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 “Education plays an invaluable role in our community’s fortune. If we raise the educational attainment of Philadelphia’s residents to the state level, cutting the number of those without high school diplomas in half and increasing the number of college graduates by 40%, the city would have access to nearly 27,000 additional workers, the number of employed Philadelphians would increase 32,000, and the number of unemployed city residents would fall by 52,000.”
– A Tale of Two Cities (Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board)
“…Improving the skill level of the workforce requires continued efforts to strengthen the public schools system. Academic achievement by youth must be emphasized, and resources must be provided to schools to ensure quality education.”
- The State of Black Philadelphia (Urban League of Philadelphia)
It is with great pleasure that I have accepted the position of Executive Director to Project GRAD Philadelphia. While serving as a member and President of the Board of Project GRAD Philadelphia I have become intimately involved with and knowledgeable about Project GRAD. The educational reform philosophy I have come to embraced for over 20 years of service – “insuring access and equity for every student who desires higher education and prepare them for success in achieving a college degree, without remediation” makes Project GRAD the right program at the right time for Philadelphia.
Demographers project that by 2055, minorities will constitute a majority of the United States population. This stark fact should persuade the public of the need for diversity, equity and access in postsecondary education, for it reminds us that it is in the interests of all Americans that all Americans have the chance to benefit from postsecondary study. The time has long since passed when our nation could afford to limit college to those of privileged academic or economic status.
A colleague of mine with a doctorate often states she would not qualify as an apprentice in the local sheet-metal workers union or as an electrician, carpenter or pipe fitter; nor be able to secure a job in any GM plant in America because she does not know either trigonometry or calculus. If she were twenty-something rather than sixty-something, those academic gaps would seriously limit her professional opportunities. This, in part demonstrates the rapidly changing nature of our economy and increased need for high academic skills in virtually all jobs with decent pay and opportunities for advancement.
I have always been attached to the School District of Philadelphia – as a grammar school student and returning in 1999 to work with the School District in the Office of Education for Employment helping to establish the GEAR UP program. My college education also was public, as is my first Trustee appointment at the Community College of Philadelphia. The distinctiveness of my educational and professional work experiences gives me the essential background necessary to move such an initiative forward. I have been involved in the development of local and national partnerships that have shaped and supported policies impacting education. I have also been a lead organizer and catalyst of the Philadelphia College Prep Roundtable – a network of over 40 college prep programs. This network has moved from a small informal group of individuals to an assembly that leverages through advocacy and involvement the ability to engage and inform the Philadelphia education community. It has also institutionalized a weekly e-bulletin, monthly meetings and an annual conference.
In addition to local partnerships, I have a broad reaching network at the state level and the national level by way of my work and involvement with professional associations that focus on access and equity to higher education issues, including leading policy initiatives for these groups.
The uniqueness of my background is my familiarity to understanding and being personally involved with the educational and policy dynamics of Project GRAD and the School District of Philadelphia along with the state and national agendas of pre-kindergarten through college. I’m a first generation college graduate, raised by my grandparents and mother. They each valued education but neither of them went to college or knew how to prepare me for the college process. It was a trial and error process for me, which is one of the reasons I’m so passionate about Project GRAD and the pre-kindergarten to college agenda.
I was told I would go to college by a grandmother and grandfather who completed the 8th grade and 6th grade but they had no idea what needed to be done to get me there. I attended Overbrook High School having never seen my counselor. Fortunately, I had caring individuals that shepherded me along the way. These life experiences along with professional opportunities have shaped my passion for serving underrepresented people. I will use this passion and energy to serve as Executive Director of Project GRAD Philadelphia for the advancement of all Philadelphia public school youth.
I truly believe that every child should have a high quality educational experience that tools them to compete in a competitive academic environment and job market. I also believe that children are less likely to commit crimes when they have more education. These are key issues in Philadelphia and society overall. And while these are not the only issues they are at the cornerstone of a better Philadelphia. We are no longer at a point where we can merely pilot initiatives. We must initiate proven, sound programming that show evidence of success.
Project GRAD’s model of what I call “building a support net around schools” is something I also believe strongly in. The experts at running schools are in schools. They need additional supports at all levels and Project GRAD helps them get those supports.
I also believe that as the state truly begins to institutionalize the equity of academic rigor and opportunities for every child in the Commonwealth, Project GRAD can be a lead partner with infusing the pre-kindergarten through college agenda.
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