On November 21, 2014, Knoxville Mayor Rogero hosted the Save Our Sons Summit. The purpose of the summit was to bring Knoxville stakeholders together to share collective work, better understand individual challenges, and identify key action steps to increase the overall effectiveness of community efforts to eliminate violence-related deaths and increase opportunities for success for boys and young men of color.

More than 180 participants attended the event from more than 60 agencies, organizations, and churches, as well as boys and young men of color themselves.

After listening to the presentations, attendees participated in roundtable conversations where they discussed what they saw as the most pressing issues facing boys and young men of color and what they felt Knoxville could do to effectively address those issues.

Data collected during the summit was summarized by UT Social Work Office of Research and Public Service (SWORPS). The following were identified by SWORPS and the Save Our Sons Advisory Group as next steps:

1. Hold a Sons Summit to focus specifically on providing a voice for boys and young men of color.

2. Create a clearinghouse of resources and resource providers that provides a road map of services for boys and young men of color which also helps existing agencies better coordinate and collaborate.

3. Develop opportunities and activities for the Police Department and boys and young men of color to interact in positive new ways.

4. Collaborate with the local Fair Chance Campaign to provide opportunities for people with criminal records to find jobs and to encourage employers to “ban the box” (the delay asking for criminal record and background checks until after an interview).