The Black Male Donor Collaborative (BMDC) recently held a research briefing on the findings of its study investigating the educational trajectories of young Black men in New York City. BMDC is a collaborative funding initiative that seeks to reduce the academic achievement gap and raise the academic performance, graduation rates and college readiness of Black males in New York City. The collaborative is comprised of a broad base of foundation and corporate donors, who jointly develop grant guidelines, bylaws and make funding decisions. The BMDC’s grantmaking focuses on Central Harlem and Central Brooklyn, where there are large concentrations of school-age Black males with low levels of academic achievement.
During the briefing Pedro Noguera and Ronald Mincy, leading researchers in urban education from NYU and Columbia University, discussed policy recommendations dedicated to closing the academic achievement gap among Black male students. Over 100 attendees listened as panelists from philanthropy, academia, and the corporate sector shared insights about the need to coordinate and make effective grants, leverage resources, and influence a change agenda to eliminate the academic inequities among Black males.