Partnership Circle Convening

On September 24, 2012 CLASP convened the Partnership Circle as a forum for Researchers and Policy Makers working on the issues of race and young black men to explore intersections and identify opportunities to work collectively to advance policy and practice.  This group of experts representing national policy, academia, education, civil rights, and youth development spent the day identifyingways that this work could be better integrated across disciplines to maximize the impact of the collective work.  There was a great deal of enthusiasm as researchers presented and discussed possible application of their research to policy and practice.  Policy makers were interested in the role that researchers could play in identifying more culturally competent research designs and metrics to document impact of interventions serving youth facing multiple barriers.  The Partnership Circle will engage in ongoing activities and the Keeping Connected eUpdate will keep the field posted on the activities.  Sam Fulwood, senior fellow and director of the Leadership Institute at the Center for American Progress, posted this commentary that captured the energy of the meeting.