Parenting for the Future

In 1995, a visionary agenda for the Parliament of Women and Girls, called the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, was adopted at the fourth World Conference on Women. The action was adopted by 198 countries, all of whom were committed to taking strategic, bold action to remove the systemic barriers that hold women back from equal participation in all areas of life. 2020 marks 25 years since the Beijing Platform for Action, and yet today not a single country can claim to have achieved gender equality. Goal number 5 of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development is to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Multiple obstacles remain unchanged, however, in law and in culture, and as a result, women remain undervalued, they continue to work more, earn less, have fewer choices, and experience multiple forms of violence at home and in public spaces. Chidiogo Akunyili, is working to fulfill the promises of the Beijing Declaration and goal number five of the UN sustainability goals. And she is doing so with a focus on Africa, a continent so wealthy that for over five centuries, other nations have stooped to the most vile, inhumane, and repungent instruments to plunder its natural resources and human capital to enrich themselves, a continent which, while bearing the psychological and physical scars of such long and thorough exploitation, is stubborn and steadfast in its determination to define itself and wrest back its own power and destiny. A continent which, by 2050, will have birthed one in every four people on the globe.

Maria Russo is a mother to three curious and engaging children. She is the children's book editor of the New York Times Book Review, so it is no surprise that she has long loved the written word. She earned her PhD in English and comparative literature from Columbia University where she has also taught. And before joining the New York Times, she served as a Writer and Editor for the Los Angeles Times, the New York Observer and salon.com. Maria is the co-author of, How to Raise a Reader, which provides masterful guidance to parents, teachers, and others with children in their lives on how to cultivate a lifelong love of books within them. This book is the subject of our episode.  

Vernã Myers is a mother to one phenomenal son. She is a cultural change catalyst, influencer, and thought leader who is known for her captivating insights and ability to help people bridge differences and connect more meaningfully. She is a Harvard trained lawyer and founded the Vernã Myers company, which for over two decades, has helped organizations eradicate barriers based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and other differences. She is also the Vice President of Inclusion Strategy at Netflix where she helps devise and implement strategies that integrate cultural diversity, inclusion, and equity into all aspects of Netflix's operations worldwide. Her inspiring TED Talk, How to Overcome Our Biases: Walk Boldly Toward Them, offers ways any person can become an active participant in countering bias in themselves and in others to create a better world.

Enshrined in the very preamble to the United States constitution, in the words Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness is a powerful idea that has come to define the United States. That anyone who lives here, regardless of the station into which they were born, has the right to and can pursue and attain their version of a full free and happy life. That ability to move from the station into which one was born to another is otherwise known as social mobility. And in America a college education has long been deemed the chief vehicle through which that mobility is attained. But does college work? Does it truly provide real opportunity for young people, who want to improve themselves and their prospects? Or is it simply a rigged game designed to protect the elites who have power and exclude everyone else.

On this episode, we explore these questions with Paul Tough. Paul is a father of two sons and a New York Times bestselling author. In his new book, The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us, he examines the American system of colleges and universities, how it helps and hinders our young people. Paul has been writing and speaking about education, parenting, inequality, and success for a long time. He is the author of three previous books including the best selling, How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character. He has worked as an editor at the New York Times Magazine and Harper's Magazine. He's a contributing writer to This American Life. And his writing has appeared in the New Yorker, the Atlantic, and the Op-Ed pages of the New York Times among others.

With a Gross Domestic Product of over $21 trillion, the United States is one of the richest nations on earth. Yet, to our eternal shame, more that 13 million children in the United States - nearly 1 in every 5 children – live in poverty. Living in poverty means that regardless of their intelligence, aptitudes and talents, 13 million children are unlikely to have a sound education or adequate healthcare.  13 million children, will more than likely be exposed to violence, and the gravitational pull of powerful negative influences, to which many unfortunately will fall prey. 13 million children who will ultimately be unprepared and unable to thrive, to help themselves, their country, and the world. Using a model that focuses intensely on the health, social and educational development of children, including wrap-around programs that improve the family life and community of those children, Harlem Children’s Zone, in the words of President Obama “is an all-encompassing anti-poverty, effort that is literally saving a generation of children in a neighbourhood where they were never supposed to have a chance”. With its roots in Central Harlem going back to the 1970s, Harlem Children’s Zone has saved and continues to save generations of children. It also provides a blue print for what communities can do to reclaim the future for all their children. Anne Williams-Isom, mother to three incredible children and CEO of Harlem Children’s Zone is my guest today. Anne found her calling to improve the lives of vulnerable children and families when she was still a child herself, growing up with a single mother and witnessing firsthand the many challenges confronting kids in struggling communities. That calling was cemented during her time at Columbia Law School, where she began to appreciate the critical role played by communities in finding lasting solutions to social problems. Before she joined Harlem Children’s Zone, Anne served as Deputy Commissioner of the Division of Community and Government Affairs at New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services. When she first joined Harlem Children’s Zone, she did so as its Chief Operating Officer, overseeing all the programs in its cradle-through-college pipeline, leading its 2,000+ staff, and strengthening the organization’s use of data to improve services and outcomes for the over 25,000 children and families it serves. Anne serves on the board of directors of several organizations, including: Child Trends, Columbia Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Design and Central Park Conservancy. She is sought after for her expert guidance on child welfare and community development, by media houses like The New York Times, Barron’s, Crain’s New York, Essence and The Chronicle of Philanthropy.