Jamal L. Carr is the new director of the Collaborative Partnership for Excellence in Youth Development, which envisions system-wide improvements that will lead to better youth outcomes for health and wellness, educational success, workforce readiness and civic engagement.

As the full-time director, Carr’s responsibilities include representing the collaborative group within the community, facilitation of ongoing processes and communication across groups, management of project activities and negotiation of partner relations.

Carr’s extensive experience includes his previous role as the youth and family services administrator for the North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. While serving on the NC Collaborative for Children, Youth and Families, Carr led an initiative to reduce the involvement of minority youth in the juvenile justice system. Carr has also worked as a school-age care data analyst for the Department of 4-H Youth Development at North Carolina State University, and he spent five years as a youth minister at Oak City Baptist Church.

“The Collaborative Partnership for Excellence in Youth Development is more than just a collective group of individuals and organizations coming together to offer up another youth initiative,” said Carr. “It is a progressive movement where the theory of positive youth development is interwoven into practice, and youth are fully engaged as partners in their own success.”

The Collaborative Partnership for Excellence in Youth Development received $1.25 million for a four-year grant from the John Rex Endowment to support the creation of a collaborative system to erase gaps in youth services, share resources and information, build capacity, and engage youth and their families in creating a positive future.