First in a series
Re “White House Calls – Mayor Agrees to Become My Brother’s Keeper”
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Dozens met for Local Action Summit on My Brother’s Keeper in November. Photo, Karim Sahli.
Bursting with seemingly unquenchable enthusiasm, Mayor Meghan Sahli-Wells just has returned from a national summit at the White House with fellow mayors to further explore President Obama’s child-oriented project My Brother’s Keeper.
She was proud to report spending Lincoln’s birthday in his former home last Thursday, although she was disappointed not to have met President Obama.
“The summit was fascinating because there were non-profit leaders, people from foundations, funding partners, mayors and other community officials there,” Ms. Sahli-Wells said. “(Atty. Gen.) Eric Holder gave an address, and a number of senior White House staffers spoke to us about the My Brother’s Keeper initiative.
“The connections I was able to make with other persons were important.
“One of the most helpful topics we discussed was how to talk to funders, whether they be private entities for private-public partnerships or foundations.”
When President Obama unveiled his plan last year, he asked communities across the nation to dedicate themselves to helping the most vulnerable boys and girls by agreeing to three hometown commitments:
• To ensure that all children entering school for the first time are prepared to learn.
• To make sure all students graduate.
• To see that no Culver City child goes homeless.
Ms. Sahli-Wells said that even though she accepted the challenge of My Brother’s Keeper on behalf of Culver City last autumn, “no city money is going toward it. We will be dependent on outside funding if we want to fund any of the initiatives.”
(To be continued)
