My Brother’s Keeper
Addressing opportunity gaps for boys and young men of color from cradle to career.
Pittsburgh youth provide feedback on best practices for MBK programs
Jeron X. Grayson Community Center, November 2016 photo: Ben FilioPromoting Equity Through Collaboration
In 2014, the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County embraced President Obama’s call to action for My Brother’s Keeper (MBK), and The Sprout Fund quickly supported the regional commitment to create a more equitable community where all residents—especially boys and young men of color—benefit from the region’s growth and improvements.
In 2015, a 16-member committee formed with representatives from academia, the clergy, community groups, police, city and county government, and local school systems, and this group created the local MBK Playbook for the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Released in October 2015, this publication identified community partners already working to achieve social and economic equity, and it outlined a series of future strategies that might advance the same work in the years ahead.
With support from The Heinz Endowments, Sprout worked with key regional partners to understand how to transform the committee’s early momentum into tangible regional impact. Sprout engaged Homewood Children’s Village (HCV) to serve as the MBK project manager to plan and lead MBK-related meetings, communication, evaluation, and advocacy. Additionally, Sprout engaged UrbanKind Institute to lead a community and stakeholder planning process.
These efforts inspired the creation of the Digital Literacy Collaborative, a community of practice and funding program that Sprout established to forge new partnerships between “youth-serving” organizations that worked directly with youth in out-of-school-time settings, particularly young men of color ages 16-24, and “resource” organizations with demonstrated experience in mentorship, youth leadership, and/or digital literacy best practices.
Finally, Sprout supported a comprehensive planning process for the future of MBK by developing an in-depth action plan that resulted from an intensive series stakeholder feedback interviews and community conversations. The action plan was used to secure ongoing funding for the initiative at a new long-term organizational home.
Program In Brief
Years Active
2016–2017
Digital Literacy Collaborative Partners
10
Case Studies
5
Collaborative Projects
5
Total Investment
$175,000
Local Playbook
My Brother’s Keeper Program Recap
Learn more about Sprout’s efforts to support community efforts that create a more equitable community—especially for boys and young men of color.
MBK Digital Literacy Collaborative
The Digital Literacy Collaborative sought to create more inclusive community programming through the implementation of projects and activities that cultivated digital literacy skills connected to future employment for boys and young men of color. Through a series of 3 professional development and technical assistance sessions during Summer 2017, the youth-serving organizations and resource organizations worked together to refine plans for 2017-18 programming and create case studies illustrating examples of high-quality programming for the youth they served.
Funded Projects
The 5 Digital Literacy Collaborative youth-serving organizations each received project support to develop and implement new programming with their resource organization partner.
Career Enhancement Project and Digital Literacy Training
Providing new and expanded digital lab facilities, computer literacy training, and mentorship for youth and families in Garfield with Brothers and Sisters Emerging.
Career Enhancement Project and Digital Literacy Training
$10,000 » Brothers and Sisters Emerging, 2017 My Brother’s Keeper project support
Brothers and Sisters Emerging (BASE) Digital Literacy Training and Career Enhancement Project, a project of Brothers and Sisters Emerging, prepared young African-American men for employment and training opportunities through peer mentoring, resume development, and interview skills training. B.A.S.E. obtained input from the young men in terms of the needs and interests through initial assessment surveys, peer mentoring groups, and training sessions. They also coordinated presenters to speak with participants about their experiences growing up in Garfield, the challenges they faced, and where they are now. Computer Reach provided 8 hours of Digital Literacy training over four sessions along with a digital literacy assessment.
Coding Club and Digital Literacy Labs
Developing STEM opportunities, enhancing 21st century skills, and providing career exploration support for youth in McKees Rocks at Focus on Renewal.
Coding Club and Digital Literacy Labs
$10,000 » Focus on Renewal, 2017 My Brother’s Keeper project support
Ryan Arts Digital Literacy Labs and Coding Club, a project of Focus on Renewal, hosted a weekly Youth Coding Club that focused on building webpages and websites while also providing independent digital literacy lab hours where youth could participate in both structured guided lessons and open lab hours with a Digital Labs Tutor. The new Digital Literacy Lab helped serve more community members by providing free computer skill and media workshops along with easy access to resources needed to apply for jobs.
College Tech Connect: Music Technology Dual Enrollment Program
Hosting digital media courses for college credit, reducing barriers to college enrollment, and providing ongoing mentorship for youth in Homewood with YMCA Greater Pittsburgh.
College Tech Connect: Music Technology Dual Enrollment Program
$10,000 » YMCA Greater Pittsburgh, 2017 My Brother’s Keeper project support
College Tech Connect: Music Technology Dual Enrollment Program, a project of the Homewood Brushton YMCA, partnered with Community College of Allegheny to offer an entry level college course designed to support young people of color ages 16-24, particularly those interested in music technology and transitioning into college. The program strengthened the pathway from high school to college by eliminating financial and other barriers for young people of color interested in music, media, and technology-related fields. The course, Introduction to Music Technology was offered in the Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 semesters and took place at the Homewood Brushton YMCA Lighthouse Teen Center.
MBK Digital Literacy and QUEST for Real Life Success
Increasing access to technology and promoting digital-based entrepreneurship in City and County neighborhoods with Will Allen Foundation.
