1
00:00:00,944 --> 00:00:05,451
So, I want to talk to you
about the forgotten middle.

2
00:00:06,325 --> 00:00:12,116
To me, they are the students,
coworkers and plain old regular folks

3
00:00:12,140 --> 00:00:14,195
who are often overlooked

4
00:00:14,219 --> 00:00:18,415
because they're seen
as neither exceptional nor problematic.

5
00:00:19,267 --> 00:00:22,164
They're the kids we think we can ignore

6
00:00:22,188 --> 00:00:26,847
because their needs for support
don't seem particularly urgent.

7
00:00:27,506 --> 00:00:29,355
They're the coworkers

8
00:00:29,379 --> 00:00:33,616
who actually keep the engines
of our organizations running,

9
00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:37,791
but who aren't seen as the innovators
who drive excellence.

10
00:00:38,910 --> 00:00:42,886
In many ways, we overlook
the folks in the middle

11
00:00:42,910 --> 00:00:45,752
because they don't keep us
up awake at night

12
00:00:45,776 --> 00:00:48,731
wondering what crazy thing
they're going to come up with next.

13
00:00:48,755 --> 00:00:49,755
(Laughter)

14
00:00:50,696 --> 00:00:55,701
And the truth is that we've come
to rely on their complacency

15
00:00:55,725 --> 00:00:58,250
and sense of disconnection

16
00:00:58,274 --> 00:01:00,677
because it makes our work easier.

17
00:01:02,077 --> 00:01:05,529
You see, I know a little bit
about the forgotten middle.

18
00:01:06,578 --> 00:01:10,899
As a junior high school student,
I hung out in the middle.

19
00:01:11,848 --> 00:01:14,781
For a long time,
I had been a good student.

20
00:01:15,315 --> 00:01:18,363
But seventh grade was a game changer.

21
00:01:19,045 --> 00:01:23,585
I spent my days gossiping, passing notes,

22
00:01:23,609 --> 00:01:26,076
generally goofing off with my friends.

23
00:01:26,649 --> 00:01:32,217
I spent my homework time on the phone,
reviewing each day's events.

24
00:01:32,932 --> 00:01:39,726
And in many ways, although I was
a typical 12-year-old girl,

25
00:01:39,750 --> 00:01:45,534
my ambivalence about my education
led to pretty average grades.

26
00:01:47,256 --> 00:01:52,414
Luckily for me, my mother understood
something important,

27
00:01:53,133 --> 00:01:58,505
and that was that my location
was not my destination.

28
00:01:59,625 --> 00:02:04,799
As a former research librarian
and an educator,

29
00:02:04,823 --> 00:02:09,773
my mother knew that I was capable
of accomplishing a lot more.

30
00:02:10,424 --> 00:02:12,551
But she also understood

31
00:02:12,575 --> 00:02:16,035
that because I was a young
black woman in America,

32
00:02:16,059 --> 00:02:19,640
I might not have opportunities
out of the middle

33
00:02:19,664 --> 00:02:23,066
if she wasn't intentional
about creating them.

34
00:02:24,149 --> 00:02:27,394
So she moved me to a different school.

35
00:02:28,267 --> 00:02:32,557
She signed me up for leadership
activities in my neighborhood.

36
00:02:33,220 --> 00:02:36,172
And she began to talk to me more seriously

37
00:02:36,196 --> 00:02:40,664
about college and career options
I could aspire to.

38
00:02:41,609 --> 00:02:46,562
My mother's formula for getting me
out of the middle was pretty simple.

39
00:02:47,117 --> 00:02:50,545
She started with high expectations.

40
00:02:51,109 --> 00:02:55,958
She made it her business to figure out
how to set me up for success.

41
00:02:56,879 --> 00:03:00,482
She held me accountable

42
00:03:00,506 --> 00:03:06,060
and, along the way,
she convinced me that I had the power

43
00:03:06,084 --> 00:03:08,878
to create my own story.

44
00:03:10,355 --> 00:03:15,429
That formula didn't just help me
get out of my seventh grade slump --

45
00:03:15,453 --> 00:03:18,239
I used it later on in New York City,

46
00:03:18,263 --> 00:03:21,453
when I was working with kids
who had a lot of potential,

47
00:03:21,477 --> 00:03:26,284
but not a lot of opportunities
to go to and complete college.

