The Struggle For Democracy And The Future Of Public Education
For Forbes, I had a zoom conversation with Gislaine Ngounou, the current chief of the Nellie Mae Foundation, a philanthropic outfit based in New England.
These days it is focused on a mission to use “its power and privilege as a philanthropic institution to advance racial equity.”
That stance has drawn the enmity of some conservative groups. The right-wing Influence Watch, for instance, claims the foundation is “oriented around furthering critical race theory-aligned policies in the region’s public education system, because anyone who discusses equity and race will inevitably be charged with pushing critical race theory.
That kind of knee jerk right wing is just one of the things that concerns Ngounou. In a wide-ranging Zoom interview, she pointed out that while New England is often seen as a liberal section of the country, they have seen the same kind of right wing pushback that has appeared in other parts of the country. Some school boards have been commandeered by conservative members who are out to undo any initiatives having to do with equity or culturally responsive teaching.
She describes the stakes as high ones indeed.
“The stakes are the future of our democracy. The well-being of all of our communities and the future of our democracy are so deeply intertwined that improving public education benefits, quite frankly, all of us,” said Ngounou. “What we’ve seen happening in more conservative states like Florida and Texas serves as a playbook, a guidebook, as a pathway forward for people who are really afraid of a plural, diverse democracy, and that’s what the country has become.”