Black Men Teach
Recruit, Retain, Results
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Minnesota is one of the best places in the country to get a public school education. Unless you are Black. Days after George Floyd's death, Governor Waltz Tweeted: Minnesota consistently ranks highly for our public schools, innovation and opportunity, and happiness - if you’re white. If you’re not, the opposite is true. Systemic racism must be addressed if we are to secure justice, peace, and order for all Minnesotans. (May 31, 2020) Studies show white teachers are twice as likely to have low-expectations for classes of predominantly Black/brown students, when compared to teachers of color. This is a problem, because 90% of Minnesota teachers are white, and 70% of Twin Cities public school children are students of color. Minnesota ranks last (50th) in disparities between Black and white student graduation rates. It also ranks among the worst in the gap between Black (and other students of color) and white students - in key markers for long-term success like reading and math (Minnesota Compass). This is a significant social and economic justice problem, and workforce development problem. These children represent our future, and we can do a better job preparing them to enter college and the workforce. Minnesota’s disparities in education are a significant factor contributing to the opportunity gaps that exist, and exacerbate the insidious status quo in other disparities in health, housing and income for all BIPOC communities. Education system changes are critical to begin solving many of these injustices. Black Men Teach has a solution. It is simple: we are providing leadership to facilitate multiple stakeholders in the educational system to strengthen pathways for Black men to become elementary school teachers.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Black Men Teach
Black Men Teach (BMT) will reduce the student opportunity gap by closing the “teaching gap” in the Twin Cities. BMT addresses the lack of teachers of color, and specifically, the near absence of Black men in elementary classrooms, by working with key partners from all aspects of the teacher development pipeline to create a robust pipeline of Back male elementary school teachers. The presence of Black male teachers in elementary schools has a significant positive impact on children of color, especially young Black males, by providing teachers in whom they see a reflection of themselves. By having a Black man as a teacher in elementary school, all students benefit. Black Men Teach creates the environment and conditions for Black male teachers to flourish.
Where we work
External reviews

Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The goal of Black Men Teach is to improve outcomes for children of color, with a special focus on Black male elementary students. Through partnerships with multiple stakeholders in the teacher development process, we recruit, place, and help retain Black male teachers in eight low-income Twin Cities public elementary schools over the next six years, so that 20% of the teaching staff in those schools are Black men. At capacity, we will place 30 Black male teachers annually and support 100 Black males in the teacher pipeline within 10 years. With approximately 25 students in a classroom, these Black male teachers will influence over 2,500 Twin Cities children annually.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Black Men Teach (BMT) provides structure and processes that bring together efforts of numerous key partners who are committed to educational equity and reform to build a stronger, more diverse teaching workforce.
RECRUIT
- Recruit Black men (BMT Fellows) at the high school, college, and mid-career levels to become teachers
- Create cohorts and offer a network of support and mentoring to all Fellows in our pipeline
PREPARE
- Place Fellows in partner nonprofit and community organizations working in youth development, to build valuable experience working with youth
- Mentor Fellows through individual pathways with teacher preparation partners
SUPPORT
- Provide stipends during unpaid student teaching (typically 12-16 weeks, and a requirement for becoming a licensed teacher
- Provide scholarships--partnering with Page Scholars and Wallin Education Partners, and direct scholarships from Black Men Teach - with additional one-on-one mentoring and support throughout the candidates education;
PLACE
- Guide new Fellows to K-5 partner schools with an induction process and a culture to designed to support their success
- Offer ongoing training, mentorship, and support
- Support organizational partners with onboarding process
RETAIN
- Help partner schools change adult culture in order to better retain teachers of color
- Offer networking opportunities and ongoing mentoring for Fellows during their first two years of teaching
- Provide student loan repayment assistance that incentivizes retention working in elementary school settings over a five year period.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Recruiting and retaining black male educators, indeed all BIPOC teachers, has been a challenge for our community, as is reflected by their limited numbers and attrition in the field. And although the reasons for this are well known within the education community, success has been elusive due to the many stakeholders in the teacher development pipeline, each working within their own specialty, with no one else working on a comprehensive approach. Black Men Teach is providing leadership to overcome this issue.
BMT brings together all stakeholders – colleges and universities, alternative teacher preparation programs, policy makers, community-based organizations, K-12 school systems, and corporate and foundation leaders – to work together in a seamless fashion. BMT provides leadership and coordination of these efforts. Through its partnerships, BMT addresses issues that have proven problematic for BIPOC candidates, including lack of recruitment, inadequate teacher training, poor induction, unwelcoming school culture, low entry-level compensation and lack of meaningful career paths. Addressing one or a few of the challenges, while leaving others unaddressed, will not lead to success. BMT has assembled and will continue to lead a committed group of partners, creating a paradigm shift that will lead to transformation in the teacher development process.
Our board, providing strategic guidance, is composed of one current and two former metropolitan area school district superintendents, a university president, a former legislator and others with significant expertise in how our education system works and what must be done to increase the number of teachers of color. While diverse, this board is majority Black. Having Black leadership for this effort, and Black community engagement, both core values for BMT, is critical to our success.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Black Men Teach was incorporated June 2018. Since then we have built our board of education and youth development leaders, policy advocates and business leaders. This diverse board is majority Black. Our executive Director, Markus Flynn, was hired January, 2021. We have secured partnerships with the 8 elementary schools we will work with, a number of traditional and two non-traditional teacher training programs and a number of community-based organizations that will assist with recruiting and training. As of fall 2021, Black Men Teach has placed three men in elementary school teaching positions and we have 12 men in the post-secondary reacher training pipeline.
Our recruitment efforts now include the offering of concurrent enrollment classes "Introduction to Education," to juniors and seniors in area high schools. In 2021 we launched our first high school Fellows program with 14 men enrolled in a Minneapolis high school. BMT will assist in recruiting Black men to take this class, exposing them to the idea of teaching, and we will recruit Black teachers to lead the class. We have also begun on-campus outreach to non-teaching majors, encouraging them to consider teaching as a career and a way to make a positive impact on their community and next generation of students.
We have secured partnerships with two scholarship programs, ensuring all Fellows will receive partial scholarships to support their education.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Black Men Teach
Board of directorsas of 10/31/2023
Mr Anthony Lando
Bank of America
Term: 2021 - 2023
Josh Crosson
EdAllies
Paul Gunderson
Coca-Cola Enterprises, retired
Peter Hutchinson
Accenture and Minneapolis Public Schools, retired
Michael Goar
Twin Cities Catholic Charities
Anthony Lando
US Trust/Bank of America
Rhoda Mhiripiri-Reed
Hopkins Public Schools
Ginny Arthur
Metropolitan State University
Mark Irvin
Best Buy
Jesse Morton
North Hennepin Community College
Kevin Idahor
Accenture
Ann Rest
Minnesota State Legislator
Steve Zenz
KPMG Partner, retired
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/19/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.