Black Male Initiative

Our Commitment to Equity

In June of 2020, shortly aft er the murder of George Floyd, Noble's CEO Constance Jones spoke out in support of and in solidarity with #BlackLivesMatt er. Through her leadership, Noble Schools committ ed to becoming an antiracist organization. Noble assembled a diverse group of stakeholders comprised of parents, students, administrators, teachers, staff , and alumni to critically reevaluate and redesign our organization's policies and practices to ensure that our vision, core values, and lived experience aligns with our commitment to antiracism. Throughout this process, our team deconstructed everything from dress code and discipline to academic achievement and staff experience. We continually challenged previous norms and expectations, identifi ed previously overlooked needs, and responded with action. There is still much more work to do, but we remain dedicated to achieving our vision of becoming an antiracist organization where all students and staff can learn and thrive.

“We don’t get to strive to become an antiracist organization in a racist way. Our processes, our intentions, must be antiracist too because our processes are products too.” — Jennifer Reid Davis, Head of Strategy and Equity

Black Male Initiative

Noble created the Black Male Initiative to honor the innocence of Black boys who are too oft en prematurely forced into adulthood. To address potential gaps in understanding and to create fully informed policies and systems that support our Black male students, we formed the Black Scholar Experience Working Group. We tasked them with identifying risk factors, and experiences that, according to data, lead to negative outcomes. Armed with this knowledge and a deeper understanding, the Group provided data-informed recommendations that reached every aspect of the Noble experience. With a deep commitment to antiracism at its core, the Group centered the voices of our Black boys themselves and sought to tackle three of the biggest obstacles to Black boys’ success: overrepresentation in punitive discipline, lower GPAs and standardized test scores, and lower 4-year-college acceptance rates.

The Group proposed 13 resolutions that aim to change the dynamic and ensure higher rates of success for Black boys. Addressing everything from building community and creating affi nity groups to improving staff diversity and revising academic and behavioral policy, the Group sought to provide Black boys with a clear path to success, with key supports along the way. Underpinning the Group’s eff orts is Noble’s own commitment to accountability. Noble hired a Manager of Student Experience to make sure the Group’s recommendations are strategically implemented, and to track the progress and outcomes.

Noble recognizes that the Black Male Initiative is just the fi rst step in what will be a series of iterations that will be needed to get our student experience right for Black boys, but we will continue to strive for equity and ever more positive outcomes.