Sparking Meaningful Dialogue on Race and Opportunity in America

The Casey Foun­da­tion recent­ly host­ed a forum devot­ed to dis­cussing the role of race in deter­min­ing a child’s path to suc­cess. This event was in direct response to widen­ing racial divides—and ensu­ing civic turmoil—in Fer­gu­son, Mo., Charleston, S.C. and Baltimore. 
 
Par­tic­i­pants included:

• Mod­er­a­tor Angela Glover Black­well, founder and CEO of PolicyLink.
• Pan­elist Peter Edel­man, fac­ul­ty direc­tor of the Cen­ter on Pover­ty and Inequal­i­ty at George­town Law.
• Pan­elist Joseph T. Jones, founder and CEO of the Cen­ter for Urban Families.
• Pan­elist Rafael Lopez, com­mis­sion­er on Chil­dren, Youth and Fam­i­lies at the U.S. Depart­ment of Health and Human Services.

Dur­ing the pan­el dis­cus­sion, these experts iden­ti­fied proven strate­gies for effec­tive­ly dis­rupt­ing inequitable sys­tems while plac­ing kids and fam­i­lies – and specif­i­cal­ly fathers – on a path to suc­cess. They also pin­point­ed the impor­tance of mean­ing­ful con­ver­sa­tions and sound pol­i­cy solu­tions in address­ing chal­lenges relat­ed to racial inequities in America. 

The forum – part of an ongo­ing series of Foun­da­tion-led dis­cus­sions and events focused on race – took place at Baltimore’s Cen­ter Stage the­ater.