And what its done is brought together the Public Sector and the private sector, local government with the help of foundations and others who have been doing this work for a long time to get together and design cradle to college and career action plans. Thats the work thats being done in communities all across this country. And its evidence based. And its goal oriented. Its both ur gent and long term. In detroit, mayor duggan announced their action plan by more than 100 leaders and youth in the detroit area. The next five years, detroit plans to recruit and match 5,000 new mentors to employ 5,000 additional men to reduce suspensions by 50 . And enroll its 4yearolds in preschool. And they have matched strategies to get that work done. In boston, the Boston Foundation has invested millions to expand street safe outreach programs to youth at risk of violent crime. And theyre doing this in coordination with the Boston Police department. And the mayors Public Safety initiative. In philadelphia, philadelphia has already reduced schoolbased arrests by 50 . Two weeks ago, more than 90 Million Dollars in new investments and mbk programs in philadelphia alone. 90 million just in philadelphia. D. C. Has recruited 500 volunteers. Theyve given more than 100 student paid interintern shis. Again, in response to the president s call to action, foundations and businesses and social enterprises have responded to his call for action. Thus farer more than half a billion dollars of grants. The earlier this month, the Nonprofit Organization in Real Life Campaign its part of the nbas commit to my brothers keeper. Activities shared across the country. This mbks allstar month. Well see a lot of tension around my brothers keeper and mbk. Just recently in usa today, its published in the usa today. There was store are you about mentoring and how it relates to the president s initiative. Theres a loot of effort brought to this by the private sector. To sum all this stuff up, let me just say the following. Last may when we were with president obama in the bronx and he was there for the creation of the mbk alliance, he took a moment during his remarks to speak directly to the youth who were zbaterred there. And again, i say these things in the president s own words. These are very, very personal issues. He said theres not one thing, not a single thing thats more important to the future of america than whether or not you or young people all across this country can achieve your dreams. The president is clear this will be important work for him after he leaves the white house aez his capacity will be among his priorities. Whether its my secretary hat on or whether its to help lead mbk, everything that i get to do is about disrupting the status quo, focusing on what works and uniting diverse stakeholders to realize the president s vision for a more fair and equitable society. Where everyone has a fair shot and everybody is in the game. And while admittedly social transformation is complex and often measured over decades, i can personally see from the trips i take across this country that we are getting closer aechb closer to that goal every day of a more fair and more eck quitable society. But again, we have a long way to go but it is making a difference. I couldnt be more excited about the future that we will be able to leave behind after we leave the white house and beyond. I would ask you not to ask me any questions about the iowa caucuses. Im not going to talk about those at all. Its a relty that were getting closer to the end of this incredible administration. I dont b gloat, so this isnt a gloat. Lets just stipulate that. Democrats suffered some pretty significant losses across the count country we love to assign labels to the president , to the administration. There are some commentators referring to barack obama has the lamest lame duck in American History. He was going to run the clock out. And some even said the president was tired and looking defeated. And i listen to some of that stuff and say they just dont know. That has not been the case. The president also said he called all of the his senior advisers into a meeting and talked about how were entering the fourth quarter. And a lot of interesting things happen in the fourth quarter. The president is a huge sports fan as many of you know. In the fourth quarter, the first part of the fourth quarter, 2015, under the president s leadership, the follow things happen. We had 12 more months of job growth, adding to a parallel record of consecutive months of job growth. We reached an agreement to combat climate change. We reached an agreement with iran, with other countries around the world that verifiably cuts off all of its paths to nuclear weapon. We advanced relations with cuba. We achieved conclusion with an historic trade agreement. We saw Marriage Equality upheld in 50 states. We saw an agreement to improve k through 12 education. We saw the president s announcement of executive actions to better protect communities and children ray cross this country from gun vie leps. All we will continue to do is not the result of an accident or lucky timing. It really is the result of a president who has steely determinati determination. His vision is focused on the future and he makes sure we work on the same approach. Were halfway through the fourth quarter. The president and all of his cabinet are going to hustle on every play and every down. Let me finish with football analogies. Theres a basketball one. There ice no defense happening. Were not just there to say oh, please, do this to us. Were looking for an opportunity to execute until the very end, just like they do in the big house in better times. So thank all of you to listening to me. I look forward to your question, your observations, your suggestions. As long as youre not about the iowa caucuses. Thank you for listening and go blue. Thank you very much. Good evening, everyone. Im a ph. D. Student here in education. And my research is in using collective impact