My Brother's Keeper Alliance

MBK Framework - Sustainability: Invest in Lasting Solutions, Infrastructure and Results

MBK Communities must build focused leadership, strong partnerships, a firm long-term infrastructure, continuous funding mechanisms and focused goals for sustainability. Leaders and stakeholders may change over time, but the consistent plan, backed by a strong infrastructure, must endure for the sake of the community and boys and young men of color.

Local Governing Body

The advisory board/steering committee of diverse community stakeholders has been established with decision- making authority. System leaders plays a lead role in the advisory/ governing body showing deep local commitment to addressing challenges facing Boys and Young Men of Color and ensures a wide array of partners are engaged in the effort. Local, state or federal system leaders may be included.

MBK Community Backbone

The backbone entity has in place the necessary capacity to facilitate data collection, communication, convenings, workgroups, community engagement and local actions. The backbone entity has established a sustainability plan for staff capacity and operations.

Sustainable and Adequate Funding

Local funders (philanthropic or corporate) are mobilized to make financial commitments aligned to the strategies and solutions identified in the Local Action Plan to support Boys and Young Men of Color. Funders and partners allocate, align, and commit significant resources to support Boys and Young Men of Color.

Alignment with Other Collaborative Efforts

Communities coordinate with other cradle-to-career and equity initiatives (such as Strive Together or Promise Neighborhoods) to align around targeted outcomes; define communitywide moves; potentially combine tables, where applicable).

City and Regional Working Groups

Define working groups and use common language and common SMART goals in cross-sector collaborations aligned to the Local Action Plan. Partners own specific outcomes and processes within the Local Action Plan and integrate these plans into their organizations’ overall strategy.

“My Brother’s Keeper San Antonio’s structure is made up of three levels of system leadership: three Work Groups, an Anchor Team, and the Leadership Table. The three work groups focus on restorative justice, post-secondary success and justice-involved young people. Each work group has community engagement and system change objectives that ground the work they do collectively. Those groups have a chair, which forms the Anchor Team, which advocates on behalf of the work group to the Leadership Table. The Leadership Table has the authority to allocate resources and shape policy as a joint network and at their institutions.

This structure and commitment allows for boys and young men of color to have a clearer pathway to obtaining a postsecondary degree.”

Chellie Fernandez, MBK San Antonio

Steps to Improvement

Establish an official governing structure.
Engage the community via the local governing structure on the shared vision (town hall/convening).
Finalize the vision/plan via the localvgoverning structure and made as formal commitment to support the implementation of a vision/plan.
Identify a potential backbone/anchor organization.
Coordinate community engagement and finalized the vision and plan via collaboration between the backbone organization and the local governing structure.
Resource the backbone organization to coordinate and support the implementation of the vision and plan.
Confirm resources are allocated by local government, philanthropy or corporate donors to support the convening and engagement of partners and community in the vision and planning.
Confirm financial support from local budgets, philanthropy, corporate donors and dollars ($) are allocated to support boys and young men of colors.
Confirm financial support from local budgets philanthropy, corporate donors and dollars ($) are allocated to support systems change work.
Develop a multi-year budget (1 year, 2 years, 5 years, longer).
Ensure with partners that the implementation of the plan aligns with other efforts in the following areas: Leadership, Outcomes, Actions and Data Systems.
Define and activate city-wide working groups.
Identify/select three to five existing policies in each working group that are aligned to the Local Action Plan.
Evaluate the impact of three to five existing policies on boys and young men of color in alignment with the Local Action Plan.
Recommend two to three policies, practices or procedures the local governing structure and partners can adopt or remove to improve outcomes for boys and young men of color.
Assess the local governing structure and stakeholders’ progress improving outcomes for boys and young men of color twice annually and share the results publicly.
Recommend two to three policies, practices or procedures the local governing structure and partners can adopt or remove to improve outcomes for boys and young men of color.
Confirm working groups ensure plan implementation.