveys, and
facilitated dialogue.
PPM students have helped transform a neighborhood store to include fresh produce in a food
desert, developed a multi-pronged campaign to promote HIV testing for teens, partnered with
a hospital and commercial association to develop a mural project promoting community, held
press conferences, created several media projects and delivered numerous presentations. PPM
seeks to apply the knowledge and experience gained through project-based learning to build a
powerful and sustainable base for youth voice and educational opportunity. The emergent
themes from the MDE focus group at Sexton support PPMs proposed approach of engaging
African American students as mentors and tutors through school-based PPM chapters.


Building on Promising Approaches to Youth Voice
The Peace & Prosperity Youth Action Movements objective is to recruit and train 20 leaders in
5 additional counties for a statewide membership base of 100 youth leaders. The purpose of
recruiting across school districts in one county is to have a unified voice that can leverage
reform across an entire region and promote equity between districts.
To ensure the voices of the most disadvantaged and marginalized are being heard One Love
Global recommends supporting youth organizing efforts in communities where student
achievement warrants prioritized engagement. Youth organizing can be supported both in the
classroom and through community partnerships that offer extended learning opportunities
through civic engagement. Finally, as consistent with Daggetts Rigor/Relevance framework,
efforts to engage African American males in youth organizing must meet students where they
are and utilize approaches relevant to their interests.
PPM
Ingham &
Eaton
Washtenaw
Genessee
Kalamazoo
Kent
Wayne


YOUTH ORGANIZING LITERATURE EXCERPTS
The following youth organizing literature captures outcomes from similar youth organizing
efforts in other U.S. communities.

Building Transformative Youth Leadership: Data on the Impacts of Youth Organizing; Funders
Collaborative on Youth Organizing (FCYO), Occasional Paper Series 2011

The data presented in this paper is drawn from a six-year, national, longitudinal study
examining the impact of community organizing on urban education reform. The $2.1 million
study, led by Kavitha Mediratta and Seema Shah during their tenure at the Annenberg Institute
for School Reform at Brown University, followed the work of eight community organizing
groups (three of which included youth organizing efforts or affiliates) and had two objectives:

1) To examine the policy outcomes of organizations school reform campaigns
2) To understand how involvement in organizing impacts those who are involved,
particularly the ways in which organizing builds grassroots leadership and social capital
in low-income communities and communities of color. The study, which ended in 2008,
resulted in a case study series and a book, Community Organizing for Stronger Schools:
Strategies and Successes, documenting the impact of adult and youth organizing on
school reform initiatives.

Like programs premised on principles of positive youth development, youth organizing builds
on the assets of young people and supports their development holistically. In fact, FCYO found
that every single one of the 160 youth organizing groups identified in their field scan provided
youth development supports, including formal academic supports such as tutoring and
guidance counseling, and more informally, emotional and mental health supports youth
organizing enhances youth development in its approach by working with young people to help
them gain the knowledge and skills to understand social and structural inequities and engage in
action that results in social change. In this respect, youth organizing not only builds individual
capacity, but it also generates sociopolitical and community capacity.

Findings from our research demonstrate:
1) Youth organizing groups, as organizational settings, provided a necessary and important
opportunity structure for youth engagement in organizing, particularly for youth who
lack other such opportunities.
2) Young leaders felt a sense of agency about their work, related both to their own
leadership capacities as well as to the impact they could make in their communities.


3) Involvement in organizing helped young people develop a critical social analysis.
4) Young people involved in organizing were engaged in civic and political action at levels
higher than students in a national sample, and planned to stay involved in activism for
the long-term.
5) Young people in our sample reported that their involvement in organizing increased
their educational motivation and aspirations.

Kahne and Middaugh (2008), for example, have written about the opportunity gap for high
school students of color. Their research highlighted the lack of school-based civic learning
opportunities available in less affluent schools, serving students of color, as well as the limited
options for civic and community engagement outside of school. Research by Kahne and
Middaugh and the Search Institute underscores the importance of creating spaces for civic,
political, and community engagement for young people of color. Youth organizing models
purport to create this space one in which leadership development is a central and critical
component.

Successful student campaigns include:

Equal Access to College Prep Classes - To document the lack of college preparatory coursework
in South LA high schools, (student organization) leaders conducted an investigation of their
schools course offerings. Students found that some of their schools had an excess of dead-end
classes, or classes such as cosmetology and floor covering that prepared students for a career
in low-wage labor as opposed to preparing them for college. (Student organization) met with
the superintendent and four other district administrators who promised to provide every
student with an academic transcript, refocus counselors priorities to increase college
preparation, meet regularly with (student organization), and to hold school assemblies about
making college preparatory courses mandatory.

The Leadership Institute - After several years of organizing in neighborhood schools, youth
examined the possibility of developing their own school. In 2005, (student organization) opened
The Leadership Institute, a small high school conceived by youth and created through
collaboration between youth and adult educators and organizers.

Successful Campaign: Kensington Small School Re-Design
A highlight of (students) success was their role in the re-design of Kensington High School. In
2002, students from the Kensington chapter of (the student organization) developed plans
proposing to break Kensington up into four separate autonomous schools in order to improve
the climate and instructional rigor on campus. YUC students conducted listening campaigns


to collect input from the student body about what the new schools should look like. They
presented this input to Philadelphia School District CEO Paul Vallas. The plan included sites for
the schools, identified themes for each new (building).

Through further advocacy with the school board and community organizations, (student
organization) built a consensus for the breakup of Kensington High School. Several years later,
the chief academic officer of Philadelphia Public Schools publicly committed, in front of 250
students, residents, parents, and Kensington administrators, to the re-design of Kensington
High School.

Schools and school systems ultimately share the same objectives as youth organizing groups
when it comes to education reform demands, specifically that young people deserve a quality
education. There are opportunities for the work of youth organizing groups and educators to
align with one another. For example, where opportunities for civic and political engagement are
lacking in schools, partnerships between youth organizing groups and schools can help fill the
gap.

Youth organizing is a counter-narrative to prevailing assumptions of youth disengagement from
civic and political life. It provides a powerful avenue through which young people of color, who
are all too often dismissed in public discourse, can have a voice and build collective power. Not
only do these youth voices matter, they are vital and necessary as communities attempt to
address our most pressing social problems, whether under-performing schools, unsafe
neighborhoods, or poor environmental conditions. Resolving these longstanding problems will
require the engagement and commitment of those who have the most at stake.

Involvement in organizing increases young peoples educational motivation and aspirations.
Although there are significant disparities in educational outcomes for young people of color and
low-income students, young people involved in youth organizing seemed to counter these
trends. Eighty percent of students noted their grades improved and 60% reported that they
took more challenging coursework due to their involvement in organizing. Eighty percent of
youth reported plans to pursue a college education and close to half of the sample said they
expected to obtain a graduate or professional degree beyond college.



Youth Organizing for Educational Change, Anderson Williams, Deniece Ferguson and Nicole
Yohalem, Forum for Youth Investment.

Based on research done for the Community Center for Education Results, with funding from
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The seven profiles shared in this report show what can
happen when adults intentionally create the expectation that young people have a
responsibility to be not only informed educational consumers, but engaged change-makers.
Combined with evidence of concrete changes in education policies and practices resulting from
youth organizing, this suggests we should take seriously the role of students as active change
agents in their own education, as well as in other policy arenas that affect their lives.

Peter Dewitt, Rigor, Relevance and Relationships: An Interview with Bill Daggett Education
Week, January 4, 2012
i

Our Youth, Our Future!

ADVANCING STRATEGIES FOR CHANGE
A Report on the National Juvenile Justice Town Hall Series
September 2010


A Report on the National Juvenile Justice Town Hall Series

Renee Branch Canady, Ph.D.
Paul Elam, Ph.D.
Elisabeth Kingsbury, J.D.
Teresa Kmetz
Deb Nolan
James Petty III
Keith Tate
Henrie M. Treadwell, Ph.D.
Willard Walker

Acknowledgements for content contributing to this report are extended to:
National H.I.R.E. Network
Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana


5 | P a g e

One of the most significant investments that the U.S. can make in stimulating economic recovery is preparing young people for success in the global knowledge
economy and ensuring that barriers and roadblocks to that success are removed. Through the reform of the systems and structures that shape childrens lives
and futures, the return on investment will be realized through increased educational attainment, job and career readiness, and a measurable reduction in the
incarceration and recidivism rates of juveniles. Further, additional gains will be realized through the careful and intentional reintegration of formerly
incarcerated citizens into families and communities. By investing in structural reforms on behalf of our youth, we are investing in the prosperity of our nations
future.

BACKGROUND

Community Voices

In 1998, The W.K. Kellogg Foundation helped launch Community
Voices as a pilot program to create greater health care access at the
local level and give the underserved a louder voice in the national
debate on health care access. In 2003, the National Center for
Primary Care at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta
became the groups program office. Morehouse School of
Medicines specialization includes adolescent medicine and seeks to
promote optimal health outcomes for youth, teenagers and young
adults. This includes working with the department of juvenile
justice and the provision of an elective rotation for students seeking
training in the field of correctional medicine to make certain that
our future physicians actually rely on experience as opposed to their
own preconceived notions and ideas about what happens at the
department of juvenile Justice.

Henrie B. Treadwell, Senior Social Scientist and Associate Director of
Development in the National Center for Primary Care at Morehouse
School is the director of Community Voices: Healthcare for the
Underserved. Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved is
a dynamic advocate for change in pursuit of one simple goal - a
healthier America. While programs and activities are diverse, the
core focus remains sharp: building stronger communities by
strengthening the health of families. The mission is to listen to
voices in the community that often go unheard and take an active
leadership role in improving health for all.