48
00:03:26,882 --> 00:03:29,636
You see, high-performing students

49
00:03:29,660 --> 00:03:33,326
tend to have access
to additional resources,

50
00:03:33,350 --> 00:03:36,133
like summer enrichment activities,

51
00:03:36,157 --> 00:03:37,680
internships

52
00:03:37,704 --> 00:03:39,776
and an expansive curriculum

53
00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,809
that takes them out of the classroom
and into the world

54
00:03:43,833 --> 00:03:47,054
in ways that look great
on college applications.

55
00:03:47,737 --> 00:03:52,070
But we're not providing
those kinds of opportunities for everyone.

56
00:03:52,712 --> 00:03:56,117
And the result isn't just
that some kids miss out.

57
00:03:56,141 --> 00:03:58,807
I think we, as a society, miss out too.

58
00:03:59,582 --> 00:04:03,655
You see, I've got a crazy theory
about the folks in the middle.

59
00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:09,394
I think there are some unclaimed
winning lottery tickets in the middle.

60
00:04:10,038 --> 00:04:14,260
I think the cure for cancer
and the path to world peace

61
00:04:14,284 --> 00:04:16,521
might very well reside there.

62
00:04:17,378 --> 00:04:19,236
Now, as a former middle school teacher,

63
00:04:19,260 --> 00:04:24,497
I'm not saying that magically everyone
is suddenly going to become an A student.

64
00:04:25,228 --> 00:04:28,974
But I also believe
that most folks in the middle

65
00:04:28,998 --> 00:04:31,148
are capable of a lot more.

66
00:04:31,665 --> 00:04:36,180
And I think people stay in the middle
because that's where we relegated them to

67
00:04:36,204 --> 00:04:39,319
and, sometimes, that's just
where they're kind of chilling

68
00:04:39,343 --> 00:04:41,490
while they figure things out.

69
00:04:42,609 --> 00:04:44,522
All of our journeys

70
00:04:44,546 --> 00:04:50,990
are made up of a series of rest stops,
accelerations, losses and wins.

71
00:04:51,856 --> 00:04:54,522
We have a responsibility to make sure

72
00:04:54,546 --> 00:05:01,315
that one's racial, gender, cultural
and socioeconomic identity

73
00:05:01,339 --> 00:05:05,932
is never the reason you didn't have
access out of the middle.

74
00:05:07,030 --> 00:05:10,260
So, just as my mother did with me,

75
00:05:10,284 --> 00:05:14,307
I began with high expectations
with my young people.

76
00:05:14,815 --> 00:05:16,871
And I started with a question.

77
00:05:16,895 --> 00:05:20,998
I stopped asking kids,
"Hey, do you want to go to college?"

78
00:05:21,490 --> 00:05:23,434
I started asking them,

79
00:05:23,458 --> 00:05:26,192
"What college would you like to attend?"

80
00:05:26,855 --> 00:05:28,428
You see, the first question --

81
00:05:28,452 --> 00:05:33,644
(Applause)

82
00:05:33,668 --> 00:05:38,183
The first question leaves
a lot of vague possibilities open.

83
00:05:38,585 --> 00:05:40,426
But the second question

84
00:05:40,450 --> 00:05:45,161
says something about what I thought
my young people were capable of.

85
00:05:45,720 --> 00:05:46,959
On a basic level,

86
00:05:46,983 --> 00:05:51,242
it assumes that they're going to
graduate from high school successfully.

87
00:05:51,715 --> 00:05:53,651
It also assumed

88
00:05:53,675 --> 00:05:56,921
that they would have
the kinds of academic records

89
00:05:56,945 --> 00:06:01,016
that could get them college
and university admissions.

90
00:06:01,707 --> 00:06:05,439
And I'm proud to say
that the high expectations worked.

91
00:06:06,035 --> 00:06:08,435
While black and Latinx students

92
00:06:08,459 --> 00:06:13,147
nationally tend to graduate from college
in six years or less,

93
00:06:13,171 --> 00:06:16,212
at a percent of 38,

94
00:06:16,236 --> 00:06:19,029
we were recognized by the College Board

95
00:06:19,053 --> 00:06:22,696
for our ability not to just
get kids into college

96
00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:24,853
but to get them through college.

97
00:06:25,307 --> 00:06:31,395
(Applause)

98
00:06:31,419 --> 00:06:35,253
But I also understand
that high expectations are great,

99
00:06:35,277 --> 00:06:37,237
but it takes a little bit more than that.

