The State of Black Male Commissions: A Survey

Drawn from a broad research scan and interviews with key leaders, this survey documents the practices, strategies, and achievements of the black male commissions, government agencies created to improve the status and well-being of black men and boys.

• Improving the life outcomes of black males requires a broad-based effort, and a commission's leadership generally engages a multi-sector team, including elected officials, active community members, and prominent employers and businesspersons. Tweet
• The geographic scope of black male commissions ranges in size from small cities to a coalition of several U.S. state-based commissions. Tweet
• Although some commissions directly oversee or house programs, most use their expertise to analyze the existing network and coordinate a strategy based on those findings. Tweet
• As commissions are political in nature, their level of influence and the tenure of their existence hinge on their structure and the political will of the "champions" who form them. Tweet