Cities across the United States have expressed interest in exploring and bringing BAM to local school districts. After a careful mutual selection process with Boston Public Schools (BPS) , in 2017, Youth Guidance expanded the BAM program to the city of Boston! Read how BAM transformed this 9^th grader’s life, click here.

No longer a pilot program, BAM in Boston now serves 330 youth in six schools and seeks the same nationally-recognized outcomes, for young men of color who are vulnerable to poor academic outcomes and/or involvement in the juvenile justice system that BAM has achieved in Chicago. Research by the University of Chicago Crime Lab has found that BAM reduces violent crime arrests by 50% and increases on-time high school graduation rates for youth in under-resourced communities.  BAM plans to continue to expand and serve 10 schools, and 550 BAM students –– who we call scholars – through the program.

Under the leadership of BAM Boston Executive Director Shawn Brown, BAM is now serving young men in the following schools:

• English High School
• The Jeremiah E. Burke High School
• Dearborn STEM Academy
• The John O’Bryant School of Mathematics & Science;
• East Boston High School
• TechBoston Academy

Future plans include expansion to three additional schools in the 2019-20 academic year: Brighton High School, Charlestown High School, and Madison Park Technical Vocational High School. We are also thrilled to partner with Cambridge Rindge & Latin School in 2019 – 20. Boston Public Schools and Cambridge Public School District are instrumental partners in this work.

The BAM Boston team is supported by the Youth Guidance National Office in Chicago which includes the BAM Training Academy and the areas of Program Evaluation, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Communications and Development.

To donate directly to BAM Boston, please click the button below.

BAM Boston is made possible through a wonderful partnership with Boston Public Schools and with philanthropic support from Strategic Grant Partners (SGP), The GreenLight Fund and the Boston Foundation. To ensure sustainability, a BAM Boston Advisory Council has also been implemented. Each council member has a strong desire be actively involved in solving the issues inner-city youth face, and will devote his or her time, talent and expertise to the current and future work of the Boston program.  Members include:

• Thaddeus Miles, Director of Community Housing, MassHousing (Chairman)
• Kate Barrett, Director of Development Strategy, Upstream
• Turahn Dorsey, Former Chief of Education, City of Boston
• Christyanna Egun, Senior Dir. of Boston Partnerships, Equity, & Inclusion, MA General Hospital
• Emerson Foster, VP, Human Resources, Sodexo
• Latoya Gayle, Phenomenal Moms, Boston Public Schools
• Dr. Charles Grandson, Interim Chief Academic Officer, Boston Public Schools
• Matt Hamilton, Managing Director, Summit Partners
• Conan Harris, Interim Senior Vice President of Policy and External Affairs of College Bound Dorchester
• Hon. Leslie Harris Retired Judge, Massachusetts Trial Courts
• Allan Kiser, VP and Compliance Officer at Fidelity Investments
• Melissa Luna, Executive Director, GreenLight Fund
• Makeeba McCreary, Chief of Learning and Community Engagement, Museum of Fine Arts
• William Morales Commissioner of BCYF, City of Boston
• Ed Powell, VP of Community Engagement, Justice Resource Institute
• Barbara Sullivan, Director of Education, Strategic Grant Partner