On Thursday, Skillman Foundation President & CEO Tonya Allen joined other philanthropic leaders from across the nation, as well as Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, for an important moment at the White House, as President Barack Obama announced a broad public-private partnership to support boys and men of color.

The imitative called My Brother's Keeper includes the establishment of the My Brother's Keeper Task Force, an inter-agency effort that will help determine what public and private efforts are working and how to expand them, how the federal government's own policies and programs can better support these efforts, and how to better involve state and local officials, the private sector, and the philanthropic community. Ten foundations committed more than $200 million in new investments to support the initiative.

Allen attended the news conference as member of the Executives' Alliance to Expand Opportunities for Boys and Men of Color, which launched in April 2013.

"We are so pleased that the President is issuing a national mandate to give boys and men of color access to the same opportunities that all Americans enjoy," Allen said in a statement. "This act complements the work of many regional foundations like the Skillman Foundation in Detroit that have executed this agenda because of the urgent and pertinent needs in our communities. Investing in this work can show great returns. For example, investments over the last eight years have increased graduation rates for African American and Hispanic boys in Detroit."

The Executives' Alliance is a growing network of national, regional, and community foundations. The 30 member institutions engage in a broad array of initiatives and activities to support boys and men of color. The Alliances' commitment is to:

• Use collective and individual voices to affirm the value and contributions of boys and men of color as indispensable to our nation's success;
• Focus the attention of policy makers to address and dismantle structural barriers to opportunity for boys and men of color; and
• Increase, leverage and coordinate investments such that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

The Executive Alliance offers a venue for philanthropic organizations with a shared focus to connect with each other.  

To learn more or get involved, visit the Executive's Alliance home page or learn more about My Brother's Keeper here.