My Brother's Keeper Alliance To Bring "Pathways To Success: Boys And Young Men Of Color Opportunity Summit" To Detroit November 14

DETROIT, Oct. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- My Brother's Keeper Alliance (MBK Alliance), a nonprofit born out of President Obama's call to action to expand opportunities for boys and young men of color, is bringing its Pathways to Success: Boys and Young Men of Color Opportunity Summit to Detroit.  The summit will be held on November 14 at Cobo Center, and lead partners include the City of Detroit, Campaign for Black Male Achievement (CBMA), and the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce.

"My Brother's Keeper Alliance works across the nation to break down the systemic and structural barriers that too often keep boys and young men of color from gainful employment. Our Opportunity Summits are catalyzing community events that engage public, private, and nonprofit leaders to address these challenges and achieve significant impact," said MBK Alliance CEO, Blair Taylor. "Mayor Duggan, the City of Detroit, and other local partners have led the way with local My Brother's Keeper efforts that are critical to the achievement of our mission. The demonstrated commitment by the City of Detroit's philanthropic and corporate partners to boys and young men of color offers a powerful opportunity to address workforce challenges and build a positive future for all in Detroit."

MBK Alliance's inaugural Opportunity Summit held in July in Oakland, California, resulted in thousands of participants connecting to supportive services and hundreds of on-the-spot job offers for young people in the Bay Area, and the Detroit event promises to be far more than a typical career fair. MBK Alliance and SER Metro-Detroit have partnered to offer pre-trainings in the weeks leading up to the summit to help attendees increase their chances of success securing a job at the summit. In addition to on-site job interviews, the summit will feature a wide variety of career-readiness opportunities such as resume development services, mock interviews, legal advising, and pre-interview haircuts from local barbershops.

"We are excited to partner with MBK Alliance and our other partners on this summit to prepare our youth for career opportunities and to help them connect with prospective employers," said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. "Through programs such as this one and others like Grow Detroit's Young Talent, we are doing a better job of helping young men of color be prepared to meet the growing opportunity that exists in our city." 

A growing list of confirmed employer partners that plan to provide on-the-spot job offers and/or career support and exploration activities at the summit includes: Starbucks, Lyft, FedEx, Macy's, Walgreens, Sprint, the City of Detroit, Barton Malow, Red Lobster, the Detroit Lions, Uber, Whole Foods Market, CVS Health, J&G Pallets and Trucking, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit Animal Care and Control, Performance Driven Workforce, Detroit Water and Sewage Department, Slyde Restaurant, Detroit School for Digital Technology, Team Schostak Family Restaurants, Detroit Electrical Training Center, United Lawnscape, Linc, Meijer, Ideal Group, and Center Line Electric.

"We are honored to partner with MBK Alliance to support its Detroit Opportunity Summit to build on the growing efforts of Mayor Duggan and local partners like the Skillman Foundation to improve the life outcomes for boys and young men of color," said CBMA CEO, Shawn Dove. "CBMA and MBK Alliance are in the midst of a growing, collaborative movement to support cities like Detroit to achieve measurable outcomes of success in such areas as education, work, family, and safety for black men and boys and young men of color. The CBMA team witnessed first-hand the remarkable impact of the MBK Alliance Oakland Opportunity Summit this summer and we're thrilled to play an active role in replicating that success in Detroit."

MBK Alliance's Detroit summit is one of a series of catalyzing events and programs that the organization delivers in cities and communities across the country.  MBK Alliance will work in Oakland, Detroit, Newark, Albuquerque, New Orleans, and Memphis as priority cities in the coming year, and the organization will provide resources in 2017 and beyond to the 250+ communities that have accepted the White House's My Brother's Keeper Community Challenge. Two examples of broader supports are a partnership with AmeriCorps VISTA that will send full-time resources to eleven nonprofits, city governments, and educational institutions across the country – including CBMA – as well as the 2017 launch of an MBK Alliance online community to share resources and best practices.

For more information, including volunteer and attendee opportunities, please visit detroit.mbkalliance.org. For information on employer and nonprofit partnerships or general summit information, contact [email protected].

ABOUT MBK Alliance
My Brother's Keeper Alliance (MBK Alliance) is an independent, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) born out of President Obama's call to action to ensure all of our nation's boys and young men of color (BYMOC) have equal opportunity to live up to their full potential. In order to improve life outcomes, MBK Alliance is working to elevate the voices of our nation's BYMOC and to unite business, philanthropy, nonprofit, government, community leaders, and youth around this critical work. This collaborative, cross-sectoral movement led by MBK Alliance is breaking down barriers that BYMOC disproportionately face along the life path to create lasting social change. MBK Alliance was established in 2015 and appointed former Starbucks executive Blair Taylor as CEO in April 2016.

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SOURCE MBK Alliance