Another Long Haul

If the secret to the Harlem Children's Zone's success is hard work over the long haul, the same can be said about the success of its leader, Geoffrey Canada. Born in the South Bronx in 1952, Canada grew up in poverty with a single mother, three brothers, and a father he saw maybe once a year. His block was ruled by tough kids known as the Young Disciplines who taught Canada how to fight. At one point, he carried a knife and a gun. He had his first child when he was only a sophomore in college. Money was always an issue.

But as Paul Tough writes in his book, Whatever It Takes, about Canada and the Harlem Children's Zone, Canada had something growing up that a lot of other kids in the neighborhood didn't: a mother with a couple years of college under her belt who realized that education doesn't only happen in school. As a result, she "bombarded her sons with books and educational experiences before they could even walk." Eventually, Canada realized he wanted to be an educator, especially for poor kids. After four years at Bowdoin College and a year at the Ed School, Canada taught in a Boston public school. He moved back to New York in the early 1980s to run the Rheedlen Centers for Children and Families, which focused on truancy prevention and antiviolence training courses for young people. Rheedlen eventually became the Harlem Children's Zone.

These days, the success of the Harlem Children's Zone goes hand-in-hand with Canada's success, which, for a guy running an education nonprofit, has come in some surprising places. A starring role in an American Express commercial and the documentary hit, Waiting for "Superman." Interviews with Charlie Rose, Jimmy Fallon, Anderson Cooper, Tavis Smiley, Oprah Winfrey, and Stephen Colbert (twice). Segments about him on NPR's This American Life and, more recently, Saturday Night Live. A Richard Avedon portrait in the New Yorker. A Time magazine honor: one of the 100 most influential people in 2011.

Still, Canada remains grounded. He also hasn't strayed from his original goal to help kids in every aspect of their lives, from the way their families raise them to the way they are taught in school. As he told an audience at the Ed School in March when he came to accept the school's highest honor, the Medal for Education Impact, "People wonder why I supply all these supports to these kids. I found out early on in my career that this other stuff is important as human beings. It's important to all of us," he said. "Why would it not be more important to these kids who are growing up with nothing?"