One Love Global

Boys and men are back on funders' agendas. Here's what could go wrong. Michael D. Smith on why philanthropy's last push for boys and men of color fell short — and how funders can avoid repeating those mistakes.

We are mobilizing our people to exercise their power, both at the ballot box and far beyond. We will move as our people need us to for our survival, but we as a movement are looking beyond this moment and building a strategy toward a future where our people do not just survive, but thrive. ⬇️

Our community has a major assignment. Last year, Metro Lansing My Brother's Keeper (MBK517) was certified by the Obama Foundation's MBK Alliance. We were invited to be the first certified community to complete a tool documenting systems level change. We delivered.

We are now the first community invited to complete a systems change assessment. LEAP and One Love Global are co-leads for our community and will be facilitating the assessment process. As you likely know, our approach is youth-centered, data-driven and grounded in a commitment to a racial equity accountability process (REAP).

This memory from 8 years ago is a reminder of how integral so many leaders, institutions and organizations were in establishing our collective impact goal of economic equity. Everyone who has been involved in MBK over the past 12 years (and Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation over the past 10 years) is invited to engage in the assessment. We will have collective spaces for this as well as tools for individuals to provide input.

When we examine data trends tracked in the Lansing Racial Equity Scorecard we can measure improvement across multiple indicators. https://www.oneloveglobal.org/lansingscorecard

A few questions to consider:

What are the stories behind the data? What work, policy and systems changes led to these outcomes?

Has our regional commitment to racial equity and economic equity impacted our youth? Is that commitment sustainable? How?

What is the correlation between economic mobility and community safety?

Let us get on the other side of the midterm election for a deeper dive into the assessment. One Love Global is diligently working to educate and mobilize voters over the next several weeks. Join us on the Road to Black November! (Absentee voting has already started! Request your absentee ballot and get on the permanent list: https://tinyurl.com/OLGM4BLabsentee )

Michigan is 1 of only 10 states that don't provide funding for school infrastructure, which forces districts to depend entirely on local property taxes. Many of our school buildings are outdated or poorly maintained. Facility issues are disrupting classrooms and leading to cancelled classes.

In the 2024-25 school year:
- 47% of school districts had chronic facility issues
- Facility issues led to school cancellations for 2 million students and a loss of about 3.5 million days of learning

To read more: https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107970

U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)

Mail (absentee) ballots are now available for the Nov. 3 General Election. Request yours at mi.gov/vote or by contacting your city or township clerk’s office.

"Beginning Oct. 2, 2026, employers and minors will use YEPP to complete the youth employment permit process through one statewide system. Local school districts and nonpublic schools will no longer issue youth employment permits.

The new system will:

Allow minors and employers to complete the permit process online at any time of day, providing greater flexibility, particularly during the summer months when schools may have limited hours.

Require employers to register with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) before hiring minors.

Allow employers to notify LEO when a minor’s employment ends.

Provide LEO with greater visibility into youth employment across Michigan.

Create opportunities for LEO to proactively communicate youth worker rights and responsibilities directly to minors and employers." (Source: Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity)

Webinar today at 2pm ⬇️