Community Voices has three approaches to achieving its mission:

Educate teach best practices for health care in
underserved communities and inform national leaders on
the impact of access to care
Advocate fight through word and deed to improve
economic and cultural conditions that are part of the social
determinants of health
Elevate lift families, communities and the nation through
better health and health care


6 | P a g e

Community Voices efforts are focused in five key areas:

Health and Prison
Mental and Behavioral Health
Mens Health
Adult and Childhood Obesity
Health and Social Policy

Health and Prison

While all of Community Voices focus areas impact community
health, the National Town Hall Series on Juvenile Justice was
created specifically to engage communities in dialogue about health
in prison and health upon release from prison as big factors in the
success of people and families struggling with the consequences of
incarceration an area that disproportionally impacts minority
communities. Better health care behind bars translates into better
chances for success upon release. Strong, comprehensive re-entry
programs that address access to health care and even further,
address overall wellness through access to jobs, housing and
education improve chances for success and strengthen foundations
for families and children.

The Town Hall Series is framed by a documented and data-driven
perspective that health and social policies at the national, state and
local level have dramatic impact that is frequently magnified in
underserved communities.

Educating, Advocating and Elevating Communities

Community Voices: Health Care for the Underserved also oversees a group
of community-based demonstration projects dedicated to finding real-life
ways to provide greater access to quality health care to the underserved
and uninsured people in America. The goals are to increase enrollment of
eligible people into public programs and to improve health care access and
quality for the underserved by providing models for change and
improvement. Program outcomes include a greater focus on primary care
and prevention, preservation and strengthening of the community health
care safety net, implementation of a stronger health care delivery system,
and development of best practices for communities to adapt to unique
circumstances.

Community Voices has established several learning laboratories
over the years across the United States. One of these learning
laboratories was established in Lansing, Michigan in 1998. Led by
the Ingham County Health Department, Ingham Community Voices
was a partnership of 23 community-based organizations, public
school districts, police departments, and health systems. The
centerpiece of Ingham Community Voices is a process to involve
health care purchasers, providers, insurers, and consumers in
developing recommendations for an organized system of care for
the uninsured. As a result of Community Voices project, the Ingham
Health Plan was created and enrolled more than 30,000 low-income
people and halved the number of uninsured in the area. The project
provided evidence that county government can be a catalyst for
expanding community access.


7 | P a g e

Rather than using money from Kellogg to invest in infrastructure,
the partnership instead used resources to invest in dialogue to build
community will and momentum. Much of this momentum has been
sustained by local community leading to innovative projects and a
community culture that learns, solves problems and changes
through dialogue.

Partnership with Ingham Change Initiative

Community Voices/Morehouse School of Medicine and Ingham
Change Initiative Commission engaged youth and young adults in
the development of a report on sustaining juvenile justice and
health promotion changes discussed during the Community Voices
Town Hall Series on Juvenile Justice in 2009-2010.
The Ingham Change Initiative is one such innovation that has
emerged from the Capital Area Community Voices dialogue process.
Led by a Commission of 23 local leaders, the Ingham Change
Initiatives mission echoes the spirit of the Capital Area Community
Voices project through ongoing dialogue, making it a viable partner
to host a town hall meeting focused on how the intersections
between juvenile justice and other public systems can eliminate
disparity and promote prosperity for all. With a focus on impacting
policy, practice and perception at the federal, state and local levels,
the Ingham Change Initiative Commission enthusiastically agreed to
partner with Community Voices in capturing the lessons learned
and recommending promising strategies to advance reform efforts.


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Inequity & Disparity in the United States

Driving the National Town Hall Series is data that reveals disparate outcomes by race and gender at the national, state and local levels. National
findings from a study conducted by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies Health Policy Institutes Dellums Commission identify
policies and practices in Health, Child Welfare, Education, Employment, Economic Development, Justice and Media systems that result in
disproportionately negative outcomes for young men of color. The populations most affected by these policies and practices are identified as
African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American. Even with controls for other variables that could potentially result in similar outcomes,
such as income or education, the most significant determinant of disparate levels of service, treatment and resulting outcome seems to be based
on the race and gender of the individual. These findings suggest there may be preference or discrimination within policy and practice that is
based on race and/or gender.

Birth to Prison Pipeline

The cumulative affect of these disparities in service, treatment and outcomes has become known as the birth-to-prison pipeline or the
school-to-prison pipleline. An example of how this is translated by the data is African-American boys have a one-in-three chance of going to
prison in their lifetimes and African-American youth are four times as likely as white youth to be incarcerated. Surely there is more at play than
individual choice and behavior when we look at who is behind bars.

Whos Behind Bars
1 in 9 black men 20-34 1 in 100 black women 35-39
1 in 15 black men 18 or older 1 in 106 white men 18 0r older
1 in 36 hispanic men 18 or older 1 in 265 women 35-39
1 in 54 men ages 18 or older 1 in 297 hispanic women 35-39
1 in 100 adults 1 in 355 white women 35-39

Source: Pew Center on the States


9 | P a g e

The next 4 pages include data supporting the findings of the Dellums Commission reports of the national impact and prevalence of disparity and
inequity. The map below illustrates the states with the highest rates of unemployment with the darkest shading. Unemployment rates are but
one indicator of the prosperity of a state or region.

U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE BY STATE, 2010


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U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE BY RACE

The percentage of children living in poverty is a reflection of family/household earnings and income. Children who live in families with one or
more unemployed or incarcerated persons are much more likely to live at or below the poverty level.

0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
2007 2008 2009 2010
Asian
White
U.S. Unemployment Rate
Hispanic
Black

11 | P a g e

PERCENT CHILDREN LIVING IN POVERTY

0
10
20
30
40
50
Under 18 Under 5 years 5 to 17
Percent
Economic Inequity
White
Total
Hispanic
Black
Page 12
U.S. GRADUATION RATES FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN MALES

When we look at the graduation rates for African American males across the country, not only are there geographic patters, but the rates are
fairly consistent with those of incarceration with African American males comprising half of the inmate population.


13 | P a g e

SPENDING PRIORITIES

"We are tracking one group of kids from kindergarten to prison, and we are tracking one group of kids from kindergarten to college."
- Lani Guinier

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, from 1977-1995, U.S. prison spending increased by 823% while spending on higher education went up by
only 374%. In 2007, five states spent as much or more on corrections than they did on higher education, Michigan among them. The Birth to
Prison Pipeline, also referred to as the School to Prison Pipeline with a focus on how public education systems contribute to dismal outcomes
with policies and practices that sort and limit opportunities for some groups of students. How and where our nation invests its resources is
perhaps the most significant indicator in who will go to college and who will go to prison.

Vermont
Michigan
Oregon
Connecticut
Delaware
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6
R
a
t
i
o

o
f

S
p
e
n
d
i
n
g
Ratio of Corrections to Higher Education Spending, 2007
Source: Pew Center on the States


14 | P a g e

THE EXCESS OF INEQUALITY

Juvenile Justice Facilities & Prisons have become the major health care providers for African American Men and Increasingly African- American
women a shocking indictment of the health care system as we know it today. Henrie M. Treadwell, Potholes on the Road to Progress

According to studies conducted by a team of researchers at Johns Hopkins University led by Thomas LaVeist, Ph.D., more than 30 percent of
direct medical costs faced by African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans were excess costs due to health inequities more than $230
billion over a three year period. And when you add the indirect costs of these inequities over the same period, the tab comes to $1.24 trillion. In
the report, The Economic Burden of Health Inequalities, Ralph B. Everett, Esq., President and CEO of Joint Center for Political and Economic
Studies suggests, As legislators look for ways to make health reform pay for itself, it appears that eliminating health inequities can provide an
important source of savings. In addition, given the Census Bureaus estimate that by 2042 half of the people living in the United States will be
people of color, it is imperative that we be prepared to address the health needs of an increasingly diverse population. There is no time like the
present to begin focusing on the goal of health equity a goal that is not only consistent with the American promise of opportunity, but in our
long-term economic interest, as well.

Total Excess Direct Medical Care Expenditures Due to Health Inequalities for Racial/Ethnic Minorities (Billions) Source:
Thomas LaVeist et al, Economic Burden of Health Inequities

Year Total Expenditures for
Minorities
Excess Expenditures Percent that is Excess
2003 201 56 28%
2004 169 54 32%
2005 188 58 31%
2006 191 61 32%
Total 749 229 31%


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A Common Vision: Lessons from Town Hall Meetings

The Town Hall Series on Juvenile Justice utilizes dialogue to
continue to develop new ways to measure, define and replicate
successful strategies for dismantling the birth to prison pipeline.
This report offers a framework for sustaining and advancing
promising approaches to strengthening the community health care
safety net by addressing the needs of the most vulnerable,
evaluating the process, and methods to document those findings to
contribute to policy reform and to communities of learning and
practice.

Considering the prevalence of disparity for communities of color
across the country and the disproportionately high rate of
incarceration of males of color, it is not surprising that there were
common discussion threads between the three Town Hall Meetings
held in Atlanta, GA; New Orleans, LA; and Lansing, MI. From three
distinctly different approaches to community dialogue a common
vision for change has emerged. In the following synopsis of each
event, addressing the realities of structural racism, reform of system
failures that have perpetuated a pipeline to prison, and
constituent advocacy, are the unifying messages.

16 | P a g e

Reforming the Juvenile & Criminal Justice Systems:
How Can They Work for Vulnerable Boys & Parents
of Young Children? (Atlanta, GA)

Host: Community Voices: Healthcare for the
Underserved of Morehouse School of
Medicine
Organizer: Elisabeth Kingsbury, J.D. - Senior Researcher at
Community Voices of Morehouse School of Medicine
Moderator: Soledad O'Brien - anchor and special
correspondent for CNN Worldwide

Discussants: Honorable Danny Davis - U.S. House of
Representatives; Warren Ballentine - radio personality and
attorney, Warren Ballentine Show; Honorable Sharon Hill -
executive director of Georgia Appleseed (Atlanta, GA); Francine
Lucas-Sinclair - founder of Yellow Brick Roads, (Oldsmar, FL); Vicki
Lopez Lukis - vice chair of Florida Department of Corrections Reentry
Advisory Council, executive director of Girls Advocacy Project, Inc.
(Miami, FL); Pat Nolan - vice president of Prison Fellowship
(Lansdowne, VA); Dorsey Nunn - director of Legal Services for
Prisoners with Children, cofounder of All of Us or None (San
Francisco, CA)

The first of three national town hall meetings, held in Atlanta,
Georgia in May of 2009 as part of the Freedoms Voice
Conference, focused specifically on policy and practice change
of the justice system with an emphasis on failures in the justice
system and preparation of prisoners, families and the
communities for inevitable re-entry.

