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From a statistical point of view, in North America boys of color are highly unlikely to join kindergarten having the basic language and literally skills they would need to succeed. Things work out even more to their disadvantage as they grow up, leading to only about 59% of them graduating from high schools. Compare that to the numbers of at least 80% of white males graduating from high schools. Mentorship Programs for Boys of Color United States President Barack Obama launched the My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) program in 2014, to help America’s boys of color reach their full potential. MBK is meant to address the challenges that are unique to the boys of color and that are keeping them from achieving their full potential.As President Obama explains, MBK achieves this “By focusing on the critical challenges, risk factors, and opportunities for boys and young men of color at key life stages, we can improve their long-term outcomes and ability to contribute to the Nation’s competitiveness, economic mobility, and growth, and civil society.”The MBK program works with mentors already familiar with the school system. They include teachers, coaches, administrative staff, faith-based leaders, AmeriCorp volunteers, security guards, after-school tutors and college students.From the results, it is clear there is tremendous progress being done.However, there are still more boys of color out there to whom the MBK and other similar programs cannot reach out to and mentor them. That leads to a mentoring gap. Sadly it has also been observed (publication by United Way) that recruiting black men to act as mentors is another challenge on its own. Technology picks up where conventional Mentorship programs drop the ball The mentorship gap that results out of the inability of traditional mentorship programs already established to reach out to all boys of color can be addressed using technology. That is where the idea of We Are Marcuswas born.We Are Marcus is an online platform founded by Christopher King to sort of match-make mentors with boys of color. Within the platform, mentors can interact with boys of color and offer them some life coaching and mentor them into becoming responsible law abiding young men.As Christopher, Founder and CEO of We Are Marcus, explains to Black Enterprize; “We built We Are Marcus to address rapid dropout rates and underachievement of young black men in schools throughout the country. Mentor organizations are currently limited by time and capacity. Our dynamic vision leverages technology in a way that mentoring organization have not tapped into.We’ve found that students feel more comfortable, more quickly, and more open to reflecting on their own lives without judgment in this format. Anyone who has worked in a classroom will agree. Technology is the way we keep our kids engaged.” About We Are Marcus It is an online platform for on-demand character development for boys of color to whom the conventional mentorship program have either not yet or have been unable to reach out to. The platform seeks to bridge that mentorship gap between this group of boys and those already reached by mentorship programs like MBK mentioned above.Although the platform is still in prototype and product development stage, it promises greater outreach for mentorship program by leveraging on the internet and technology. Not to mention, people feel at ease interacting virtually and are more inclined to be open, than when interacting physically. It also eliminates barriers such as schedule conflict and matching mentor and mentee limitations.For more information head on to the We Are Marcus website.(Visited 486 times, 1 visits today)

Overview: We Are Marcus is a character development platform designed to bring mentorship to Black youth and to create mentoring opportunities for Black men across the country. Christopher King, the founder and CEO of We Are Marcus, has been featured in Black Enterprise and On the Ryse as a leader in social innovation.  He was also recognized by the D.C. Firm Village Capital for Social Impact, and his team recently received an award from the National Institute of Health in recognition of their success as a startup company. The platform is a resource that should be urgently considered by school districts because of its incorporation of data and data analytics to track student growth and because of the deeply rooted inequalities within the education system, which are reflected by both the lack of diversity and the wide achievement gaps. On Wednesday, Fifth Tribe welcomed Christopher King to the 1776 Startup Co-Working Space for the live recording of the fourth episode of the Campfire: Innovation and Impact Podcast.  For the second time, the podcast was streamed on Youtube, was recorded in front of an in-person audience, and featured a live question and answer segment.Christopher King is the founder and CEO of We Are Marcus, a character development platform that is designed to bring stories of successful Black men to middle school and high school youth around the country.  He and Khuram met at the first 1776 accelerator in D.C.; We Are Marcus was selected out of 150 applicants to take one of ten places in this incubator’s first cohort. The two entrepreneurs share their passion to make an impact, and their hour of conversation jumped from how We Are Marcus bloomed from the intersection of mentorship and technology, to topics related to diversity in tech, and to the role of mentorship in personal and professional development.  In a realm that is often considered to be “progressive” and driven towards change, tech companies seem to be struggling with diversity as much as other players; so, in the words of Khuram, “We Are Marcus is coming at the right time.” Christopher King, CEO of We are Marcus, answers a question from Khuram Zaman, CEO of Fifth Tribe, during the fourth episode of the Campfire: Innovation and Impact Podcast. What Makes We Are Marcus a Mentorship Game Changer Although he’s not what one would consider “tech savvy,” Christopher was able to break into the innovation space and bring his vision of We Are Marcus to life because of the “gall and bravery” that drove him; he says that this opportunity is one that he created for himself – one that he did not wait around for -, and that this dedication and focus pushed him to put his ideas down on paper, to make them functional, and to then seek the technology from collaborators.  His idea of a mentorship platform sparked in 2015, and the We Are Marcus corporation was launched not long thereafter in 2016.According to the founder, there are two factors that make We Are Marcus a unique and innovative platform that is doing what has not yet been done.  Firstly, We Are Marcus brings a cultural sensitivity to mentorship that is lacking in other mentorship experiences. During his discussion with Khuram, Christopher frequently returned to a personal example of an interaction that he had with a school counselor in high school.  He was told with directness and without sensitivity – as if the dialogue was neither personalized nor uncommon – that he would never attend a four year university. Looking back with a college degree, two Master’s degrees, and an impressive resume of entrepreneurship, leadership, and social impact projects, Christopher understands that this experience is shared by kids of color everywhere: instead of being uplifted by the school system, they are being defeated and traumatized.  Christopher’s motivation is to bring stories that are shared, yet untold, to those who are experiencing what those who came before them did – to show them that, yes, you can overcome. You are strong, talented, and you can (and will!) succeed.We Are Marcus confronts the challenge that typically plagues other mentorship organizations: the mentorship experience cannot be measured.  With its incorporation of calculated and evaluated data, AI, and machine learning, the interface can measure how students grow over time after being impacted by the stories shared by their digital mentors.  These social and emotional learning frameworks have, for too long, “been locked inside the ivory towers,” Christopher said. But by leveraging data and technology, We Are Marcus is trumping barriers around accessibility, imagination, and social impact.  The platform multiplies the ripple of mentorship, and the goal is to cut the mentorship gap (there are currently 16 million missing mentors in this country) in half by 2025. The Power of the Platform To Khuram, the concept of a platform was a fascinating one to discuss.  He was curious about how his fellow CEO arrived at the idea, and Christopher reflected that his intention was to “bottle up the conversations that [had] been privy with [his] mentor” in order to share them with others.  However, he brushed off the prospect of an app: “I didn’t want to be in the app business… everyone has an app.” The logical solution was a platform interface that was accessible via laptop and desktop (though it is mobile friendly).  Christopher started with a $2,000 budget and a contracted developer, and the project evolved from the idea that mentor videos and resources could be downloaded onto a desktop so that the user will always see it. Since this original design concept, the We Are Marcus system has continued to be optimized, a constant process that is facilitated by frequent design iterations and rounds of feedback.  In terms of functionality, the interface is accessible via a personalized log in.  The discussion leader – a teacher, for example – is provided with a facilitator guide, and the students log on to the site to view a gallery of videos ranging from 60 seconds to 2 minutes; these are organized