Duke Energy recently announced the recipients of $1 million in grants through the Duke Energy Foundation to nonprofit organizations committed to social justice and racial equity in North Carolina.
$25,000 grants were distributed to 40 organizations across North Carolina that have an impact across spectrums of the work. One of Edlanta’s partners, Profound Gentlemen, was one of the organizations chosen as a recipient of a grant who has reach beyond NC to cities across the U.S.
See original post for details.
Profound Gentlemen produces teachers empowered to drive social justice and equity in schools.
Profound Gentlemen realizes that Black male educators in and out of the classrooms is just one step towards equity. The Executive Director of Profound Gentlemen, Jason Terrell, realizes that simply placing Black men in front of students isn’t the answer. We must effectively train Black male teachers. Too many public school districts are focused on hiring an athletic coach and not an academic teacher.
We just simply don’t have enough Black males in education that further drives a wedge in equitable services to Black children.
As true as this may be, organizations like Profound Gentlemen are determined to overcome these odds for Black children. PG does this by helping to train and retain Black male teachers in schools.
Research shows that when children see themselves in the classroom, they perform better. Preparing Black males to help Black students perform better is a focus of Profound Gentlemen that caught the eye of Duke Energy Foundation.
PG believes that one solution to improving equity is development for teachers. Profound Gentlemen impact leaders have found success in taking time to understand how their cohort members learn. This helps the male educators use activities from professional development that can help them understand how Black boys learn.
Duke Energy Foundation: The Duke Energy Foundation provides philanthropic support to meet the needs of communities where Duke Energy customers live and work. The foundation contributes more than $30 million annually in charitable gifts, and is funded by Duke Energy shareholder dollars.
More information about the foundation and its Powerful Communities program can be found at duke-energy.com/foundation.
Jason has worked in education for over 15 years as a teacher, blogger and community advocate. He speaks and writes primarily about the need to improve education for Black boys, particularly increasing the number of Black male educators in schools. In addition to blogging here at EdLanta, Jason is also a featured writer at Education Post.