Solutions as Outcomes

The purpose of our gathering is to develop solutions that can be implemented and evaluated in our communities. Community members, scholars, activists, and policy makers collaborate to create solutions that include the best of our collective genius. We are actively engaged in confronting challenges in the areas of Education/Youth Development, Health, Economic/Community Development, and Technology (STEM). The researchers and practitioners who invest their time to participate in the Think Tank are committed to scholar-activism. It is our obligation to give back to communities by working collectively to find solutions to challenges impeding the progress of producing healthy boys and families.

The Think Tank model we utilize is in 2 parts: Part 1 is the solutions roundtable in which invited "Scholars" gather to discuss solutions based on their research and experience. These moderated roundtables produce solutions which derived from multiple disciplines and perspectives.

Part 2 is the strategic planning working session in which the scholars, practitioners, policy makers, and activist collaborate in developing strategic plans to implement the solutions from Part 1.

Each participant, regardless of educational background, is seen as equal partners in the development, implementation and evaluation of the solutions.