17 | P a g e

Setting the Stage with Commentary on Corrections, Culture and
Policy

The United States is the most incarcerated nation on the face of the
earth and has more people imprisoned than any other country in
the world, proportionately and in actual numbers. That's hard to
believe, acknowledged Congressman Danny Davis. And one of the
reasons that we do is because of our policies and practices; and if
those trends are going to change, it means that our policies and
practices must change.

Prevention

Fulton County is a large county and it covers all of the city of Atlanta
with upwards of 30,000 hearings scheduled with young people of all
ages. Sharon Hill, former juvenile court judge and now executive director
of Georgia Appleseed, reflects on her years on the bench. I didn't want
to deal with kids and families in the courtroom. I wanted to get to
them before they came through the threshold of the courthouse.
And where do you do that? In our schools. But in addition to that,
we've got to deal with what's going on in the courthouse.

Legislation

Ground-breaking legislation to substantially rewrite Georgias
juvenile code has been undertaken under the leadership of State
Senator, Bill Hamrick, who introduced SB 292. While highlighting the
barrier of inadequate funding, discussants acknowledged the
significance of the Second Chance Act in raising awareness and
identifying re-entry as a national priority to address broader
community health determinants like employment, housing and
education. The Second Chance Act reminds policy makers and the
general public that the majority of inmates will not be incarcerated
indefinitely.

Re-Entry

All of Us or None is a group of formerly incarcerated people
organized to strengthen their own voices and speak to the needs of
formerly incarcerated people. The group fights for the full
restoration of rights and started with changing language. The group
has been fighting to get the question, "Have you been convicted of
a felony?" removed from most job applications so that formerly
incarcerated people can compete competitively for work, because
attached to the work is the question of health care benefits.

Discussants frank commentary about the culture of corrections
amplifies the need for the advocacy of policy makers and
constituents. The economic engine of the prison industrial
complex is one that has been fed with a ready supply of new and
returning inmates. Its slavery, big businessIt's about making
money and it's about keeping these people in the system so they
can keep that money coming in and out of the system, says Warren
Ballentine, attorney and host of the Warren Ballentine radio show.


18 | P a g e

Maximum Policy Impact

In response to the question asked by moderator Soledad OBrien,
What policies could make the biggest impact? discussants offered
recommendations for reform as well as increased investment in
prevention.

Disparity

The ability to identify policies that exacerbate or could potentially
mitigate the disproportionate representation of males of color in
the corrections system was suggested as one likely to have the
greatest impact on improving broad community health.
Congressman Danny K. Davis, D-Ill., the lead sponsor of The Second
Chance Act (H.R. 1593) stated, There has to be a real focus on what
has happened to African-American males in this country. And so I
put a lot of emphasis on that, because if you've got this many
unhealthy people in a community, there's no way that the
community itself can be healthy.

Access to Health Care

Access to health care before people go into the system is critically
important to how they fare in the system and when they exit. Vicki
Lopez Lukis, vice chair of Florida Department of Corrections Reentry
Advisory Council, executive director of Girls Advocacy Project, Inc. in
Miami, identifies the intersection between the criminal justice
system and the public health system as one of prevention and
intervention. There's no question that if we had addressed these
issues in the neighborhoods where these people live that they
would have been less likely to enter into the criminal justice system,
and for those that have the unfortunate experience of entering,
that many of their issues can be addressed there as well. We see it
at the juvenile level and we see it at the adult level.

Many of the children and adults who come into the criminal justice
system have never had any health care, and they are coming with a
plethora of problems. And if they don't get the assistance they
need, they are further aggravated; and, therefore, when they come
home, oftentimes those issues are far more complicated for the
communities and the local governments to deal with.

Ms. Lopez Lukis further recommends that policy makers and
practitioners start treating the health and justice systems as if they
intersect as opposed to being disconnected silos. Discussants also
amplified the need for systems that are equipped to address
criminogenic factors at the root such as poverty and mental health.

Employment

Given the scale of the public sector labor force, it was
recommended by Dorsey Nunn, director of Legal Services for
Prisoners with Children and cofounder of All of Us or None (San
Francisco, CA) that the government create employment opportunity
through policy by creating protections for formerly incarcerated
people against discrimination in the hiring process for government
contractors at the federal, state and local level. Many of the
organizations, for example, that I meet with quite frequently who
espouse the cause don't have any ex-offenders on their payroll.
How many formerly incarcerated people does the federal
government hire?" asked Nolan. I don't believe that you can lead
where you don't go. And I don't believe you can teach what you
don't know, echoed Congressman Davis.


19 | P a g e

Organizing for Reform and Re-Entry

There is a current proposal being advanced by Senator Jim Webb to
establish a national prison commission or a criminal justice
commission to examine who belongs in prison and what constitutes
a crime. Discussants suggest that crime must be defined beyond law
breaking just because of the sheer number of laws to really look at
the harm caused to others and the appropriate level of
accountability.

In addition to the front-end work, which is sentencing reform of
who belongs in prison and developing appropriate sanctions, there
is the need for re-entry systems. Discussants agreed upon the
creation of a national reentry commission that brings together
reentry experts and brings together formerly incarcerated people
and their families with experts across systems from health,
employment, housing and education. Strong emphasis was given to
the need to have legislators involved that can make a difference in
these policies. An example provided of the change legislators can
and should take the lead on was the Justice Departments
commitment to review the disparities between crack and powder
cocaine.

Can Re-entry Help Make the Case for Prevention?

Understanding the process for change is critical to the ability to
affect change. Congressman Davis reflects, I used to think that I
was a revolutionary. I wanted to be a revolutionary, but I've
discovered that change oftentimes is more evolutionary than it is
revolutionary because you don't have enough revolutionaries. And
so you've got to create more revolutionaries who are sure about
what they feel themselves. Because a lot of people aren't certain. I
mean, people want programs, but they tell you take them to the
other side of town, don't put them in my back yard. We call it the
NIMBY attitude, not in my back yard. Don't put a halfway house
here, take it up on the lakeshore, take it to California, take it to New
York or somewhere.

The discussants underscored the need for a continuum of responses
that includes prevention, early intervention and re-entry,
particularly in the lives of children who have an incarcerated parent.
A key commonality among many adults in prison is the fact that
they did not graduate from high school. An example provided of one
approach to stopping the school-to-prison pipeline is CHINS,
Children in Need of Services. The objective is to intervene with
children before they come in contact with the courts. If the
legislation were to pass that include the CHINS provision, it would
allow families to access resources before a complaint is filed. This
kind of legislation acknowledges crime as community health issue
that must be treated as such.

Family support is essential to improving the well-being of the
vulnerable child from a prevention standpoint. The number of
people incarcerated has redefined family structure and as a result,
support for dependent children must be redefined to meet the
needs of all kinds of family structures. An example is kinship
subsidy for the increasing number of grandparents, aunts, uncles
and siblings who become primary caregivers in the stead of absent
parents who are not able to provide child support while
incarcerated. Congressman Davis referenced a bill called the Family
Connectors Act which acknowledges that the breakdown in family
structure caused by incarcerating parents necessitates increased

20 | P a g e

family support. He also suggests this breakdown is also a
justification for revising mandatory minimums.

The Impact of Perception on Political Will

Pat Nolan, vice president of Prison Fellowship stated, We've known
for 20 years what needs to be done. It's the political will to do it
that's key; and as a former legislator, I love what Senator Everett
Dirksen said. The great Senator from Illinois said, "When I feel the
heat, I see the light. That's how I think we build a movement.
Congress needs to feel the heat, but that we all need to feel the
heat is from people in every community saying we're better than
this. According to Nolan, the Second Chance Act was a five-and-a-
half year process due the time it took to mobilize public opinion.
Part of the task that continues to be a priority is to put a human
face on prisoners and to change perceptions that perpetuate
stereotypes of prisoners based on race.

Further, finding the most effective frames for messaging is key to
changing perception and mobilizing will. It is necessary to define the
message of reform in a way where the entire community can buy in
to the concept that unemployment is really a health issue,
unemployment is really a safety issue, and being without housing is
everybody's issue, to avoid reinforcement of the perception that
these are the marginalized problems of racial minorities.

While African American represent 12% of the nations population,
they represent 50% of people in prison. One recommended
message framing strategy is bringing the faces of people that may
not be people of color in connection with the people of color. Lopez
Lukis suggests that efforts for reform have not been successful
because of the perception that the problems with systems affect
just people of color. It affects Americans -- The people of color are
impacted by it, but now you're impacting everybody with it. So now
it's a problem you ought to be looking at. And the heat should be
that we ought to be filling these rooms with the parents and the
siblings and the children of everybody incarcerated and you'll see
how fast they'll see the light, said Lukis. Others pointed out that
these statistics point to the disproportionate representation of
African Americans in the incarcerated population as a result of both
racial and socioeconomic inequities. It's not just racist. It's an -ism.
Because, look, it's classism because if you've got the money, you can
get the best attorney to walk in there for you, said Nolan.

Jurisprudence

While reform of the justice system is the objective, judges are not a
part of the conversation. Discussants noted that judges have been
actively involved in the development of mental health courts and
drugs courts to create a separate space for problem-solving, but
historically have been less involved in reforming the policies that
create the need for mental health and drug courts. It was
recommended that judges take the lead in reforming the justice
system starting with tracking of decisions and disposition data to
identify the issues that are steering more and more people into the
courts and prisons. For this to occur the general consensus was that
education and culture change is necessary within the judicial
system.

Discussant recommendations to ensure judges are actively involved
in policy reform would bring them into dialogue with health system
leaders, practitioners, educators and other systems stakeholders as

21 | P a g e

well as formerly incarcerated people, to address mental health and
substance abuse within the broader context of community health
rather than that of criminogenic behavior. This would bring judges
into the process of informing policy that could 1) prevent entry into
the justice system by improving the conditions that contribute to
poor health through a better understanding of criminogenic, clinical
and social problems rather than criminalizing behavior that could be
best treated through other systems, 2) improve health outcomes for
people while they are in the justice system by improving access,
appropriateness and quality of care, and 3) improve overall
community health by integrating quality physical and mental health
care as part of the re-entry plan. Because of the impact judges have
in determining the outcome of an individuals future as well as the
outcomes for entire groups of people based on race, gender and
socioeconomics, the continuum of legal theory and philosophy
should be inclusive of the ideals and spirit of social justice.

Youth Engagement and Advocacy

A sixteen-year-old African American female spoke from the
audience on behalf of her peers and made it clear that they are no
more a homogeneous group than any other despite stereotypes.
Smith acknowledged that while there are some who are on the
wrong path there are others who do not fit the stereotype of bad
kids and that those teens do not get enough recognition. Further,
Smith cautions that ignorance of policy and laws is negatively
impacting many young people who fail to understand the long-term
consequences. I'm watching my friends become incarcerated at a
young age, 16 and younger, and they don't understand how it's
affecting their lives. I really don't understand why there aren't as
many programs for youth.
Discussant recommendations included teaching the law to students
at 10 and 11 years old and continuing all the way through high
school. A promising approach for engaging youth and empowering
them for self-advocacy was offered by discussant Lopez-Lukis,
whose organization Girls Advocacy Project, Inc. structures role
playing of real cases with formerly incarcerated people. We take it
to young people and we make them part of the scene. When you
role model with the person who was there at 19, who served 12
years and 8 months for never having picked up a drug, you'd be
surprised how quickly everybody gets with the program. So I think
we ought to do more of that, and that's a way of incorporating
formerly incarcerated people to give back.

Debunking the Myth of Public Safety

The discussants agree the purpose of reform is not to have a strong
criminal justice system but to have safe communities. Discussant
Nolan cautioned that communities are not safer despite spending
$62 billion as a country on the prison system. If recidivism rates are
an indicator of public safety then the statistic provided by Nolan
that 70 percent of people released from prisons in California are re-
incarcerated within three years would indicate that incarceration
did not ultimately, or perhaps even temporarily, improve public
safety. Nolan points out that any hospital that failed 70 percent of
the time would go out of business, but we feed it more. Prisons are
the only system that grows by failing.

He adds there are programs that turn lives around, that transform
lives, and they become healthy, productive, contributing members
of societySo one is the myth. Its not really big business. It's
actually big government because most of the business is actually on

22 | P a g e

the government dole. It's judges, it's prosecutors, criminal defense,
it's parole officers, probation officers, you know, corrections
officers, police officers. It's all big business. What Nolan
recommends is a reallocation of priorities and resources to invest in
communities where there are higher rates of people being arrested
and incarcerated. One example he recommends is to serve children
of incarcerated parents through the educational system rather than
criminal justice system, which means shifting dollars from the
Department of Corrections and into the Department of Education.

Key Lesson Learned

The key lessons learned from the Atlanta Town Hall Meeting are
that any effective efforts to address the prison pipeline will:

Reform public education including reallocating public
spending

Ensure Restorative Justice for children of the incarcerated

Support the Fostering Connections to Success and
Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 which supports children
and youth in foster care by promoting permanent families
through relative guardianship and adoption and improving
education and health care through age 21, including
supports and protections for American Indian children

Invest in communities and systems that can mitigate
criminogenic, clinical and social problems before they lead
to adjudication

Bring together policy makers, practitioners, educators,
researchers, constituents and other stakeholders in
dialogue and reform across systems in a continuum that
promotes optimal community health outcomes through
prevention, intervention, incarceration and re-entry
strategies

Include CHINS (Children in Need of Services) provision in
legislation

Educate and engage young people in understanding the
nations justice system and laws and the systemic influence
of the prison pipeline in determining future success

Intentionally and consistently identify intersections of race,
gender, economics and policy that perpetuate health
inequity and disproportionate representation of the poor
and people of color in the prison system


23 | P a g e

Youth Justice Summit (New Orleans, LA)

Host: National H.I.R.E. Network
Organizer: Dana Kaplan - Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana
Moderators: Gina Womack - Director/Founder of Families & Friends of
Louisianas Incarcerated Children
Jericho Curtis - member of Young Adults Striving for
Success

Discussants: Kirtrinika Clark, Aston Shields, Ariel Simms, Jeremiah Douglas
Siraj Rahman, Keedy Nunnery, Keionta King, Corey Frazier, Julius Lee, Adam
Ellis, Taylor Johnson, Briana ONeal Members, Young Adults Striving for
Success; Krea Gomez - Program Manager of Criminal Justice Network for
Youth, Burns Institute; Natalia Ventsko - Youth Advocate, Juvenile Justice
Project of Louisiana (JJPL); Matt Menendez - JJPL Intern and Loyola Law
Student; Robert Goodman - Organizer, Safe Streets/Strong Communities; Kelly
Orians - Juvenile Life Without Parole Reform Campaign Coordinator, JJPL; Kelly
Jorden Member, Silence Is Violence Peace Clubs; Allison Goodman, Silence Is
Violence; Wesley Ware - Youth Advocate, JJPL; Adonus Harris Member,
Brotherhood, Inc.; Carol Kolinchak - Legal Director, JJPL; Ashana Bigard -
Parent Organizer; Dana Kaplan - Director, JJPL; Roberta Meyers-Peeples
Director, National H.I.R.E. Network

The second town hall meeting was a youth and community partner
summit held in New Orleans, Louisiana in March of 2010 specifically
focused on engaging youth in policy reform and advocacy


24 | P a g e

Organizers

The National Helping Individuals with criminal records Reenter
through Employment (H.I.R.E.) Network subcontracted with
Morehouse School of Medicines Community Voices: Healthcare for
the Underserved (Community Voices) to facilitate the planning of a
juvenile justice and reentry educational forum in New Orleans,
Louisiana. Established by the Legal Action Center, the National H.I.R.E.
Network is both a national clearinghouse for information and an advocate
for policy change. The goal of the National H.I.R.E. Network is to increase
the number and quality of job opportunities available to people with
criminal records by changing public policies, employment practices and
public opinion. The National H.I.R.E. Network also provides training and
technical assistance to agencies working to improve employment
prospects for people with criminal records.

The National H.I.R.E. Network identified the Juvenile Justice Project
of Louisiana (JJPL) as an ideal local partner in convening the Youth
Justice Summit in New Orleans. The mission of the JJPL is to transform
the juvenile justice system into one that builds on the strengths of young
people, families and communities to ensure children are given the greatest
opportunities to grow and thrive. JJPL is a statewide nonprofit
advocacy organization based in New Orleans that is committed to
reforming Louisianas juvenile justice system. JJPL is also known for
its role in enhancing community resources by incubating and
spinning off new projects that further supports the development
and empowerment of the New Orleans community.

JJPL is viewed as the most instrumental leader in Louisiana that
develops youth leaders by encouraging and supporting their
development through civic engagement. In 2008, the youth who
had been leading JJPL's Close YSC (Youth Study Center) Campaign
officially named themselves Young Adults Striving for Success, or
YASS. The group started when JJPL filed a federal class action lawsuit on
conditions of confinement at the Youth Study Center, New Orleans
juvenile jail. A number of incarcerated youth who were plaintiffs got
involved in the campaign for reform. Many of them continued to work
with JJPL after their release and wanted to take on other social issues they
were grappling with post-Katrina New Orleans. The group currently has
approximately 25 members, half of whom have had some
involvement in the juvenile justice system, that are ages 12-24 years
old and represent many neighborhoods of New Orleans. YASS goals
are: 1) to foster leadership skills; 2) to bring awareness to the issues
that face youth in New Orleans; and 3) to work as a collective
internally and externally to bring about positive social change in
their community.

Youth Voice in Advocacy and Policy Reform

The goal of the event was to convene youth from southern regional
states that bordered Louisiana Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi
and allow them to develop solutions to challenges they faced as a
Just because we fight, (doesnt) mean we
dont want to learnfighting is just all we know,
but we still want to learn.


25 | P a g e

result of policies and practices that were enforced in their schools
and in their neighborhoods. The event included workshops that
provided youth the information and tools they need to serve as
change agents in improving systemic criminal justice/juvenile justice
policies that are detrimental to their health and the health of their
communities.

HIRE identified the following overall themes as the focus for the
summit:

The devastating impact of zero tolerance policies and the
school-to-prison pipeline
Sentencing reform and the importance of alternatives to
incarceration
Pathways to the futurelegal, policy, and practical barriers
to education, employment, and housing
What works and what else is needed to ensure success for
youth connected to the juvenile justice system

In October 2009, YASS organized and hosted the Central City Youth
Summit that brought together youth living in New Orleans, state
and local public officials and policymakers, and other community
stakeholders to facilitate a dialogue about systemic issues that
affect youth such as: education, recreational programs, drugs and
violence, peer pressure, role models and authorities, low self-
esteem, low expectations, and blight. Community Voices built on
YASS efforts by sponsoring another youth summit to mobilize youth
in their community to serve as change agents in the city of New
Orleans as well as on the state and federal levels. The objective in
bringing in youth from other states in the region to participate in
these activities was to inspire them to use what they learned in
their home state and communities.

Youth Engagement Strategies

In an effort to increase the number of youth and families
participating in the days events, JJPL arranged for local music artists
to perform, served a hot lunch, conducted a raffle of an IPod and
PlayStation 3 game system, and provided two childcare assistants
for parents with younger children.

JJPL organized six breakout workshop sessions facilitated by a team
of adult and youth advocates to facilitate discussion about issues
that lead to policies that hurt rather than help them such as:

Race-based discrimination
Criminalization of youth behavior
Interacting with law enforcement
Intergenerational communication
LGBTQ discrimination
School disciplinary policies (school-to-prison pipeline)
Advocacy

I dont think enough people know that youth care
about whats going on...were not the enemy.