for change in education. And part of that work is actually working with my brothers Keeper Initiative here. And its great to see some of the county leaders here this evening. We encourage you to continue to write your questions down. The first question here is for mr. Johnson. What do you think is the goal the largest problem faced by people of color . Theres certainly the material problems they face that relate to poor schools, living in impoverished neighborhoods, surrounded by violence. All the things we need to know to be true and that we to address. Theres also problems that have to do with the changing the narrative. By the way they view themselves, the way they think People Like Us view them, the way we view them. So much of what we do is based on the expectations that people have about us. So i think as much as anything, its about changing the narrative in all those many ways. Did you say there were some young people here from Washington County that you work with . Or did i misunderstand . You want my mike . I was mentioning the Washington County of my brothers keeper and Community Members that are here this evening. Would they raise their hands . Great, thank you. Thank you very much. My name is eric riley. Im a senior. This is on ur inequality and how we incorporate social justice in urban development. And the second question we have today is how do you expect things to change with a change of leadership. And what will be your next steps professionally. Do i have to answer the second question . The first question is how we continue to work after the end of the Obama Administration. As i mentioned, we have been working across federal agencies, whether its the Labor Department you recollect education department, even the Energy Department around National Labs in s. T. E. M. Education and opportunities, trying to make sure that we are able to make changes that people will be able to point to that will make a difference. We look at the a lot of program s in the way the greatest disparities are. While i cant say that my brothers keeper will be an initiative of the next president , i know that we are going to try to make sure we institutionalize change that whatever we call brings about change we believe to be important in terms of changes. Homefully it will continue to progress rapidly and well. It may be through that and other efforts that the president will continue this work. And for me personally, i will stay engaged in this work for the rest of my life. Because it means that much to me. As well. And then ill find sof other things to do after i get some rest. This question so this question comes to us from twitter. How does the if the respond to criticism that mbk either does not do enough or is misguided in scope . Is that a softball question . Various heads of agencies view their role in the fact that its a clearing call of the president that people really pay a lot of attention to it and feel accountable for making changes within federal policy. Then also looking at how weve been able to get private sectors involved in this work that either werent involved or couldnt figure out how to collaborate with other folks on the ground to make a difference. And the third thing i would say, i grew up in baltimore which is a pretty tough place when i was growing pup, it was tough and it continues to be tough and its certainly seen its share of unrest over time. We have to be able to prove it makes a difference. Its not going to be about happy stories. Kids who smile and say they feel like the president loves them and their country loves them. We want to make sure we prove thats true, but its done in intangible ways. Im confident its making a big difference. And well have statistics to show that. They look at specific milestones and they determine depending on the circumstances in their city, for example, in some cities, youth unemployment, summer jobs is a bigger challenge than others. Or expulsion of 3 and 4yearolds in preschools is a bigger issue in some communiti s communities. Thats true of 4,000 3 and 4yearolds suspended. Little 90pounders. Where you say come on. There are a lot of complications about that. Were able to make sure that communities have the flexibility urks of course, to do the work that is important to where they are. The fact that so many communities have agreed to do this work and are building sustaining work. Its not work thats like, okay, this will expire on january 20, 2017 but have three and fouryear plans in place already to do the work going forward. Is is in regards to your most rewarding and difficult cabinet members to work with. Theyre all great. Theres no more than that. I love my job. How can cities like flint, michigan, improve all the reforms necessary to improve conditions for its residence, environmental improvement, criminal justice resorm, mbk, private sector economic development. Flint by no means can do by itself what it needs to do across the board in those areas that you mentioned. Weve been able, as i mentioned with regard to detroit, saz has been the case with baltimore, we sent federal teams led by by as much federal assistance as possible. I dont know whether or not that will be the case with flint. A placebased model of work needs to be replicated by the federal government, whoever is in charge. It has to be based on a broader view of the needs of flint as in any other city. I mentioned that communities get together and they develop action plans. Theyre not going to address one of the six milestones, whether its from cradle or reentry programs, about whether theyre going to get the private sector to invest in collaboration with the Public Sector in those communities. The city in philadelphia, either based there or have strong operations there. Maybe they havent been talking with each other. Its always been about franchises and where they were going to put their next restaurant or whatever as opposed to what kind of jobs might be available for young people or apprenticeships or