The University of Toledo is helping promote equal opportunity for success and prosperity among the nation’s boys and young men of color by hosting the My Brother’s Keeper summit.

The summit is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, March 9 in the Thompson Student Union Auditorium.

“The purpose of the summit is to bring together local service providers, elected officials and faith leaders to discuss and jointly identify issues that negatively affect African-American and Latino males in Lucas County,” said Dr. Willie McKether, UT vice president for diversity and inclusion. “We ultimately want to identify programs that are providing needed services, determine if there are overlapping services, opportunities for collaboration, and, importantly, gaps in service offerings for this population.”

Charles Noble, who helped establish My Brother’s Keeper in Columbus, Ohio, will be the keynote speaker. Toledo Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson also is scheduled to attend.

Members of the Toledo community are invited to attend, specifically social service providers and community leaders.

“Attendees will benefit because they will participate in our early efforts to collectively identify ways to help African-American and Latino males survive and develop in our communities,” McKether said.

Participants are asked to register by Monday, March 6 at utoledo.edu/diversity/brothers-keeper.

The My Brother’s Keeper Community Challenge encourages cities, towns and counties to implement a coherent cradle-to-college-and-career strategy for improving the life outcomes of all young people to ensure that they can reach their full potential, regardless of who they are, where they come from, or the circumstances into which they are born.