26 | P a g e

The closing plenary was a report-back session where youth from
each of the workshops gave details about the content of the
workshop and the recommendations or key information the
workshop participants identified as relevant and important.

Youth Advocacy

A workshop on advocacy included a modified version of the School
to Prison Pipeline game that was developed by the ACLU which
(http://aclu.tv/pipeline-game). It provided an opportunity to
demonstrate how someone can move through the School to Prison
Pipeline for what starts as a minor school infraction. Attendees
chose how they would respond to the hypothetical situations
presented and then commented on the responses of school
personnel, security and the courts. (The game informs the player
that in Michigan students that have been suspended or expelled
have no right to an education.)

Role play was another method the Summit used to expose youth to
the various stakeholder roles of advocacy and the process by which
they could get involved in advocating for policy changes they want
to see benefit their community. Participants devised an advocacy
campaign strategy to build support around a bill proposal. The mock
education campaign included: developing and disseminating a
petition, getting community members to phone and write their
senate representatives, a public rally, creating and disseminating
fliers about proposed education bills with key facts, and visiting the
offices of senate representatives. After the senate voted on the bill
of their choice, they then sent letters to the office of the president
asking her to sign the bill.

The participants learned that the advocacy activities they identified
were things they could do to have a voice in the legislative process
at the local, state, and federal levels. They learned the role and
authority of each level of government: the City Council as the local
legislature with the Mayor serving as the city leader; the State
Senate and House of Representatives as the legislature for the State
and the Governor as the State leader; and the Senate and House of
Representatives of Congress, the federal legislature with the
President as the leader of the administration.


27 | P a g e

Key Lessons Learned

What privilege and oppression means and how we both
abuse others and are victims of privilege

Acknowledgement of significant events in the history of the
US that helped to define the criminal justice system as it is
today

Youth have rights in three major areas of the juvenile justice
process: Arrest, Searches, and Questioning

LGBTQ youth are disproportionately represented in the
juvenile justice system

Grand paradigm shifts are needed in terms of youth and
adults working together to combat violence and for conflict
resolution between youth and adults

End out of school suspensions

Schools and school systems, instead of preparing students
for college and careers, prepare them for prison

Metal detectors and bodily searches are a form of violence
as well as a source of stereotyping and disrespect

Replace metal detectors, security guards and police
personal with culturally proficient counselors trained in
conflict resolution

Students need to organize in their schools and community
to destroy the school to prison pipeline and demand the
education they all deserve

Youth advocacy tactics recommended included social
networking sites, pamphlets, billboards and signs


28 | P a g e

Michigan: Our Youth, Our Future! A Statewide Dialogue on
Disparity, Youth & Prosperity (Lansing, MI)

Host: Ingham Change Initiative
Organizer: Angela Waters Austin, Chief Executive Officer, One Love
Global and Coordinator, Community Coalition for Youth
Moderator: Paul Elam, Ph.D. Project Manager, Public Policy Associates

Discussants: Renee Canady, PhD - Deputy Health Officer, Ingham Health
Department Nursing & Special Services; Dele Davies, MD Professor and Chair of
Pediatrics and Human Development, Michigan State University; James Davis -
Deputy Superintendent, Lansing School District; Hiram Fitzgerald, PhD - Associate
Provost for University Outreach and Engagement, University Distinguished
Professor, Department of Psychology, Michigan State University; Toni Hughes
Glasscoe Director of Career Preparation and K-12 Articulation, Lansing
Community College; Jack Kresnak President & Chief Executive Officer,
Michigans Children; Thomas LaVeist, PhD William C. and Nancy F. Richardson
Professor in Health Policy, and Director of the Hopkins Center for Health
Disparities Solutions at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,
University of Maryland (Baltimore, MD); James Petty III co-founder, Y.E.S. and
member, m.a.d.e. ALLIANCE; Keith Tate co-founder, Y.E.S and member,
m.a.d.e. ALLIANCE; Carl Taylor, Ph.D. - Professor, Department of Sociology,
Michigan State University; Clarence Underwood, Ph.D. Athletic Director
Emeritus, Michigan State University and Chair, Ingham Change Initiative; Willard
Walker Senior Policy Consultant, Public Policy Associates, Inc.

The final convening in the National Town Hall Series on Juvenile Justice was
a statewide dialogue held in Lansing, Michigan on April 27, 2010 with a
specific focus on disparity across public systems and promising strategies to
promote prosperity through policy, practice and perception reform.

29 | P a g e

Ingham Change Initiative

The Ingham Change Initiative hosted a statewide dialogue in an effort raise awareness of policy reform efforts in Ingham County and to ignite
similar interest in other communities to engage in the work at the local, state, and national levels. The mission of the Ingham Change Initiative is
to promote policies and practices that will assure all youth in Ingham County have successful life outcomes.

In March 2010, Michigan led the nation in the percent of the labor force that was unemployed. With a national average 10.2%,
Michigans 14.9% of Michigans labor force was unemployed
Private firm ownership across the state is disproportionately predominated by Caucasians

Caucasian
African
American
Hispanic
Native
American-
Alaskan
Pacific
Islander
Asian
Ingham 88.8 5.9 2.2 0.8 0.00% 2.3
Michigan 89.9 6.0 1.3 0.7 0 2.1
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Private Firm Ownership
Page 30
Local Strategies for Change

The initial dialogue trigger questions was: What strategies
should the leaders of the Ingham Change Initiative advocate
for and advance to reduce and eliminate the historical
disparities that exist in the State of Michigan and Ingham
County and contribute to the current economic downturn?

Historically, interventions to address disparity have focused on the
individual and increasing efficacy to overcome barriers to success.
The Ingham Change Initiative seeks to address the policies, practices
and perceptions that create those barriers while ensuring that
reforms address deficits and gaps in the social capital needed to
achieve overall health and prosperity including educational
attainment, viable employment, and family stability.

3. Goal is to impact
practice and outcomes.
2. Policy reform and system
change.
1. Research, strategy and
message development

31 | P a g e

Health/Child Welfare

Systems Change Goals

Lower death rates
Increase access and availability of mental health treatment
Improve health care coverage and adequate health care delivery
Reduce rate of youth placements in out-of-home care
Continue to improve the monitoring of youths health status by foster care caseworkers

Source: Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System

Child Welfare Representation, 2008
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Popul ati on Entri es In Care Exi ts
Mi ssi ng/ other
More than one race
Whi te
Hi spani c
Afri can Ameri can/
Bl ack
Asi an &
Paci fi c Isl ander
Ameri can Indi an/
Al aska Nati ve

32 | P a g e

Policy Reform Suggestions

Prioritize the prevention of child abuse and neglect equally
with efforts to ameliorate the harm of such maltreatment
Children who have been in foster care, including
those who age out of foster care upon turning
18, typically attain fewer years of education and
have less steady employment.
Not surprisingly, they are more likely to experience
homelessness and poverty and to be involved with
the criminal justice system.

Reform child welfare financing to adequately invest in
preventing abuse and neglect
Rather than waiting to treat abuse and neglect after
children have suffered, the nation must invest in
services and supports that strengthen families and
allow them to meet the needs of their children and
help the children grow into their full potential.
Home visiting programs, family-based substance
abuse treatment, effective mental health treatment
and domestic violence services can all intervene
early to help such families before they fall into a
crisis

Education

Elevate graduation rates at both high school and collegiate
levels
Improve the availability and visibility of post-secondary
educational opportunities

Policy Recommendations
Increase accountability at the secondary level to increase
graduation rates; providing incentives to states and local
districts to engage community and business in structuring
educational pathways that align with 21st Century
workforce needs.
Expanding resources and incentives for dropout recovery;
and expanding supplemental supports and afterschool
interventions, especially at the middle school level, to
create a community-based continuum to support student
success

The American Graduation Initiative within the Student Aid
and Financial Responsibility Act (SAFRA) should make youth
without a high school diploma among the priority
populations for service, as well as encourage local
collaborations among community colleges, workforce,
business and community to develop pathways to put youth
on track to postsecondary success.

Employment & Economic Development

Improve training and employment opportunities in
impoverished areas
Increase access to financial and entrepreneurship
opportunities

33 | P a g e

Include youth opportunities in job creation legislation
Ensure Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Reauthorization
focuses on disadvantaged youth

Juvenile and Criminal Justice

Lower detention, adjudication, and out-of-home placement
rates
Improve the rehabilitation and re-entry process

Implement comprehensive sentencing guidelines.
Develop a menu of alternative graduated sanctions and
services for low-risk offenders.
Investment in drug courts that break the cycle of crime and
addition through treatment services.
Use of day reporting centers and short-term residential
facilities.
Use of performance incentives to increase compliance.

Media

Improve outreach and educational opportunities to ensure
diversity of students pursuing careers in the media
Develop policies and practices that support balanced media
ownership, participation and representation

Perception Change Recommendations

Get an understanding of how media works here and in the
larger world.
Bring some journalists in to brief this group on how
media works and how media can work with you to
tell the positive stories.
Support your local minority media. They are going to be the
people who are most willing to consistently work with you.
Learn and use new media; it's cost effective.
There are no gatekeepers and if you want to reach
young people, that is where you are going to reach
them, not in the newspaper.
Develop relationships with your local media before you
need them.
It won't keep the negative stories from being told
but maybe you can become a source to give
balance. It also makes it possible for you to pick up
the phone to tell a reporter a good story.
Help media do their job better
Do not send us press releases at the last minute.
Don't just tell us what is happening, but tell us why
it is important.
If you send us bad news and awful statistics about
drop-out rates, we cover it. So start sending out
good news too.
Be ready to respond on a dime.
I keep a list of folks I can call to get a quote from
when I need a national context.
Dr. Treadwell is on that list. Make sure you are on
that list for folks who do media locally.

34 | P a g e

If you pitch a story, don't just say "we have this
program."
Tell me why it's important. And have folks ready to
talk to me.
One of the reason I pass on stories is that when I
ask if you have real people to talk to me, they
haven't even thought about it or can't come up with
anybody.

