Welcome and Overview

Forward Promise, a new $9.5 million initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is focused on promoting opportunities for the health and success of middle school- and high-school-aged boys and young men of color. Last year, the Foundation sought out the best ideas to help these young men succeed in life, school, and work, recognizing the limited positive options they have across most of these areas. In August 2012, RWJF issued a Call for Proposals for innovative, community-based projects working to strengthen health, education, and employment outcomes for boys and young men of color.

The Challenge

The path to adulthood can be especially difficult for many middle- and high-school- aged young men of color. They are more likely to grow up in poverty, live in unsafe neighborhoods and go to under-resourced schools—all of which has a lifetime of impact on their health and well-being. What is at stake for America is the possibility of losing an entire generation of productive men who will fall short of their potential, live less healthy lives and fail to build and strengthen their communities.

The Unique Position of Boys and Young Men

All young people require support on the road to becoming healthy and productive adults, and a young man’s path to growing up is likely to involve experimentation and risk-taking as they shape their masculinity and exert independence. The data shows that for young men of color those actions, which for other young men would be treated as youthful mistakes, are judged far more severely and often result in lasting punishment. Helping young men navigate their teenage years successfully is key to helping them reach their full potential.

Reaching young men without targeted programs or initiatives can prove difficult. Girls and young women benefit when boys and young men are put on a path of health and success and become thriving members of their communities.

Our Strategy

Forward Promise does not subscribe to the traditional model of focusing on risk factors, rather, we are focused on opportunity factors—factors and influences that play a critical role in helping young men grow up healthy, get a good education and find meaningful employment.

Our approach to this process has been informed by research and the more than 300 submissions that we received from the Call for Ideas we hosted in 2011. Starting with this Call for Ideas, Forward Promise works to identify promising programs, policies and approaches to evaluate what works, and spread successful models to communities that need them.

Here’s what we value:

• Collaboration: We believe achieving substantial improvements in the health and success of young men of color requires strategies that promote their development on multiple fronts simultaneously. We recognize that where young men of color live, learn and work affects their success.
• Diversity: Forward Promise is committed to diversity; geographic, racial and community-based. We recognize that boys and young men of color across the country—Black Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander or Native American; urban or rural—face challenges. Solutions must take into account the unique set of circumstances faced by each community and group.
• Innovation: Forward Promise is interested in identifying new opportunities for success, with a core strategy of strengthening promising programs and bringing successful models to scale.

Coming Soon: Call for Proposals Grants Awarded

RWJF issued a Forward Promise Call for Proposals in 2012, which ended on October 10, 2012. We will award up to 10 Forward Promise Innovation Grants of up to $500,000 each for projects with preliminary evidence of impact in the following areas:

• Alternative approaches to harsh school discipline that do not push students out of school;
• Solutions that focus on dropout prevention and increasing middle school retention and high school graduation rates;
• Mental health interventions that tailor approaches to boys and young men who have experienced and/or been exposed to violence and trauma; or
• Career training programs that blend workforce and education emphases to ensure that students are college- and career-ready.

Stay up to date on the Forward Promise Forum.

Maisha's updates

February 28, 2013 - New policy brief and update on Forward Promise

October 24, 2012 - More than 1,000 proposals received & review is underway!

October 3, 2012 - Update: CFP deadline, new partners, and reflection

August 20, 2012 -  The Call for Proposals is Here!

July 3, 2012 - Recap of the Gathering of Leaders: Cultivating Connections & Changing Conversations

In the News

Youth Transition Funders Group, : "25 Minutes with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Maisha Simmons"

Ebony.com, Nov 5, 2012: "Supporting the 'Promise' of Young Men of Color"

Health Affairs GrantWatch Blog, Oct 2012: "Update On Funding To Improve Minority Health And Reduce Health Disparities"

NewPublicHealth Blog, Aug 20 2012: "Maisha Simmons Q&A: New Opportunities for Young Men of Color Through Collaboration"

Washington Post, July 30 2012: "Time for more focus on young men of color"

Additional Resources

Information about shaping health for young men of color from RWJF and other sources.

• RWJF Publications and Research - What Shapes Health
• RWJF Vulnerable Populations journal article - "Where Health Disparities Begin"
• RWJF Commission to Build a Healthier America - Race
• CLASP report - 2025 Vision for Black Men and Boys
• Open Society Institute's program information - Black Male Achievement

Connect with program officer Maisha simmons

What we're reading

• The Washington Post, "The Central Park Five: Exploring race, rape and redemption"
• HealthFinder.gov, "'Zero-tolerance' policies don't have the desired effect, American Academy of Pediatrics says"

• ScienceDaily, "More Education, Socioeconomic Benefits Equals Longer Life"
• Futurity, "Is Zero-Tolerance Good for Schools?"
• The Louisiana Weekly, "Foundations help to reshape plight and images of Black males"