Black male education and employment success was the agenda for a gathering of senior-level public and private-sector leaders and decision makers at the National Press Club in Washington on Friday.

Corporate, political, government, education, and association leaders gathered for a meeting of the minds to close the gap in educational outcomes, workforce preparation, and economic success for at-risk African-American men.

While African-American males are underrepresented on college campuses and are overpopulating U.S. prisons, studies also show that increases in educational attainment in high school, college and post-graduate work have a significant impact on employment rate increases. In a study prepared by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, employment rates in 2005 increased steadily for African-American males, for whom rates rose from a low of 33 percent among high school dropouts to 57 percent among high school graduates, and to a high of 86 percent among four-year college graduates.

The Thought Leader Symposium, held by Jobs for America’s Graduates, Inc. (JAG), included three panels and an audience of leaders representing a broad cross-section of programs to address African-American male education and employment.

“The success of a nation depends on the success of its people,” said Maine Governor John Baldacci. “Our challenge is to work with people to ensure that a light is turned on.”

Dr. Bernard E. Anderson, a professor at the Wharton School of Business, has been involved with JAG from its inception 26 years ago, which he said works to counter the negative and haunting statistics about Black men.

“While we don’t have all of the answers to the problems, there are three lessons that we’ve learned: education matters, earnings for high school graduates is three times that of a dropout. The economy matters; Black youth in relation to the economy are like the caboose on the train. If the train slows down or speeds up, so does the caboose, but it never catches up. And the third lesson is that race matters. We need a vigorous assault on racism to ensure that African American and Hispanic men are not denied employment based on race or ethnicity.”