BAM Boston
(Pictured left to right): National BAM Director AJ Watson, Youth Guidance Board Chair John Raitt, Executive Director of BAM Boston Shawn Brown, & Senior BAM Curriculum Specialist Marshaun Bacon.
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, we are excited to announce that we are now piloting BAM in the city of Boston!
The pilot program seeks the same nationally-recognized outcomes for young men of color at risk for poor academic outcomes and/or involvement in the juvenile justice system as 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.
Under the leadership of BAM Boston Executive Director Shawn Brown, our new location is now serving about 150 young men at the English High School, the Jeremiah Burke High School & Dearborn STEM Academy shared campus and the John O’Bryant School of Mathematics. Future plans include expansion to nine Boston schools by the 2019-20 academic year to support more than 450 young men.
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 – Executive Director, GreenLight Fund
Turahn Dorsey – Former Chief of Education, City of Boston
Latoya Gayle – Phenomenal Moms, Boston Public Schools
Conan Harris – Director, My Brother’s Keeper, City of Boston
Hon. Leslie Harris – Retired Judge, Massachusetts Trial Courts
Melissa Luna, Executive Director, GreenLight Fund
Makeeba McCreary – Managing Director and Senior Advisor for External Affairs, Boston Public Schools
William Morales – Commissioner of BCYF, City of Boston
Barbara Sullivan – Director of Education, Strategic Grant Partners
The BAM Boston team will be supported by the Youth Guidance National Office in Chicago which includes the BAM Training Academy and the areas of Program Evaluation, Finance, Human Resources, IT, Communications and Development.
We are very excited to answer the call to bring this proven intervention to another major city and continue our mission to guide youth to bright futures!