Ten foundations -- including The Atlantic Philanthropies, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Ford and Open Society foundations -- have announced their support for a new White House initiative, My Brother's Keeper, to create and expand opportunities for boys and young men of color.
The foundations supporting President Obama's new initiative have already made extensive investments in supporting young men of color, including $150 million in currently approved or awarded spending. Over the next five years, these foundations will also invest at least $200 million, along with investments from their peers in philanthropy and the business community, to find and rapidly spread solutions that have the highest potential for impact in key areas, including: early child development and school readiness, parenting and parent engagement, educational opportunity and school discipline reform, and ladders to jobs and economic opportunity.
"It is gratifying to have our grantees' work and that of our funding partners recognized by the President of the United States," said Christopher G. Oechsli, Atlantic's President and CEO. "We know what works to change the trajectory for disenfranchised young people. What's needed now is a concerted effort across sectors -- education, health, business, philanthropy and government -- to bring success to scale within and across whole communities. As a foundation that will soon be making its final grants, Atlantic shares the President's urgency to address these challenges, improve opportunities and create better life chances for these young people now. We cannot afford to wait."
Learn more about the philanthropic commitment to the My Brother's Keeper Initiative.