Fulfi lling a Dream

An Interview with Geoffrey Canada, President and Chief Executive Offi cer, Children’s Zone

EDITORS’ NOTE Geoffrey Canada concentrating on making sure they so there are more than 11,000 kids in our zone. received a bachelor’s degree in psy- did well during the critical ages of We worked with 8,500 of those kids this year in chology and in 1974 fi ve to 12. To end the cycle of poverty our program, because kids do what their friends from , and entered in Harlem, we thought that if we got do. The kids who don’t do that are the outliers. the Harvard Graduate School of these kids on the right track, every- In communities that are functioning well, the shortly thereafter, where he thing would be fi ne. but after a de- outlier kids are those 10 to 15 percent who fail, drop earned a master’s degree. After grad- cade of attempting that, we looked at out, or cause trouble. In communities like Harlem, uation, Canada joined the faculty of the data and things were worse than the outlier kids are those who go to school and get the Robert White School in Boston, ever for kids in Harlem. so we had to good grades. so we’re trying to change the cultural Massachusetts, and by 1977, he had come up with a different strategy. norms so it’s normal to do well in school and ab- become its Director. In 1983, Canada as we searched for that new strat- normal to drink, smoke, and carry guns. returned to Harlem as the program egy, we started out thinking about The most important element is that you director for the Rheedlen Institute’s Geoffrey Canada; what we could do with an additional have to use data to evaluate how you’re doing Truancy Prevention Program. In with students (right) $500,000 or $1 million, but we weren’t and hold people accountable for results. 1990, Canada was appointed really considering what it would take Is success measured by college gradu- President of Rheedlen. He expanded the center and to completely fi x the problem, which requires a ation rates or are there a broader group of renamed it the Harlem Children’s Zone, and it be- totally different mindset. measures? gan offering tutoring, recreational programs, and nancy roob and mike bailin of the edna our kids have so many emotional problems community outreach. By 1997, Harlem Children’s mcConnell Clark Foundation pushed me for a that insisting on college is too narrow. We’re Zone had 11 sites throughout Manhattan. In plan based on that new mindset, and I came up trying to produce kids who go to college, but 2009, U.S. President announced with one. but they asked if that initial plan would who will also be healthy and productive citizens plans to replicate the HCZ model in 20 cities across be guaranteed to work and I said no. so I had whose own kids won’t grow up in poverty. so the nation. Canada has written several books in- more work to do, but it was the fi rst time I had promoting mental and physical health are parts cluding Fist stick Knife Gun: a Personal History been liberated to think of complete solutions. of that, although college is the number one goal. of violence in america (1995) and reaching up The final plan we presented had three With such an emphasis from leaders For manhood: Transforming the Lives of boys in phases that ultimately took us to where our bud- on education, why can’t the problem be america (1998). get is today, in the $80-plus million range. They fi xed? made their fi rst major investment in us. George There is nothing sinister about it, but the ORGANIZATION BRIEF Harlem Children’s Zone soros was also among the fi rst to support the plan. teachers unions in america have become a (www.hcz.org) began in 1970 as Rheedlen, work- It’s not like there is just one thing going major power over the past 30 years. Teachers ing with young children and their families as the bad for kids, like teenage pregnancy or gang vi- are our primary weapon to improve the perfor- city’s fi rst truancy prevention program. In the olence. In these communities, kids face hurdles mance of our kids in schools. If, as a manager, early 1990s, HCZ ran a pilot project that brought that can trip them up at every age. you can do anything you want except change a range of support services to a single block. HCZ We realized we could not serve all the kids those teachers, it won’t work. created a 10-year business plan, and in 1997, be- in Harlem, so we took responsibility for 10,000 but something has changed in america. gan a network of programs for a 24-block area: kids. We drew boundaries and committed our- For the fi rst time, we have the public looking the Harlem Children’s Zone Project. In 2007, the selves to do whatever it took to help those chil- at this issue. Folks across the country are real- Zone Project grew to almost 100 blocks. Today, the dren succeed. izing that the jobs that are available today and Children’s Zone® serves more than 8,800 chil- What have you learned that has guided in the future require high level skills and we dren and 6,600 adults. Overall, the organiza- you as you attempt to help the young peo- can’t fi nd americans qualifi ed for those jobs. so tion serves more than 10,000 children and more ple of Harlem? the public is beginning to realize that this isn’t than 7,400 adults. Over the years, the agency in- The challenge is not just in making sure that a problem just affecting poor black kids; it’s af- troduced several groundbreaking efforts includ- you develop the infrastructure, but in getting the fecting their own kids and they want to know ing The Baby College® parenting workshops; the residents to buy in and take ownership of it. how to change this. Harlem Gems® preschool program; the HCZ You have to create pipelines that remain Do you take the time to appreciate Asthma Initiative; the Promise Academy Charter with kids beyond when they graduate from col- what this organization has achieved? Schools; and an obesity program. All HCZ pro- lege. one of the top lessons we learned is that I have marveled at how I’ve watched a grams are offered free to the children and fami- you can get kids through high school and into generation of kids grow up. It is one of the most lies of Harlem. college, and think they’re going to be fi ne, but rewarding experiences you could have. sometimes they are not fine. so you have to every day, a kid smiles at me and you How has the Harlem Children’s Zone stick with those kids all the way through. realize they’re smiling because they realize evolved since you became involved? There is also the issue of scale. To make a life is going to be good for them. Initially, we believed that there was a difference, you have to be touching 70 to 80 per- everything I dreamed about is happening shortcut to giving kids a better future by cent of the kids in the area that you’re working in. right now.• 46 Leaders volume 34, number 2