5th Annual Northern California Summit on Children and Youth
Building a Just Society – Transforming Lives and Creating Equity for Boys and Men of Color
April 30 – May 1, 2014

This year’s summit, Building a Just Society – Transforming Lives and Creating Equity for Boys and Men of Color, will convene educators, community organizations, community leaders, elected officials, businesses, and area foundations to share innovative approaches, research driven models, and best practices for supporting the achievement of boys and men of color. As the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color has stated, “Our state’s future prosperity and health depends on all Californians having a fair chance to thrive and succeed. Young people are one of our greatest assets and the best indicator of our state’s future prosperity and health.”

We have an urgent need to identify the public policies and program strategies that will significantly improve the education, health, and economic outcomes for boys and men of color in our communities. Studies of inequities in these three outcome areas show striking disparities based on race and ethnicity, and poor outcomes lead to diminished life chances for boys and men of color. For example Latino boys and young men are 4 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and African American boys and young men’s death rate from homicides is 16 times higher as compared to their white peers (RAND Corporation). These inequities don’t occur in isolation; in fact, the social determinants affecting these outcomes have been well studied. However, to eliminate these inequities we need to develop a common understanding of the challenges, and we must commit the required time, talent, and resources to bring what is working to scale.

Each one of us has a responsibility to examine the changes we need to make to improve outcomes for boys and men of color. Business as usual is not an option. Yet we are seeing change. Passionate people are removing the barriers facing boys and men of color so that they can thrive. We need to understand and scale up this important work so that boys and men of color can achieve their fullest potential.

Join us and take a stand!