My Brother's and Sister's Keepers
Opportunty creation for all
President Obama launched My Brother’s Keeper to address persistent opportunity gaps faced by boys and young men of color and ensure that all young people can reach their full potential. Through this initiative, the Administration partnered with cities and towns, businesses, and foundations who are taking important steps to connect young people to mentoring, support networks, and workforce development programs to prepare them for their next life chapter. St. Pete adopted the initiative and expanded the program to include girls and young women—My Brother’s and Sister’s Keeper.
My Brother’s Keeper
My Brother’s Keeper is focused on five milestones: Getting a healthy start and entering school ready to learn, graduating from high school ready for college and career, completing post-secondary education or training, successfully entering the workforce, and keeping kids on track and giving them second chances.
NOT MY SON
Not My Son (NMS) is a grassroots community outreach marketing campaign and intervention effort to assist African American male youth and young adults (12 to 24 years of age) in St. Pete under the MBSK umbrella. The primary goal is to promote positive achievement and anti-crime awareness. We solicit your support as we strive to serve notice that education, opportunities, and positive relationships are the formula for hope in our community. There are two ways to get involved:
- Take the Not My Son pledge.
- Join us for a Community Intersection Rally. Each Friday during the summer break we will take our message of "Enough is Enough" to the streets of St. Pete with the simple goal of building relationships and encouraging others.
Each Friday at 6 p.m., groups go door-to-door to a different area in south St. Pete to bring awareness of positive encouragement and action to help keep young adults and children safe.
| June 11, 2021 6-7:30 p.m. Faith Memorial Missionary Baptist Church Faithland Location 1901 18th Ave. S. Contact: Shirley Thornton, 727-768-9623 |
June 18, 2021 6-7:30 p.m. The Rock Of Jesus 3840 18th Avenue South Contact: Ms. Cynthia Allen, 727-327-0015 |
| June 25, 2021 St. Joseph Catholic Church Fruitland Heights 2101 22nd Ave. S. Contact: Mr. Louis Castaneda, 727-822-2153 |
July 2, 2021 IMA 2900 1st Ave. S. Contact: Rev. J.C. Pritchett, 727-337-8738 |
| July 9, 2021 Mt. Pilgrim MB Church Childs Park 4000 5th Ave. S. Contact: Rev. Clark Hazley, 727-321-7375 |
July 16, 2021 Cathedral of St. Peter Episcopal Church Downtown 140 4th St. N. Contact: Ms. Hilary Peete, 727-822-4173 |
| July 23, 2021 Historic Bethel AME Church Methodist Town 912 3rd Ave. N. Contact: Ms. Wanda Williams, 727-822-2089 |
July 30, 2021 Today’s Church 2114 54th Ave. N. Contact: Mr. Patrick Jackson, 727-329-8874 |
| August 6, 2021 Greater Mt. Zion AME Church 1045 16th St. S. Contact: Rev. Sherrisse Bryant, 727-894-1393 |
August 13, 2021 Mt. Zion Progressive MB Church 955 20th St. S. Contact: Ms. Bonita Wright, 727-823-5946 |
My Sister’s Keeper
The Kriseman administration expanded the existing My Brother's Keeper initiative to offer support, events and curriculum for young women in St. Pete's community—My Sister's Keeper.
Girls Conference
When City officials extended their commitment to include young women in St. Petersburg, they began by hosting the JUST B YOU Conference for middle school girls. The following year, it was expanded to the JUST GIRL TALK Conference for young women in high school. Now, the event has grown and is held in partnership with Hillsborough County.
Sister's Kin-nect
Sister's Kin-nect is a community of inspiring women igniting and connecting opportunities. This annual event offers a dynamic evening of personal investment with the intention to ignite and inspire women of all ages.
My Sister's Keeper Fellowship
The My Sister's Keeper Fellowship was created as a network for young women in St. Pete to connect, ignite, inspire, and invest in each other. The program is held on an annual basis and the application is currently closed.
Virtual 6-month Fellowship Sessions will include the following:
- Opening Leadership Assessment
- Effective Communication, Verbal and Non-Verbal, Difficult Conversations
- Breakthrough Leadership Attitudes and Mindset
- Investing in Your Future/Education/Certifications
- Building Wealth/Finance and Investing/Entrepreneurship
- Networking Opportunities/Relationship Building
- Community Builder and Creating a Portfolio
- Monthly Progress Assignments(maybe by video) and Peer Coaching
- Cohort Project
List is subject to changes and additions.
Cohort of Champions
The Cohort of Champions (COC) training program involves educational, entrepreneurial, workforce, and enrichment training opportunities for 100 young men and women, ages 12 to 24. The COC training initiative is the next step to prepare our African American young men and women for the future as well as to develop a trained, qualified and ready workforce.
The co-ed collaborative of the MBSK initiative advocates and brings awareness to the current programs, services, and activities operating in St. Pete that uplift the economic status of young Black men and women in our community. The collaborative mentors the youth in the Cohort of Champions and also strategizes new ideas, new services, and new programs that build bridges to the needs of our community.
Registration for the Summer Workforce Training Academy is open and is free to Cohort members ages 12 to 18. The Summer Workforce Training Academy schedule is Monday – Thursday. Contact Carlos Daniels 727-893-7894 or Richard Prince 727-430-8669 to sign your child up. Act fast before spots fill-up!
Youth Development Grants
The Youth Development Grant program provides funding opportunities to local non-profit organizations who provide services to St. Pete youth. This program expands on the other mayoral education and community initiatives that are designed to provide additional opportunities to St. Pete’s youth and businesses.
To learn more about how Youth Development Grants are utilized, watch Keep St. Pete Lit's Youth Development Grant testimonial video.
Youth Development Grant Review Committee
A ten member Youth Development Grant Review Committee, made up of St. Pete residents and community members, participates in the review and selection process. The committee uses the Youth Development Grants Scoring Rubric, 2021-2022 to determine grant awardees. To learn more about the committee, please read the Youth Development Grant Review Committee 2021 Goals.
2020 Youth Development Grant Recipients
Organizations and programs that received funds, totaling $249,525, during the 2020 cycle.
| Organization | Program | Award Amount |
| Bees Learning | We Love Book's Literacy Program | $25,000 |
| Center for Academic Excellence | Continuation of Sing Out and READ's Family Literacy Project at Jordan Park | $24,879 |
| Cloud Nine Outdoors | Cloud Nine Outdoors Youth Year Round Outdoors and Education Program | $19,102 |
| Community Development and Training Center Inc. | Tipping Point STEM | $25,000 |
| Golden Generations Inc. | My Sistah's Place | $25,000 |
| Keep St. Pete Lit, Inc. | St. Pete LitSpace Youth | $25,000 |
| Speakeasy M.E.D.I.A. Foundation | 2020 MBSK Youth Development Grant | $24,560 |
| The Gathering of Women, Inc. | The Gathering of Women Musician Program | $10,573 |
| Youth Development Foundation of Pinellas County Inc. | AKA AKAdemy Global Leadership Program | $20,160 |
| Workforce Solutions of Tampabay, Inc. | This Career Exploration | $19,053 |
| Junior League of St. Petersburg, FL Inc. | Junior League of St. Petersburg's Care Fair | $6,210 |
| Harriet Tubman PTO Aftercare, Inc. | Project4Life!!!! | $24,988 |