Alumni Council to Honor Harlem Children's Zone President

Geoffrey Canada, Ed.M.'75, was announced as the recipient of the 2008 Alumni Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education. As president and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ), a nonprofit geared toward helping low-income children and families in New York City, Canada is committed to improving the lives of thousands of children in urban settings through education and services. Canada will receive the award during HGSE's
2008 convocation ceremony on Wednesday, June 4.

"Geoff Canada's work has done so much to enhance not only the educational possibilities and future for poor children, but also to improve the quality of life for parents and communities," says Marc Johnson, Alumni Council Chair. "His model defies all notions of a can't do mindset and injects it with can and will succeed paradigms."

The Harlem Children's Zone is a full-service community organization, comprised of charter schools, preschools, afterschool programs, parenting education, and employment and technology centers for children and residents that currently serves more than 13,000 children and adults.

At HCZ's inception, Canada was troubled by the number of children going into foster care, schools' poor performances, and the high rate of children going into the criminal justice system in the Harlem community. In addition, and perhaps related, were significant health
problems, including a large number of children suffering from asthma.

Canada's program, which has served as a model for similar initiatives across the country, has made significant progress on these issues. Specifically, a 2006 evaluation by HCZ reported:

• Asthma Initiatives resulted in fewer children suffering asthma, which translated to lower absence from school, emergency room visits, and asthmatic episodes.
• One hundred percent of 77 high school afterschool program participants stayed in school.
• As part of the community building initiative, residents of 264 apartments became homeowners through New York City's Tenant Interim Lease program.
• Eighty-eight percent of high school students in the TRUCE (The Renaissance University for Community Education) program graduated and were accepted into at least one college.

Canada has received significant praise for his work. In a June 2004, a New York Times Magazine cover story declared HCZ as "one of the most ambitious social experiments of our time." A year later, Canada was named one of America's Best Leaders by U.S. News and World Report. Canada has received numerous education awards and honorary degrees including the McGraw Prize for Education, Robin Hood Foundation's Heroes of the Year Award, the Jefferson Award for Public Service and the first Heinz Award to name a few.

The HGSE Alumni Council first established the Alumni Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education in 1985 in order to recognize the significance of service to education by alumni.