Policy Analysis Questions
1. Are these policy recommendations sufficient to reduce the current level of disparity that we are experiencing in Michigan?
2. What additional strategies should we be considering?
3. How do we get more youth to graduate from high school?

Focus Question:

What should be done to get more young people involved in understanding and changing conditions that negatively impact their
future success?

The Youth Work Group of the Ingham Change Initiative was merged with the Media Work Group for deeper engagement of youth and young
adults in policy, practice and perception reform. Two young men from the Youth/Media Work Group were invited to join the panel of
discussants to provide their perspective of the issues and policy recommendations as well as offer their own ideas for change.

Peace & Prosperity Youth Action Movement for Social Justice

During the summer of 2009, with investment from the Power of We
Consortium Investors Steering Committee and MSU University
Outreach & Engagement, Community Coalition for Youth, One Love
Global and other partners hosted nine events for youth that
provided opportunities for youth to develop social skills while
building social capital. All events were free from conflict and
violence. The events were designed to increase awareness of the
benefits of higher education, peace, unity, and healthy lifestyles
through media, arts, design and entertainment. While the program
target age was 12-17, the Power of 9 events were attended by
individuals ranging from 5 years of age to 60+ with broad appeal to
families.

Building on the success of the Power of 9 Summer Edutainment
Series, the next phase of the Peace & Prosperity Movement is
m.a.d.e. a youth, community and economic development program
that offers Media, Arts, Design & Entertainment (m.a.d.e.) social
entrepreneurship training partnerships. The goals of m.a.d.e. are to
expose youth to entrepreneurship as a pathway to higher education
and careers and to prepare future generations for business and

35 | P a g e

community leadership. The first m.a.d.e. venture will help foster a
culture of peace and a mindset towards prosperity by partnering
with local entertainment establishments and promoters to provide
entrepreneurship and job training opportunities for teens and
young adults.

The first phase of m.a.d.e. is recruiting adults who will train and
mentor young adults, who will in turn, train and mentor high school
youth in teams throughout the program. A professional
development and joint venture network for media, arts, design, and
entertainment professionals has been formed (m.a.d.e. ALLIANCE)
to provide a pool of mentors and talent for revenue-generating
projects. There are currently 12 active members between the ages
of 19-43. Recruitment for youth interns is currently underway.

The Ingham Change Initiative is building on Community Voices
dialogue methodology with the Peace & Prosperity Youth Action
Movement for Social Change, a youth leadership training program
piloted with 8 existing youth leaders and 1 high-risk youth in the
summer of 2009 with a one-year health equity social justice
academy for 25 youth in grades 7-12 from various schools
throughout Ingham County.

Objectives

Outreach and engagement of youth around the issues
of the Ingham Change Initiative
Coordinate events and opportunities to connect youth
with youth serving agencies and organizations
Educate youth on the legislative process and the role of
advocacy in influencing policy, programming and
perception
Provide training for youth to serve as leaders,
presenters, facilitators and peer advocates
Youth leaders facilitate focus groups and community
dialogue on issues, public policies and practices
affecting youth


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Birth to Work Framework

Birth-to-Work is a systems change framework that embraces all levels of community systems that support improved developmental outcomes
for children, youth, young adults and families. The goal is that by 2020 children, youth, and young adults in the Capital Area will grow up with the
skills and abilities to participate positively in the global knowledge economy of the 21
st
century.

Page 37
Birth to Work is dedicated to a set of principles that:

Involve citizen participation and citizen decision making
Stimulate community member issue identification
Allow community input to alternative solutions
Involve community members in building community assets
Involve seeking alternatives to efforts that are likely to
adversely affect the disadvantaged segments of a
community
Increase community leadership capacity


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Lessons Learned for Sustaining the Work

Defining the work on inequity and disparity from a broader community health frame sends a message that it is everyones problem and
affects everyones well-being
The intersection of health, education and justice in producing pipeline to prison outcomes requires working across systems and
working with other systems such as higher education, economic development and media to construct pathways to prosperity.
Authentic community voice requires continues investment and sharing of power
Tools are needed to assist communities in adopting and implement core strategies for policy reform

Advancing Promising Strategies for Other Communities

These core strategies have been identified by the Ingham Change Initiative and reinforced by the National Town Hall Series on Juvenile Justice as
a framework to spark innovation in your community.

A. Identify a Local Champion(s) for Youth and Community Engagement
B. Engaging a Group of Committed and Influential Leaders for Organizing and Planning
C. Creating Space for Shared Leadership Across Systems, Sectors and Constituencies
D. Forming Strategic Partnerships with Organizations to Leverage Resources and Increase Capacity
E. Building Public Will to Support and Sustain Reform Efforts
F. Ongoing Dialogue to Continue Learning and Informing the Change Process
G. Defining a Research Framework to Study Policy, Advocacy Communications and the Affects of Reform Efforts
H. Resource Development Strategies to Build Capacity and Increase Impact

The following section describes the process and progress of the Ingham Change Initiative in development and implementation of the framework
for policy reform.


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Ingham Change Initiative: A Framework for Organizing Communities for Transformation

A Local Champion for Change - Community Coalition for Youth

In 2007, the Ingham Lansing Community Coalition for Youth (CCY), a
coalition of 50 agencies, businesses, community and faith-based
organizations that work together to provide a continuum of care for
youth from prevention to re-entry, convened a symposium to
present data collected and compiled from various local youth
agencies. The data collected revealed significant disparity in
outcomes for young males of color across systems.
Males of color in Lansing/Ingham County are less likely than
Caucasian males to: survive infancy, be employed, graduate from
high school, attend and graduate from college. Males of color are
more likely to: be removed from their homes and placed in foster
care, die of violence as youth, be arrested and convicted, drop out
of school, live in poverty and be homeless.

System Preliminary Data
Health/Child Welfare
67% of male youth (0-19.9 years old) who died in Ingham County were males of color
While 17.4% of all youth in Ingham County are African American, 48% of Ingham County children in foster care were
African American
Education 54% of males of color in Ingham County graduated from high school, compared to 74% of Caucasian males
Employment/
Economic Development
67.3% of all homeless male youth receiving services during the 2007 calendar year in Ingham County (216 out of 321)
were males of color
Juvenile/
Criminal Justice
74% of male youth arrested in Lansing were males of color (2006)
63% of male youth petitioned for prosecution in Ingham County were males of color (2006)
Media
There are no major media outlets in Ingham County owned or operated by persons of color. There are several small
minority-owned print publications. Youth of color have little or no voice in shaping images and stories.


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Organizing for Change

Page 41
Organizing

CCY formed an ad-hoc planning committee to develop a systems-
change strategy to achieve racial equity. CCY staff and the planning
committee researched national data and potential models to inform
the development of a local strategy to address racial and gender-
based disparities. Public Policy Associates Inc., a CCY and planning
team member, provided information about the Joint Center for
Political & Economic Studies study by the Dellums Commission. The
Dellums Commission, chaired by Mayor Ronald V. Dellums (Oakland,
CA), was formed to analyze policies and develop recommendations
to guide communities in reversing policies that have detrimentally
impacted the ability of men of color to prosper.

In August of 2008, the planning committee formed the Ingham
Change Initiative Commission comprised of 23 systems, business,
and community leaders including Police Chief, County Prosecutor,
County Commissioner, City Council, Judges, Workforce Agency
Director, Public Health Officer, and Deputy Schools Superintendent.
Through 5 Systems Work Groups and 5 Practice Work Groups
focused on policy and practice reform, the Commission is working
to mitigate the effects of discrimination and structural racism in
Ingham County to improve outcomes for all youth. Work groups
have diverse representation from the community and are informed
by the recommendations of the Dellums Commission and the Aspen
Institute Community Change Roundtables report on Structural
Racism and Youth Development.

Ongoing Dialogue

While many interventions have been developed and implemented
to change the characteristics of individuals and families, very few
interventions have focused on modifying variables at the system
level that help create and sustain transformative change to reduce
juvenile delinquency, health disparities, and school dropout.
Ingham Countys dialogue methodology is at the core of the Ingham
Change Initiatives approach to research, community engagement,
and reform.

On January 19, 2009, the Ingham Change Initiative held a press
conference to introduce the Commissioners and present preliminary
local data to the media. The press conference served as the first
step in a roll-out of the Initiative and garnered leading news
coverage on all local television networks, print publications and
resulted in several radio interviews.

On April 6, 2009 Community Coalition for Youth partnered with
Michigans Children, a statewide advocacy organization, Lansing
Community College High School Diploma Completion Initiative,
Ingham County Youth Commission, and several CCY members, to
host an event at Lansing Community College for youth to present
their views on factors that lead to school dropout to local, state and
national legislators and policy leaders, including the ICI
Commissioners. Policy makers at the event stated that hearing from
the youth would impact future decision-making and that hearing
the stories directly from those affected by the policies is powerful.
By further engaging and preparing youth to advocate for themselves
and others, the ICI will ensure that transformative change is
leveraged and sustained for the benefit of future generations.


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The Ingham Change Initiative intends to continue dialogue on a
local, state, and national level to build a network across
communities for collaboration towards a national action strategy.
The networking model would include continuous information
sharing, documentation of the ongoing process and refining
effective models for dialogue.

In ten years, the ICI envisions that as a result of its work:

Performance measurement through an opportunity and impact
lens will change the way policy is developed
Graduation and higher education rates will increase as a result
of improved policies and removal of barriers to success
Mortality rates and health outcomes for youth will improve for
high-risk populations
Young men of color will be respected and recognized in their
community and in the media as a result of their service,
advocacy, positive parenting, and leadership
Systems and policies will develop a resistance to regression
towards the status quo by engaging youth in social innovation,
public service and advocacy
The region will enjoy a return on investment in increased
human, economic and social capital

The ICI Commission will broaden its own understanding of race as a
social construct rather than a biological determinant of success and
the structural barriers to healthy youth development. The ICI
Commission and partners will transfer that knowledge across and
into systems through social justice workshop, dialogue and
engagement in policy reform efforts. By viewing their work through
a structural racism lens, the Commissioners, systems leaders and
other policy makers will more readily be able to identify policies and
practices that sort youth of color and create disparity.