MBK Digital Literacy and QUEST for Real Life Success
$10,000 » Will Allen Foundation, 2017 My Brother’s Keeper project support
MBK Digital Literacy and QUEST for Real Life Success, a project of Will Allen Foundation, partnered with Junior Achievement to give African-American male high school students ongoing opportunities to develop and sharpen their skills related to job readiness, entrepreneurship, professional networking, and business planning. The project brought the Junior Achievement curriculum to students at Clayton Academy, Holy Family Academy, and Perry Traditional Academy in order to create, fine tune, and eventually launch their collaborative business ideas and solutions.
Skills To Live By
Developing effective marketing, recruiting, and precision machine skills training relevant to the needs of the Hazelwood community at Center of Life.
Skills To Live By
$10,000 » Center of Life, 2017 My Brother’s Keeper project support
Skills To Live By, a project of Center of Life, worked with New Century Careers to better address 21st century job training in Hazelwood. Center of Life and New Century Careers partnered to develop effective marketing, recruitment, and easily accessible skills training tailored to high school students, recent graduates, and young men in Hazelwood. Eligible youth were enrolled in New Century Careers’ M2K Quick-Train machinist training program, a time-shortened pre-apprenticeship program that offered classroom and hands-on machining training to prepare trainees for entry-level positions in precision machining.
Case Studies
The 5 Digital Literacy Collaborative resource organizations developed case studies on programs that provided youth with opportunities to acquire technological, social, and academic skills that enhanced their quality of life and ability to secure employment. Resource organizations were encouraged to detail a program that also incorporated peer-supported mentorship, workforce development, and excellence in digital literacy training.
Coding Club
An AIU Alternative Education teacher pilots a free coding club for youth by utilizing Code.org’s high-quality, freely available resources.
JA Company Program
Junior Achievement utilizes a blended learning format to help students explore the principles of entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and business success.
Manufacturing 2000 Machinist Training
New Century Careers integrates theoretical knowledge with project-based, hands-on machining competency development using equipment prevalent within the region’s machining industry.
Pathway to a Technology Career
CCAC Homewood-Brushton enables youth interested in music technology and transitioning into college to take an entry-level course through the community college.
Technology Explorer
Computer Reach partners with the Boy Scouts to teach computer skills, explore tech-related career opportunities, and bring access to technology to the neighborhoods of the high school participants.
Planning Projects & Stakeholder Conversations
Best Practices for MBK Youth Programs
UrbanKind Institute facilitated conversations among young men, service providers, and other community members about out-of-school programming through a series of 7 public planning sessions in venues across Allegheny County. Based on the information generated by UrbanKind, Sprout identified the following programmatic recommendations for best practices to narrow the opportunity gap for youth in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.
Partnerships with schools
Schools often offer secure spaces and transportation options, which are desirable elements in program design. Meanwhile, many high-quality programs also exist outside of the traditional school context.
Consistency and care
Relationships between youth and program staff are critical but take time to build. Programs that retain participants are spaces where youth feel loved and listened to, and where they feel a sense of belonging and stability.
Clear expectations
Youth should know what is expected of them in terms of attendance and participation as well as the skills and experiences a program can (and cannot) offer so that they can make informed decisions about participation.
Peer and near-peer mentoring
When youth relate to a mentor socially and culturally, and are made responsible for a peer’s success, they learn valuable lessons in leadership and other beneficial social and professional skills.
Accessibility
Barriers to participation must be reduced or eliminated. Accessibility considerations include proximity to programs, public transportation, participation and registration costs, perception of promotional materials, and ADA compliance.
Continuum of program services
Programs should offer a continuous sequence of activities to choose from, go between, or grow into to expose youth to relevant opportunities and encourage interest in digital technology fields.
Year-round programming
Year-round programs build stronger peer and staff relationships with youth, offer more in-depth learning experiences, and provide consistent safe spaces for participants who are not otherwise supported at home or in-school.
Opportunities to stay connected
Providers should allow participants to stay involved even after youth finish high school and “age out.” Such youth build deeper relationships, serve as peer mentors, and help to shape future programming.
Hands-on activities with real world applications
Attractive programs engage participants in hands-on, experiential learning focused on life skills and/or college and career preparation, which often includes digital literacy programming.
Youth input
More personalized goal-setting, meeting youth where they are, and making participants part of the assessment process from the beginning of a new program are critical when setting the program’s goals and outcomes.
Planning for MBK in 2018 and Beyond
Sprout also facilitated a community-based planning process to inform the future of the My Brother’s Keeper Pittsburgh-Allegheny County initiative. The following activities were used to develop an action plan to guide the MBK initiative into 2018 and beyond.
Stakeholder Interviews
Josiah Gilliam of HCV conducted a listening tour and gathered feedback from 21 stakeholders engaged in the MBK community.
Feedback Events
Sprout facilitated 3 community feedback sessions to garner feedback from MBK stakeholders. These events occurred in the Hill District, McKees Rocks, and Homewood.
Community Survey
Sprout synthesized the findings from the interviews and community feedback events and released a digital survey to solicit additional feedback from the MBK Community.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to all those who made this program possible!
Supporters
- The Heinz Endowments
Partners
- Allegheny County, Office of the Chief Executive
- City of Pittsburgh, Office of the Mayor
- Homewood Children’s Village
- UrbanKind Institute
Staff
- Diana Avart
- Mac Howison 2016–2017
- Ani Martinez 2016–2017
- Dustin Stiver
- Josiah Gilliam project manager at HCV