whatever else. Did the po tus wait too long in his administration to launch mbk . No. Any issues whether it has to do with American Economy an jobs ksz vgs ever having to do with health care, having to do with Education Opportunities and reforms that would lead to what weve seen in terms offen creased Graduation Rates and attendance and colleges. I think, again,ing what i say about mbk is that the president was profoundly affected by what happened in the Trayvon Martin situation and just decided that it was an important opportunity, given where the country was then and given b the circumstances to pull us all together in one particular initiate i, that was not to say we had been ignoring those issues before because we werent. What is the likelihood of mbk remaining a key program. And are there better chances under a democratic president of the United States . Im not going to talk about partisan political stuff, except to say that we have well, this isnt except to say, because this is, in fact, true. We have found a lot of support among republicans, particularly in communities in claeps. We had a republican mayor who was one of the early mayors to enbors mbk. Weve seen that in prez know, california. A run mayor did it as well. And weve gotten a lot of expressions for support. Again, that funding can come through a variety of other things around department of education funding. Weve seen a tremendous amount of support for republicans around mbk and religious conservatives as well. Its one of the least partisan things we developed by those who want to view what we do as partisan, which was not the case. How is the mbk task force encoloneling cities, especially with boys and young men of color to declare itself an mbk city . The good news is i dont think there are in of those left in terms of large, mediumsized cities. There arent many. There are still some. You know, its honestly keeping up with the 200 or so that are already mbk communities and making sure that all those communities are doing their work effectively is a Challenging Mission for us. This is something that has to be driven in local communities. Folks have to decide what kind of community they need to become. They need to make those determinations really. How does mbk talk about those often the ground, with the planning and implementation of mbk. Are there leadership roles for black and brown male youth in the Decision Making . It is mandated, so to speak, under the mbk construct that your action plan address how you make sure locally that you have young people involved in the planning of the work. Thats one thing that goes to equality of mbk plan. So thats baked into what communities should do. Second, though, ive gone around probably to two dozen mbk communities the past year and always insist that the listening sessions, so to speak, or summit that they have, include young people in both the planning but also in terms of who i can speak to. And i cant tell you how many times ive gone back to the white house having had a young person say tell president obama i said such and such. I remember once the president i had its probably about a year after we started the mbk and the wall street journal wrote about mbk. I was feeling pretty happy about that. The president asked me not long after that, those arent those editori editorials. How are we doing with mbk. He asks when hes out on the road all the time. How do you think that my brothers keeper works to address issues of young men of color without the eraser of problems that young women of color may face . Up with of the things i think we need to highlight more and should have highlighted better is that federal government cannot design programs that are race or gender exclusive. Theres the constitution, and then theres just fairness. We have an emphasis on boys and men of color. Some of the disparities that trouble the society, especially the case with them, everything we designed around mbk is gender or race neutral. If youre attacking issues where the disparity is the greatest, then its going to have the greatest i impact on boys and young men of color. By no way is what were doing under mbk especially from the federal Task Force Work helping girls and even helping all children quite frankly. I believe this is going to be our last question. Oh and its a twopart question. So thats okay. Do you have a onepart question . Whats your most rewarding experien experience. What experiences helps you with your current role for mbk . So can i Say Something as sort of frivolous as going to see whats his name . My memory is fading too much, too. So it was one saturday, it was early in the semester when you dont have to study as hard as you do later in the semester. Going to see a michigan notre dame game and going to a jazz concert that night. And its terrible. The name of that jazz musician. Hes a trumpeter. Hes deceased now. Yes, miles davis. Thank you very much. That was a trick question. I knew who it was. That was the most fun weekend i had in school. The most rewarding thing was not as a student. But its been really quite frankly as an alum. And some of the things that i mentioned about my own children and my mom and stuff. They provide religious opportunities that are priceless. Im really so drawn to that i think in terms of my job now. What prepared me is the rigor of the studies at the law school and also the sense that if youre willing and able, kbhit yourself to do Public Service. And for me, ive been able to do Public Service and also private law firm and other work. But just a commitment to Public Service that i left here with since i needed to make a difference and give back. Its all very true. Good way to end this question. Thank you so much. So my thanks, of course, to our special guest. I would also like to thank all of you for joining us, for all of your questions. I hope you will stay for continuing the conversation out in the great hall. An i hope youll consider coming back next monday. Well be hosting u. S. Secretary of