The My Brother’s Keeper (MBK)/UMass Boston (UMB) Alliance is designed to promote the educational, vocational, identity, and civic engagement of the UMB students (Fellows) who are participating in this Alliance with the following goals.

• to provide UMB/MBK Fellows with the resources, skills, and mentoring necessary to achieve their highest potential
• to create opportunities for Fellows to serve as role models to students across Boston
• to create and sustain vibrant governmental, educational, and nonprofit partnerships that collectively work to advance these goals

UMB/MBK Fellows participate in an immersive program that brings together academic, skills-based and experiential learning, and mentoring. In collaboration with the Trotter Institute and the UMass Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring, this Alliance offers Fellows a robust curriculum of leadership development, training, networking activities, and mentorship throughout the academic year. This will help Fellows gain the real-world skills, tools, and experiences they need to make meaningful contributions to their communities. Key components of the program include:

• Personal and Professional Development Through a partnership with the UMB Trotter Institute, Fellows will participate in workshops designed to strengthen Fellows academic, vocational, and leadership skills. Workshop topics may include topics that affect the lives of young men of color including inequality, racial justice, mass incarceration, family, and workforce development, conflict management and resolution, mentor recruitment, public speaking, and resilience.
• Mentoring Experiences Through a partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts, Fellows will serve as volunteer mentors in the Dever Elementary Schools. Fellows will also be provided with mentoring. Through a partnership with Omega Psi Phi, Fellows are provided with guidance, support, and access to alumni networks of practitioners from national and local community, educational, philanthropic, and governmental organizations to find mentors who role models who support them and their efforts and provide them with perspectives to help advance their work. Under the guidance of these mentors, Fellows complete a tuition free Connected Futures  an evidence-based short course trains students in cultivating networks of support.
• Therapeutic Mentoring Certification In partnership with the UMB Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring, Fellows  complete a  tuition-free, 16-hour online certificate course coordinated by the UMass Boston Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring develop a paraprofessional workforce that can bridge the gap in mental health care in marginalized communities.