MKRI Launches New School Partnership Program
The Mentoring Kings Research Institute is proud to announce a new, comprehensive school partnership model — designed to bring the Framework to schools nationwide with depth, fidelity, and a commitment to lasting impact.
Dr. Kelly M. Downing
Founder & Executive Director, MKRI
"The Mentoring Kings Framework was never meant to live in one school, one city, or one community. It was built to travel — to reach every young man who needs it, wherever he is."
Since the founding of the Mentoring Kings Research Institute, we have been asked the same question by educators, administrators, and community leaders across the country: How do we bring this to our school? How do we implement the Framework in a way that is authentic, sustainable, and actually moves the needle for our young men?
Today, we have an answer. MKRI is launching a new, comprehensive school partnership program — a structured, tiered model for schools and organizations ready to implement the Mentoring Kings Framework with the depth and fidelity it requires. This is not a one-day workshop or a packaged curriculum. It is a genuine partnership — built on relationship, grounded in research, and designed for lasting impact.
Why Schools Need a Different Approach
Schools across the country are grappling with the same challenge: Black boys are disproportionately represented in every negative outcome — suspension, special education referral, dropout, incarceration — and underrepresented in every positive one. The data are not new. The urgency is not new. What is new — or at least, what should be new — is our willingness to respond with something more than incremental adjustments to systems that were never designed to serve these young men in the first place.
The Mentoring Kings Framework offers a different approach. It does not ask schools to add another program to an already overcrowded schedule. It asks schools to fundamentally reimagine how they see, serve, and develop their Black male students — from the curriculum to the culture to the relationships that define the school experience.
That kind of transformation does not happen through a single professional development day. It happens through sustained partnership — through ongoing learning, coaching, reflection, and accountability. That is what the MKRI School Partnership Program is designed to provide.
"We are not looking for schools that want to add a program. We are looking for schools that want to change a culture."
— Dr. Kelly M. Downing
Three Tiers of Partnership
The MKRI School Partnership Program is structured in three tiers, each designed to meet schools and organizations where they are — and to support them in going deeper over time. Every tier is grounded in the full Mentoring Kings Framework and includes access to MKRI's curriculum, assessment tools, and professional learning resources.
Foundation Partnership
An introductory partnership designed for schools and organizations beginning their journey with the Mentoring Kings Framework.
Includes
- Framework orientation for school leadership and staff
- Curriculum access for one cohort of young men
- Monthly consultation with MKRI team
- Access to MKRI assessment and progress-monitoring tools
Cornerstone Partnership
A comprehensive partnership for schools and organizations ready to implement the full Framework with fidelity and depth.
Includes
- Everything in Foundation
- Full professional learning series for mentors and educators
- Family engagement programming and support
- Community partnership development consultation
- Quarterly site visits and coaching from MKRI team
- Annual program evaluation and impact reporting
Legacy Partnership
A deep, multi-year partnership for organizations committed to systemic transformation and long-term impact.
Includes
- Everything in Cornerstone
- Co-design of school-wide culture and systems aligned to the Framework
- Leadership development for school administrators
- Research partnership and data-sharing agreement
- Priority access to new MKRI resources and publications
- Recognition as an MKRI Legacy Partner school
The Principles That Guide Our Partnerships
Fidelity with Flexibility
The Framework is research-grounded and non-negotiable in its core commitments. But every school is different — different demographics, different histories, different strengths and challenges. MKRI partners work with schools to implement the Framework with fidelity to its principles while adapting its practices to the specific context of each community.
Whole-School Alignment
The most powerful implementations of the Mentoring Kings Framework are not add-on programs. They are whole-school commitments — where the language of the Framework, the values of the Framework, and the practices of the Framework are woven into the culture of the school itself. MKRI partners support schools in building that alignment.
Family and Community as Partners
Young men do not develop in schools alone. They develop in families, in communities, in neighborhoods. MKRI's partnership model explicitly includes family engagement and community partnership development — because the ecosystem conditions that support young men's growth extend far beyond the school building.
Sustainability by Design
MKRI does not build programs that require our ongoing presence to function. We build capacity — in educators, in mentors, in school leaders — so that the work continues and deepens long after the formal partnership ends. Every partnership is designed with sustainability as a primary goal.
"Every school that partners with MKRI is making a declaration: we believe our Black male students deserve more than what they have been given. And we are willing to do the work to give it to them."
— Dr. Kelly M. Downing
Who Should Apply
The MKRI School Partnership Program is designed for schools and organizations that are ready to make a genuine commitment — not just to a program, but to a transformation. We are looking for partners who believe that every Black boy in their building is a King, and who are willing to build the systems, relationships, and culture that make that belief real.
Ideal partners include middle and high schools with significant Black male enrollment, community-based organizations serving boys and young men of color, after-school and out-of-school time programs, and faith-based organizations with youth development missions. We work with public, charter, and independent schools. We work in urban, suburban, and rural contexts. What matters is not the setting — it is the commitment.
If you are a school leader, a program director, or a community organizer who has been looking for a framework that takes the development of Black boys seriously — that is grounded in research, built on relationship, and designed for the whole young man — we want to hear from you. The work is urgent. The need is real. And the Framework is ready.
"Every King has a story. Every story teaches a lesson. Every lesson has the power to build a legacy."
Dr. Kelly M. Downing
Founder & Executive Director, MKRI
Dr. Downing is an educator, researcher, and advocate whose work centers the development of boys and young men of color. The Mentoring Kings Framework™ is the culmination of more than a decade of classroom practice, doctoral research, and community-based mentoring work.
Ready to Partner with MKRI?
Applications for the 2026–2027 school year are now open. Contact our team to learn more about which partnership tier is right for your school or organization.