The ICI has identified the following objectives for policy reform: 1)
Study of local data and policies in Health/Child Welfare, Education,
Media, Employment/Economic Development, and Juvenile/Criminal
Justice systems and reporting disparate outcomes for young men
(and women) of color, 2) Assess potential impact of proposed
recommendations, and 3) Advocate for policy change through
community outreach, dialogue with policy makers and systems
leaders, and media engagement. The Commission will closely
monitor and address the affects of state legislation that restricts
local race- and gender-based strategies to promote equity in public
education and employment.

While ongoing, purposeful dialogue is necessary for collective
understanding of persistent structural racism, the ICI Commission
determined that there is an equally compelling need to construct
pathways from dialogue to concrete community impact. The ICI
seeks to achieve a four-fold impact: 1) Correct existing oppressive
policy within systems; 2) Transform the process of policy formation
itself so that the structural racism lens is routinely applied; 3)
Ensure that unwritten policies within institutions do not
exacerbate disparate outcomes despite remediated policy; and 4)
Engage youth, media and the broader community in creating
opportunities for and redefining perceptions of young men of color.

Shared Leadership

To ensure that the ICI moves beyond addressing systemic racism to
the dismantling of structural racism, the Commission will

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simultaneously study and improve perceptions of young men of
color that influence policy and practice. The ICI will foster
opportunities for youth of color to develop leadership skills and
connect with resources and networks of influence that will yield
social capital for the individual and for the community. This strategy
engages youth and the broader community in the work of the ICI
through focus groups, dialogue, convenings, traditional and social
media, publications, outreach events and youth-led projects.

Peace & Prosperity Youth Action Movement for Social Justice

The Ingham Change Initiatives Youth, Public Relations and Media
Work Groups have been actively involved in the organizing and
implementation of The Peace & Prosperity Movement to promote
shared leadership in systems transformation. The project emphasis
six priorities: 1) Geographic diversity, 2) Youth leadership, 3) Youth
voice, 4) Builds on youths assets, 5) Reduces risks to youths
healthy development, and 6) Increased social capital for youth and
the community.

Project objectives include:

Objective 1: Conduct outreach and engagement of youth to
begin organizing around the issues of the Ingham
Change Initiative (health, education, juvenile
justice, employment, and media)

Objective 2: Coordinate events and opportunities to connect
youth with elected officials, policy-makers,
community leaders, the media and other individuals
with influence

Objective 3: Educate youth on the legislative process and the
role of advocacy in influencing policy, programming
and perception

Objective 4: Provide training for youth to serve as presenters,
facilitators and advocates

Objective 5: Assist youth in facilitating focus groups and
community dialogue on issues, public policies and
practices affecting youth

The project employs a targeted community outreach strategy to
reach a diverse spectrum of youth by utilizing youth-oriented media
and communications technologies such as social networking and
text messaging as well as canvassing neighborhood social centers
and youth gathering places. A local radio station, a multi-cultural
community newspaper and a monthly business magazine have
agreed to record and air a series of PSAs and features to promote
the Peace & Prosperity Movement and help inform the community
of the issues being addressed.

The Peace & Prosperity Movement is focused on building social
capital and resource networks that will support youth in making a
successful transition from middle and high school to higher
education, entrepreneurship and careers. In 2009 nine youth
completed a nine-week leadership training pilot on the power of
media to influence policy, practice and perception.

The Youth Action Movement builds on this pilot project with a
yearlong internship to investigate barriers to health and advocate
for change. In partnership with the Ingham County Health
Department and the School-Community Health Alliance of

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Michigan, we have interviewed 51 young people and asked them to
describe what a healthy community looks like to them. 100% of
students described a healthy community as one being free of
violence and where people get along. Half of these students were
hired as Peace & Prosperity interns to spend the next year studying
what causes unhealthy communities and developing strategies they
will implement to change it.

The summer session of the Peace & Prosperity Youth Action
Movement was dedicated to orienting interns to concepts of health
equity and social justice through dialogue, media and self-reflection.
Interns are preparing to investigate inequity in the community to
inform an advocacy strategy they will develop and implement in the
spring. The priorities that emerged from the summer session as
being most important to interns were healthy eating and active
living, safety/violence and educational opportunity.

Strategic Partnerships

ICI will partner with the Ingham County Health Departments Social
Justice Facilitator Team (created through WKKF funding) to provide
workshops for policy makers, agency executives, media, youth
leaders, and others in critical positions to leverage structural
change. Workshops enable participants to understand and enact a
process of critical analysis in reviewing policy and practice and in
policy and practice development. Upon completion, workshop
participants will become champions within their organizations and
sphere of influence to embed a racial equity lens in all decision-
making processes.

Staff and several ICI Commissioners are actively involved in aligning
the work of the ICI with that of other community partnerships that
are working towards similar goals to better leverage the
communitys resources such as the Birth to Work Partnership,
Shared Youth Vision Partnership (statewide dropout prevention
initiative), and the Lansing College Access Network.

Building Public Will

The ICI will promote balanced images and messages that promote
positive racial identity formation for youth of color and positive
perceptions that acknowledge the value of people of all races. The
ICI Commission will engage media partners in developing strategies
that will help shift public perception to the realities of racial
inequity. These community education efforts will target negative
stereotypes by promoting a consistent message that a childs start
in life and access to opportunities and resources during critical
transitional periods are far greater determinants of success or
failure than individual behavior, motivation, effort, or ability alone
and that the failure of a significant segment of the population
undermines the vitality of the entire region.

Simultaneous efforts to address cultural influences on racism and
racial inequity will raise the bar on expectations of successful
outcomes for youth of color through the continued mobilization of
public will and resources to address racial inequity and disparate
outcomes. These efforts will be focused on addressing structural
barriers for youth of color to civic engagement, employment, higher
education attainment, and the potential for business ownership. By
helping vulnerable youth and their parents understand the legacy of
privilege and oppression, the impact of legislation and policy as well

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as develop leadership and advocacy skills, social capital and
influential networks, the ICI will empower communities of color to
increase accountability of public systems and resist retrenchment to
the status quo.

Media Partnerships

Media is a powerful tool that reflects and shapes public opinion,
policy and practice
Targeted media strategy can help improve outcomes for youth
by increasing awareness and encouraging action
Media partnership is essential to the success of the Ingham
Change Initiative

Three local media outlets have agreed to provide space for disseminating
messages created by the Ingham Change Initiative. The Ingham Change
Initiative will have a bi-annual press conference to update the media and
the public on issues and policy recommendations. Youth interns and young
adult consultants will be instrumental in creating these messages. Social
media outreach has already begun via Facebook and website promotions.

Defining a Research Framework for the Ingham Change Initiative

Lansing Prosperity Scorecard

On 9/1, Ingham Change Initiative staff had a conversation with Caitlin
Dewey, author of Kiplingers Best Cities for Young Adults 2010 about the
process for Lansing and the criteria for selection and ranking. The
conversation revealed the need for further analysis of the criteria and the
data. Kiplinger's Senior Editor Bob Frick conducted an interview with Kevin
Stolarick from the Martin Prosperity Institute, who was retained to collect
data for the project, including: economic viability, wage growth,
population of young people, and presence of creative class workers. Of
particular note in the conversation was the emphasis on inclusion and
opportunity as one of the most important elements for vibrant cities. A
conversation with Mr. Stolarick at MPI is the next step in identifying the
specific data they used to rank the cities.

The Ingham Change Initiative work groups will create a Lansing Prosperity
Scorecard to be released in January to coincide with the 2nd anniversary of
the ICI roll-out. A press conference will be the vehicle to release the
scorecard as well as highlight the recommendations and accomplishments
of the work groups. We are targeting the morning of MLK day at the
Radisson.

Focus Groups

The Ingham Change Initiative is collaborating with community partners in
conducting focus groups with African American, Latino/Hispanic, and
Native American youth ages 10-13, teens and young adults. The
information collected will inform the work of Ingham Change Initiative
work groups as well as contribute to a project to: identify minority-led
organizations and how they communicate; identify formal vs. informal
organizations/networks; document processes and share with service
organizations (and funders); the methodology is relational, one-on-one
conversations; documenting the will of minority organizations to come
together for children of color.

Network Analysis

The Ingham Change Initiative Commission has agreed to work with a
doctoral candidate at Michigan State University on a practical
systems analysis of the Ingham Change Initiative (ICI) and provide
recommendations that can inform the activities and functioning of
the initiative in meeting systems change goals.


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Objectives:
To conduct a study identifying areas of strength and
improvement with the ICI collaborative.
To conduct a systems analysis of the ICI collaborative
utilizing systems theory and coalition-building information
from the literature.
To investigate the history, development, context, and
current functioning of the ICI collaborative using various
types of data and information (e.g. interviews, existing
documents).

Advocacy Evaluation

The Ingham Change Initiative further proposes a research project
that will determine which communications methodologies, media,
etc. disseminated to which target audiences, are most influential in
accomplishing desired systems policy and practice changes. The
primary Ingham Change Initiative methodology to promote systems
change is as follows:

1. Research systems policies and practices
2. Conduct impact study of policies and practices
3. Define target audience(s)
4. Research audience demographic and psychographic profiles
5. Develop messages
6. Identify media and modes for message dissemination
7. Develop methodology and assessment tools for measuring
changes in knowledge, attitude and behavior of policy
leaders and practitioners
8. Implement communications strategies
9. Measure changes in knowledge, attitude and behavior of
target audience(s)
10. Identify variables that facilitate change and those that
create resistance to change

Policy Reform Simulations

The ICI envisions an advanced research project that would utilize
national, state and local data to simulate the effects of variables on
policy change. A simulation study would be conducted by
developing or adapting a software application that could model the
activities of the Ingham Change Initiative and predict the outcomes
and impact of those activities.

