Educational Equity Key to Progress and Democracy

Tina Tchen, left, and SLN CEO Yolonda Marshall sit in conversation at the Whole Girl Education National Conference.NEW YORK

On the last day of the Student Leadership Network’s (SLN) Whole Girl Education National Conference: Closing the Gap, CEO Yolonda Marshall reminded attendees why they must continue to elevate and educate young women and gender expansive students: because the political and societal climate is dire. Secondary and postsecondary education must play key roles in the future of the American democracy.

“We’ve been working to close the gap in education for nearly 30 years, to dismantle racial, gender, social and economic inequities that plague so many of our students across the country, and we do it in partnership with you,” said Marshall.

Marshall was joined in conversation by Tina Tchen, executive vice president and chief strategy and impact officer at The Obama Foundation, former assistant to President Barack Obama and chief of staff to First Lady Michelle Obama. Tchen told listeners that, at this moment in time, education and democracy are walking “on the knife’s edge.”

“I am concerned about what’s happening with local school boards, policies, this misnomer that we don’t have to be worried about diversity, equity, and inclusion and we can be a ‘color blind society,’ that it’s what we should be—which is not true,” said Tchen.

Tchen said that activist Gloria Steinem once told her that the most dangerous time for progress is right after you make a lot of progress. "We are living through the inevitable backlash,” she added.

Tina Tchen, executive vice president and chief strategy and impact officer at The Obama Foundation, former assistant to President Barack Obama and chief of staff to First Lady Michelle Obama.“Gender discrimination has transcended time, race, geography, religion—it’s everywhere. It’s even written in the Bible,” said Tchen. “This is a very deep road to climb to combat it. You as educators are critical to breaking that cycle.”

SLN helps students find their voices and their confidence, pushing through the systemic barriers they confront, not just in high school, but beyond. In 2001, SLN launched the CollegeBound Initiative (CBI), placing 33 college counselors in schools in New York City, Rochester, and Buffalo. Since then, the team has helped over 23,000 students successfully navigate the path to college and helped them secure over $1 billion in scholarships and financial aid.

The progress is tangible. In fact, CBI and The Young Women’s Leadership Schools, a network of public secondary schools grades 6-12 serving over 9,000 students from under-resourced areas, send over 80% of their graduates on to college. Robert Robinson, senior managing director of CBI, said this pattern of success takes not only SLN educators, counselors, and students, but also the cooperation and interest of postsecondary institutions.

“I get asked, ‘How come a school like Gettysburg College, which isn’t traditionally diverse, has such a repeat of students from your school going there, being successful, and graduating?’” said Robinson. “They partner with us. They set up opportunities for our students to get on campus, meet other students, connect to faculty members. Once our kids get on campus, they provide a dean or liaison to meet with the students, someone they can go to if ever they have questions or need support.”

Robert Robinson, senior managing director of CollegeBound Initiative.Robinson said the retention and graduation rates of students of color from NYC at Gettysburg is “essentially 95% plus,” adding that colleges need to make the investment in their future students.

“You look at the alum we have graduating from Gettysburg, they are doing amazing things. There’s a return on that investment into our communities and back to the Gettysburg campus as well,” said Robinson. “There’s a right fit student for you on your campus, no matter if you’re talking about Yale or a community college. We’ve got the students, but the students need to know, and their families need to know, that they’re going to be successful there. When our families see that kind of investment, we have a ton of success on those campuses.”

Helping young women and gender expansive individuals counteract the predominant narratives they encounter in the world, by building their confidence and voices, said Tchen, isn’t easy work. But the benefits of breaking through gender and racial discrimination will have tremendous impacts not only on individual communities but for the whole world’s economy.

 Liann Herder can be reached at [email protected].