Brotherhood Celebrates Black Males Headed To College

OAKLAND, CA - All graduating African American male students from the San Francisco Bay Area headed to college in the fall are invited by the Mitchell Kapor Foundation to be recognized tomorrow at the College Bound Brotherhood Graduation - a unique ceremony honoring African American male students from throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

"Our goal is to reinforce a college-going culture among young black male students," said Cedric Brown, CEO of the Kapor Foundation. "College education is a crucial vehicle for economic and social mobility. We are celebrating the achievements of young black men who are defying the odds and are on their way toward creating change for themselves, their families, and our communities."

The event is part of the Kapor Foundation's College Bound Brotherhood program, which aims to change a grim statistic: college graduates earn twice as much as those with only a high-school diploma, yet only about 11 percent of Black male students who graduate from high school in the San Francisco Bay Area have the courses and grades required to attend a California university.

Since the founding of the program in 2008, the Kapor Foundation has distributed nearly $1 million in grants to organizations that support young black men through college readiness workshops, college tours, academic coaching, mentoring, and much more. The Foundation is accepting requests through June 15 for $25,000 grants to community organizations working on college readiness for young black men. For more information on how to apply, please visit mkf.org.

"Statistics for African American males in Oakland and nationwide are daunting," said Regina Jackson, executive director of the East Oakland Youth Development Center. "With high school ‘drop out' and high jail and prison ‘drop in' rates, a college-bound culture is more necessary than ever. The Kapor Foundation's strategy to bolster that culture - by building connections, providing resources, and celebrating achievements - is working here in the Bay Area. Attend the upcoming graduation celebration and see the work in action."

The College Bound Brotherhood program also has launched a public, online database that assists youth, parents, and educators in locating college readiness programs in the Bay Area (collegeboundbros.org). In addition, the program provides continued support for grant recipient organizations, parents, and young men through conferences, local workshops, and professional development.

The College Bound Brotherhood is a program of the Mitchell Kapor Foundation that seeks to expand the number of young black men in the Bay Area who are prepared for a college education. The program works to strengthen the college-going culture for young black men; build a college access movement for organizations focused on the enrichment of black male youth; and provide resources to build stronger, more effective organizations. Since the founding of the Brotherhood program in 2008, the Kapor Foundation has distributed nearly $1 million in grants to 25 San Francisco Bay Area organizations.