For example, if the activities of the Ingham change Initiative
revealed that preference or discrimination based on race or gender
results in higher arrest rates for certain groups, a simulation testing
the effects of training versus disciplinary procedures of law
enforcement personnel on arrest rates would be conducted.
Further, such an application might test the effect of different
training modules to determine which is likely to produce the desired
change in knowledge, attitude and behavior. As the optimal
strategies are identified and implemented, any variance from the
predicted outcome could be measured using the model as a
benchmark to determine if all interventions were delivered as
prescribed.

Resource development strategies to build capacity and sustain the
work

Local 501(c)3 organizations Capital Area United Way and One Love
Global have partnered with the Community Coalition for Youth, a
city-county partnership, on resource development and fiscal

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management for the Ingham Change Initiative. Strategies include
grant writing, contracts, and earned income through social
enterprise ventures. In January 2010, One Love Global and partners
held an invitational meeting for a select group of local young
entertainment promoters along with several community organizers
with influence in communities of color. The focus of the meeting
was orienting the group to the mission, purpose, structure and
strategies of the Ingham Change Initiative. Promoters were invited
to be a part of the process to change perceptions of young males of
color, who represent the vast majority of entertainment promoters
of color. Also invited to the group was the only African American
entertainment venue owner, whose establishment has frequently
received negative media coverage.

m.a.d.e. (M.edia, A.rts, D.esign & E.ntertainment) social
entrepreneurship partnerships raise funds for the Ingham Change
Initiative and youth programs like the Power of 9. The goals of
m.a.d.e. are to change policy, practice and perception through
social entrepreneurship by creating opportunities for young people
to develop as business and community leaders. m.a.d.e. is a social
enterprise program designed as a project of the Peace & Prosperity
Movement to deliver a double-bottom line impact that yields both a
financial and social return on investment by giving priority in
programs to disadvantaged youth as well as youth transitioning
from foster care, returning from corrections, or with other
significant barriers to success. Ina alignment with the Birth to Work
Framework, The Peace & Prosperity Movement is focused on
building social capital and resource networks that will support youth
in making a successful transition from middle and high school to
higher education, entrepreneurship and careers.

The Peace & Prosperity Movement envisions a variety of traditional
and non-traditional public venues as comprehensive training spaces.
Training modules will be provided through experiential learning that
includes: event planning and coordination, facility management,
hospitality, food service, entertainment production, marketing and
promotions, artist development, media relations, finance, and
community service. To date, five facilities have accepted invitations
to serve as training and event sites for experiential learning through
joint ventures that will also generate revenues to sustain the
program. Training and supportive services will be provided by One
Love Global staff, entrepreneurs and other partners.


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Youth Reflections on the National Town Hall Series

James Petty III and Keith Tate (Lansing, MI)

James and Keith were discussants on the Michigan: Our Youth, Our Future! statewide dialogue panel. They are also members of the m.a.d.e.
ALLIANCE, who coordinated the first gala fundraising event to benefit the Ingham Change Initiative on Labor Day weekend. The event was
successful in raising awareness of the Ingham Change Initiative among young adults and also provided the young people of color who organized
the event with an opportunity to experience first-hand (and learn how to navigate) discriminatory policies, practices and perceptions in the
process of working with public entertainment facility officials.

James and Keith were hired as consultants to assist with the development of a plan to implement, sustain and advance the recommendations
and promising practices documented from the Community Voices National Town Hall Series on Juvenile Justice. Their honest and insightful
commentary from planning meetings and written notes follows.

Policy vs. Prevention

At the Atlanta Town Hall meeting there seemed to be more talk
about the political aspects than about the ways that they could get
the youth off the path that leads to Prison. Priority topics from New
Orleans Youth Summit were how to stay out of the system, how you
got in the system (history of criminal justice system), how to get
involved/how to make a change (understanding policies and
procedures, the difference a voice makes and how it all operates,
knowing what one person can do) and parent-child relationship.

Importance of Keeping youth out of Jail

We are the most incarcerated nation on earth; we have more
people imprisoned than any other nation in the world
proportionately and actual numbers. Its because of our policies and
practices, and if those trends are going to change then the policies
and practices must change as well.

I feel that some of our policies are set up for us to fail and once we
mess up its hard for us to get a second chance. It starts at a young
age even with school and the zero tolerance policy kids are expelled
for minor offenses if they have 3 strikes, and once they are expelled
they lose their right to an education in some places which puts them
out of school until it starts back up again. We all know how hard it is
to start back up with school and get back into the studying mode
after the summer, imagine not really being engaged in the first
place and on top of that being off for 6 months because you got
expelled, your being setup to fail.

I feel like this is very important now more than ever because of the
state of the economy. We have people who are greatly over
qualified for the jobs that they are working in because there arent

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many jobs out there. So where does this leave the people getting
out of jail looking for jobs? All the way at the bottom of the list
which will likely lead them back to committing crimes because they
cant find jobs to get money and live. So we must put major focus
on keeping youth out of the prison system. A key common thread of
adults in prison is that they didnt graduate from high school, so
keep youth in school is very important.

Get the question: "Have you been convicted of a felony?" removed
off of most job applications, or at least ask the question at the end
of the process once there's been an offer of a job, so we can
actually have a fair and clean employment application so we can
compete competitively for work Very good statement I believe
because this question prevents tons of qualified workers from
getting jobs.

How do we Keep youth out of Prison?

It starts in the homes as well. Find out what makes the houses these
kids live in a bad example or what sends them out into the streets
with reckless attitudes. We need to nip the problem at the roots not
try to get it once it has already gotten out of control.

The School to Prison Pipeline is not just about behavior and how to
avoid it but about being more proactive to provide the alternative
next steps like jobs, college, and military. This is most important,
understanding the consequences presented on a timeline, even the
smallest negative impact should be shown. 6 months, 1 year, 5 yrs,
10 yrs. Also show the positive timeline. Show both roads. Real life
examples of the cost of living, how those choices limit opportunities
when you are no longer living and depending on parents. Things as
simple as toothbrush and toilet paper. People in school that have
everything they wanted, are the coolest, have the best shoes, and
end up working at a plant making low wages for hard labor.

Zero tolerance should be specifically targeted to certain kinds of
violent acts and not just blanket policies. There should be a
recording of all conversations with police. Violence prevention
education should be in school, including reality-based content to
see what it is really like, just like sex education. They should leave
more discretion to the principal. There should be continuing
education for kids in trouble, in-school suspension, why deprive
them even more of education? How does that create graduates and
productive workers? It sends the message that school is only for
smart and good kids. Keep them in school and focused on
activities that wont allow them to have time to get into trouble.
Instead of kicking a kid out for 10 days of school leaving them all day
to reflect on things they have no business doing.

Expanding Ingham Change Initiative Youth Work Group

Getting the youth more engaged should involve something that is of
interest to them and something that gives them incentive. There
should be scholarships given out to youth who participate actively in
the ICI. Have sports programs, basketball, flag football, baseball,
plays (some kids like to act so have a play about a youth who took
the right path and one who took the wrong path and the outcomes
of each). Have fundraisers to raise awareness and also earn revenue
to go towards scholarships and expanding the program. Getting the
word out to the youth about the ICI is probably the first step
because most people have never heard of it, let alone youth. I think
that if more people actually knew what we were about they might
be willing to participate. Have speakers go to schools and talk about

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the ICI and opportunities it could bring, put up posters and Fliers in
high schools and on college campuses just to get awareness up
about ICI. Get fraternities and sororities
involved in the ICI.

Building Public Support

We can do all the planning and thinking
of ways to make things better but if we
dont get the people with the problems
involved then it wont work because
those are the people who should and
do care the most. Someone who goes home everyday to a quiet
neighborhood with their picket fence and friendly neighbors who
walk their dog while their gone is not really going to be thinking
about the people who are out in the inner city streets beating and
robbing each other to get their next meal. So we need to find a way
to get the people who are effected the most involved.

Building Bridges Across Races, Generations and Cultures

It is good that youth tried to help adults understand through kids
eyes. Advice: Dont try to be kids friends. There has to be balance.
How parents were raised is a continuing cycle that needs to be
broken.

There is blatant disrespect in the south versus the more subliminal
forms in the north; here we are like brainwashed into doing it and
dont realize it. Another example of
racism or discrimination is the way night
clubs change dress codes depending on
what is popular for African Americans to
wear, including the restriction of wearing
specific brands. Things are improved since
the civil right movement but that still
doesnt make it right.

Music bridges the gaps. What was done in
New Orleans could be done here and
facilitated through the school district and get teachers involved.
There has to be a build-up. It would take a lot of work. Its hard
getting people in Lansing involved in anything. Focus on 7
th
and 8
th

grade and up based on knowledge and attention span. Ideas for a
local effort would tap into the local athletic community, the
opportunities are here. Provide more job fairs and opportunities for
college exposure. Tom izzo, Detroit athletes, and other athletes
speak to youth, appeals to kids and to diverse audiences, and gets
the youth interested. MSU is right down the street.

Provide books about success, entrepreneurship leadership,
consistently once a month or once a week provide students with a
newsletter or video clip, inspiration quotes, local leaders or some
kind of message to keep them focused, motivational, inspirational.
The impact of any reading or event is highly inspirational but the
impact does not last. It has to be regular and consistent.

Its like people dont want to even say the
word racism; is it racism, is it discrimination
or prejudice? How do you even address it
when you can/t even say race without it
being called the race card?

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Prepared by:
Elisabeth Kingsbury, J.D.
Senior Researcher, Community Voices
Morehouse School of Medicine

Executive Director, Ingham Change Initiative
Chief Executive Officer, One Love Global
Coordinator, Community Coalition for Youth

Editor-In-Chief
Henrie M. Treadwell, Ph.D.
Director, Community Voices

For more information, contact:
Melva B. Robertson, M.A.
Communications Manager, Community Voices
720 Westview Drive, SW
Atlanta, GA 30310
mrobertson@msm.edu
www.communityvoices.org
404-756-8914 -phone
404-752-1198 - fax

MY Lansing CAP News Release and Report

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MY Lansing CAP News Release and Report

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OFFICE OF MAYOR VIRG BERNERO

124 W. MICHIGAN AVENUE NINTH FLOOR

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