Helping Black Boys and Young Men Succeed

A child’s adverse experiences — especially chronic stress — play a big part in their social, emotional, academic, and health outcomes. The Opportunity Institute is helping children of color and children who are economically disadvantaged overcome these obstacles.

We advance economic mobility, equity, and racial justice by supporting policies and practices that advance whole child equity, intervention services, and trauma-informed care. 

We need your support to help students of color and their families succeed!


Far too often …

a vulnerable child’s needs often go unmet by either the school or some other agency, such as health, mental health, or child welfare services. Also often unmet are the needs of adults who provide relational supports to students.

The key is to match supports and resources to each child in a way that is developmentally appropriate considering that child’s context, especially any exposure to adversities. It is also critical that students have multiple opportunities to succeed and pathways for new talents to develop and flourish. Our Whole Child Equity project is working to build the policy and practices necessary to ensure whole child equity and excellence — informed by the science — for each and every child.

Additionally, our other projects support black students and their families in:

K-12 Education: Our Partners for Each and Every Child project works with hundreds of partners across the country to ensure that our most vulnerable young people — often children of color and children who are economically disadvantaged — have equitable access to excellent learning opportunities K-12.

College for those incarcerated/formerly incarcerated: Our Renewing Communities project is building ladders of success for those impacted by mass incarceration. It helps build on-ramps back onto the path to credential and career by opening high-quality college opportunities in California prisons and college campuses for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people.

Donate now to invest in the futures of black boys and young black men.