Geoffrey Canada - January 19, 2012

All children can succeed, regardless of race, wealth or zip code,” believes Geoffrey Canada, founder of the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) and one of Time’s Most Influential People.

 

The extraordinary innovator in educational reform who is featured in the documentary “Waiting for Superman,” shared insights into his personal life and professional career with the upper school student body in the first Leadership Lecture of the 2011-2012 school year. While on campus, Canada also met with faculty and student leaders during his visit.

TBS parent Dirk Ziff served as moderator at the special morning program held January 19 in the Healey Athletic Complex gymnasium as Canada, who grew up in an impoverished lifestyle in the Bronx, described his life story and personal philosophy on education, as well as fielded questions from the audience of freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors, and TBS faculty, staff and school administrators.

“Luck played a part in my success and opportunity to go to college,” said Canada. “However, no child should have to depend on luck alone to succeed.”

Instead, the career educator founded HCZ which provides a cradle-to-career continuum of high-quality neighborhood schools and support services for disadvantaged children. "The Zone program combines educational, social and medical services," explained Canada. “It starts at birth and follows children to college. The objective is to create a safety net woven so tightly that children in the neighborhood just can't slip through."

The work of Canada's HCZ has become a national model and has been the subject of many profiles in the media. For his years of work advocating for children and families in some of America's most devastated communities, Canada was the recipient of the first Heinz Award in 1994. In 2004, he was given the Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Education and Child Magazine's Children's Champion Award. In 2009, he received the Independent Sector's John W. Gardner Leadership Award. He is also the recipient of the Heroes of the Year Award from the Robin Hood Foundation, The Jefferson Award for Public Service, the Spirit of the City Award from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the Brennan Legacy Award from New York University and the Common Good Award from Bowdoin College. Canada additionally holds honorary degrees from Harvard University, Bowdoin College, Williams College, John Jay College, Bank Street College and Meadville Lombard Theological Seminary.