This week I chatted with Mark Culliton, the brainchild behind College Bound Dorchester and the Boston Uncornered Initiative. CBD and BCI use education to end systemic generational urban poverty. By providing mentoring and stipends for gang leaders to attend college Mark and his organization are changing the lives of gang members and who in turn go back to change their own neighborhoods. It's a totally new way to think about how we approach urban poverty and gang involvement, one that uses members most destructive to the community to ultimately transform it.
It was a fascinating discussion, one I thoroughly enjoyed.
Connect with Mark on twitter, instagram and facebook. And check out College Bound Dorchester at their website here or on facebook! It's an amazing organization, doing some really cool things!
And, it's true, Mark really does run marathons in crocs. Here's the proof:
Also mentioned in the show:
Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh
Sapiens: a Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari