The Indianapolis Commission On African-American Males was created October 1, 1992, by Mayor Stephen Goldsmith to examine the conditions facing young African-American males in Indianapolis and to develop a strategy and a series of recommendations to enhance the quality of their lives. The Commission's work has been in five areas: Education, Employment, Criminal Justice, Health and Family.

Like the rest of the nation, Indianapolis has seen tremendous social and economic progress, especially over the last 40 years. Many citizens have prospered and many more have secured an adequate measure of economic and social success. But when one looks deeper into how well certain segments of the community have fared over these 40 years, it is apparent that the African-American community, particularly the African-American male, has not fared so well.

Most disturbing, is the fact that many young African-American males are skeptical and cynical about their future. It is not unusual to hear young inner-city males say that they do not expect to survive to adulthood. As one young man put it at one of the Town Meetings, "Why bother? I probably won't be around any way." This is clearly the most damaging condition for young Black males, for with loss of hope comes a loss of self-worth and self-esteem, which in turn can lead to negative behavior. Our community must find a way to help him and others begin to believe in themselves and in their future.

By the end of the year 2000, ICAAM had come to the end of the journey for which its original founders had intended.  ICAAM, in the eyes of many observers, had accomplished more than many thought possible by addressing over 70% of the original 144 Recommendations.  Many board members, community organizations, and community activists agreed that while ICAAM's presence had brought light to many of the challenges facing African-American males in Indianapolis, this targeted population still falls far short of the intended results of creating social and economic parity.  Several reason were stated for the continuation of ICAAM.  1) Social conditions that were considered in the original "Call to Action" report had changed over the past eight years and new issues have arisen, and 2) Without an organization like ICAAM, there is great likelihood that African-American male issues would slip from the spotlight of the broader community's social issues agenda.  

ICAAM as an organization decided there is a continuing need to operate.  With support from Mayor Bart Peterson and his new administration, it began a year long strategic planning process to guide its board, staff, and other strategic partners  in the development and growth of the organization. The strategic plan would provide the opportunity for ICAAM to develop annual work plans and to frame an action agenda to guide initiatives over the next five years. It must be noted that this strategic plan was not designed to develop a detailed operation plan for programs, but is a detailed outline of specific steps that will lead to the development of that document.

The following action goals were the result of the strategic plan. 

1. To serve as a convener and facilitator between the city administration and the community on issues affecting African American males and their families
   
   
2. To serve as a repository for research and data on issues affecting African American males and their families
   
   
3. To act as a catalyst to identify and report information (issues , strategies, and results) affecting African American males and their families
   
   
4. To provide technical assistance and funding to community-based organizations serving African-American males and their families

In order to implement these goals, ICAAM has developed its Key Stakeholder Taskforce Initiative. The Key Stakeholder Taskforce Imitative is a systematic process involving large social service organizations, affinity groups, and the community at-large to address and make recommendations to resolve social and economic issues affecting African-American males that were identified by ICAAM through its 5-year strategic plan. These collaborative taskforces will systematically research, prioritize, develop recommendations for implementation, and document their progress and process in addressing the issues in the areas of health, education, family, employment, and criminal justice. 

ICAAM has developed the following strategies to address the issues affecting African-American men.  

1. Rather than giving the ultimate responsibility of addressing ICAAM issues to individuals volunteers, large community social service organizations with a vested interest in similar issues affecting African-American males have been selected to host and manage the process. These organizations are being referred to as Key Stakeholders.
   
   
2. Stakeholder Taskforce Groups have been asked to develop strategies and recommendations to be presented to the community and specific organizations for implementation.
   
   
3. The membership of the Stakeholder Taskforce groups include larger community organizations (Key Stakeholders), community-based organizations, affinity groups, and neighborhood organizations.