The Mayor’s Commission on African American Males (MCAAM) studies the diverse conditions of Black men in Philadelphia. Using its findings, the commission makes yearly reports and recommendations to the Mayor, City Council, and others. The MCAAM aims to effect positive outcomes for Black men and boys.The commissioners come from a variety of professional backgrounds, including:Government.Business.Educational institutions.Health facilities.Labor organizations.Civic organizations.In 2016, a voter referendum made the MCAAM a permanent commission. The Mayor appoints its members.

Meeting with group members to do intake, walking them through all the resources available, attending referral meetings, following up with the group member and referral agencies to ensure the group member is having success, holding partners accountable, and providing mentorship and support to the group members.Meet with social service providers to brief them on GVI and establish processes to prioritize group members for support services.Build trusting relationships in order to create buy in for social services.Providing a single point of contact for the participants who self-select social services.Group members should be personally assessed and assisted in obtaining any necessary services.Conduct individualized intake assessments and plans.Minimize client interactions with multiple agencies by prioritizing clients and helping them to navigate a single entity.Be available to answer the phone day or night to talk with group members and provide after-hours crisis services, including phone-based consultations and preliminary intake services.Follow up regularly with group members.Track the progress of each group member in terms of programmatic completion as well as the extent to which this support structure is keeping them alive and out of prison.Produce a structure that provides an offramp out of violence.Work with government agencies including probation and parole, social service providers, and reentry providers.Participate in GVI call-ins, custom notifications, and social service working group meetings.

VLP

The Criminal Justice Community Advisory Committee (CAC) was established by the City of Philadelphia, Managing Director’s Office of Criminal Justice in collaboration with the local Criminal Justice Partner Agencies. The role of the Community Advisory Committee is to support and contribute to the implementation of the MacArthur Foundation Safety and Justice Challenge reform plan, which aims to reduce the size of the local jail population by 58% over seven years and reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the criminal justice system. The members will hold the criminal justice partners accountable for the commitments they have made to the collaborative and data-driven reform effort.

The BNCEP was founded in June 2020, amidst COVID 19 and the aftermath of the George Floyd murder. An affirming and supportive space was needed for Black nonprofit leaders to discuss and process the changing racial climate where they were living/working, and to offer support for each other during a difficult time. The first meeting convened 24 attendees via a Zoom call. Since that time, the group’s membership has grown to over 140 members. The BNCEP remains a supportive space, but its value proposition for members is its ability to be a viable learning community for Black nonprofit leaders. In addition, BNCEP membership affords one an opportunity for strategic partnerships; professional mentorship; and information sharing to become more effective leaders for the communities they serve.

Our mission at Bridges of Opportunities is to work with struggling BIPOC youth, Black men, and BIPOC ex-offenders. We strive to equip participants with the necessary assistance and resources. We do that by providing experiences outside of their direct environment and equipping our participants with leadership skills, mental health assistance, educational opportunities, and grief & trauma acknowledgement.

BOLT (Build Our Lives Together) is a nonprofit that works to cultivate, support, and empower grassroots leaders to drive community-led change. Their vision is for every neighborhood to thrive, led by the people living there. We focus on elevating BIPOC residents of low-income neighborhoods to lead the change. They strongly believe this work has to be intergenerational, which is why we work with both community leaders to build their capacity and public school youth to build a pipeline of leaders with lived experience.

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