Family Services welcomes GEOFFREY CANADA author, child and youth advocate, and pioneer of community revitalization in Harlem.

Thursday, November 2, 2017, 11:30 AM Benton Convention Center, Downtown Winston-Salem

ALL CHILDREN HAVE AN INHERENT RIGHT TO REALIZE THEIR FULL POTENTIAL.

0ne of “America’s Best Leaders” Yet, too many of our youngest children in Forsyth County do not enjoy the same US News and World Report (2005) opportunities for success. They are not ready to learn when they enter school. #12 among the “World’s 50 They start behind and constantly struggle to catch up. Too many never catch up. Greatest Leaders” Fortune (2014) We know that our children are our future and that our community’s economic vitality and social well-being depend upon providing all of our children Featured prominently in the Davis opportunities to grow up to become truly remarkable and contribute their Guggenheim documentary Waiting for “Superman” special talents back to our community.

The work of Canada and the Harlem GEOFFREY CANADA knows this well, too. Over the past 30 years, this Children’s Zone profiled by nationally recognized author and children’s advocate has worked to transform 60 Minutes one of the toughest neighborhoods in the heart of Harlem by leveling the playing The Oprah Winfrey Show field and making sure all children have a chance to realize the American dream. The Today Show Good Morning America Canada founded the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ), which The New York Times Nightline Magazine called “one of the most ambitious social experiments of our time.” CBS This Morning Launched in 1997, HCZ targeted a specific geographic area in Central Harlem. The Charlie Rose Show Block by block, Canada set out to save kids, who had been “written off” by NPR’s “On Point” everyone else. Today, that safety net of comprehensive services for youth from The New York Times birth to 23 years old covers 100 blocks, and more than 12,509 children receive The New York Daily News services annually. USA Today Canada grew up in the South Bronx in a poor, sometimes violent neighborhood. Newsday Despite his troubled surroundings, he was able to succeed academically, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bowdoin College and a master’s in education from the Harvard School of Education. After graduating from Harvard, Canada wanted to help children who, like himself, were adversely affected by their lives in poor, embattled neighborhoods. His books, Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America and Reaching Up for Manhood: Transforming the Lives of Boys in America draw upon his childhood experiences and those of children at the Harlem Children’s Zone.

We have much to learn from this highly honored children’s crusader who served as Chairman of the Children’s Defense Fund (2004–08) and has counseled $1,000 Family Champion (table of 10) US Presidents and national leaders on how to reduce poverty and realize the potential of all children. Canada will inspire our community to take action $75 as we address issues that are vital to improving the lives of Forsyth County Individual Community Ticket children and families who live in poverty.

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