100
00:06:37,650 --> 00:06:41,860
You wouldn't ask a pastry chef
to bake a cake without an oven.

101
00:06:42,244 --> 00:06:46,713
And we should not be asking
the folks in the middle to make the leap

102
00:06:46,737 --> 00:06:52,918
without providing them with the tools,
strategies and support they deserve

103
00:06:52,942 --> 00:06:55,100
to make progress in their lives.

104
00:06:56,368 --> 00:07:00,772
A young woman I had been
mentoring for a long time, Nicole,

105
00:07:00,796 --> 00:07:02,860
came to my office one day,

106
00:07:02,884 --> 00:07:08,190
after her guidance counselor
looked at her pretty strong transcript

107
00:07:08,214 --> 00:07:10,921
and expressed utter shock and amazement

108
00:07:10,945 --> 00:07:14,222
that she was even interested
in going to college.

109
00:07:14,952 --> 00:07:19,744
What the guidance counselor didn't know
was that through her community,

110
00:07:19,768 --> 00:07:23,553
Nicole had had access
to college prep work,

111
00:07:23,577 --> 00:07:27,461
SAT prep and international
travel programs.

112
00:07:28,129 --> 00:07:31,256
Not only was college in her future,

113
00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:36,093
but I'm proud to say that Nicole
went on to earn two master's degrees

114
00:07:36,117 --> 00:07:39,037
after graduating from Purdue University.

115
00:07:39,061 --> 00:07:45,121
(Applause)

116
00:07:45,145 --> 00:07:50,208
We also made it our business
to hold our young people accountable,

117
00:07:50,232 --> 00:07:55,712
but also to instill a sense
of accountability in those young people

118
00:07:55,736 --> 00:08:01,492
to themselves, to each other,
to their families and their communities.

119
00:08:02,117 --> 00:08:06,212
We doubled down
on asset-based youth development.

120
00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:08,759
We went on leadership retreats

121
00:08:08,783 --> 00:08:12,545
and did high ropes courses
and low ropes courses

122
00:08:12,569 --> 00:08:16,677
and tackled life's biggest
questions together.

123
00:08:17,561 --> 00:08:21,169
The result was that the kids
really bought into the notion

124
00:08:21,193 --> 00:08:26,021
that they were accountable
for achieving these college degrees.

125
00:08:26,728 --> 00:08:32,700
It was so gratifying to see the kids
calling each other and texting each other

126
00:08:32,724 --> 00:08:35,789
to say, "Hey, why are you late
for SAT prep?"

127
00:08:36,135 --> 00:08:39,722
And, "What are you packing
for the college tour tomorrow?"

128
00:08:41,019 --> 00:08:45,198
We really worked to kind of make
college the thing to do.

129
00:08:45,734 --> 00:08:50,319
We began to create programs
on college campuses

130
00:08:50,343 --> 00:08:55,332
and events that allow young people
to really visualize themselves

131
00:08:55,356 --> 00:08:58,530
as college students and college graduates.

132
00:08:59,069 --> 00:09:02,379
Me and my staff
rocked our own college gear

133
00:09:02,403 --> 00:09:08,495
and had lots of fun, healthy competition
about whose school was better than whose.

134
00:09:09,355 --> 00:09:11,347
The kids really bought into it,

135
00:09:11,371 --> 00:09:16,437
and they began to see that something more
was possible for their lives.

136
00:09:16,871 --> 00:09:21,270
Not only that -- they could look around
at that college-going community

137
00:09:21,294 --> 00:09:24,270
and see kids who came
from the same backgrounds

138
00:09:24,294 --> 00:09:25,984
and the same neighborhoods

139
00:09:26,008 --> 00:09:29,150
and who were aspiring to the same things.

140
00:09:30,046 --> 00:09:33,617
That sense of belonging was really key,

141
00:09:33,641 --> 00:09:37,619
and it showed up in a remarkable,
beautiful way one day

142
00:09:37,643 --> 00:09:42,561
when we were in the Johannesburg airport,
waiting to go through customs

143
00:09:42,585 --> 00:09:45,494
on our way to Botswana
for a service learning trip.

144
00:09:46,046 --> 00:09:49,048
I saw a group of kids
kind of huddled in a circle.

145
00:09:49,752 --> 00:09:52,435
Usually, with teens,
that means something's going on.

146
00:09:52,459 --> 00:09:54,014
(Laughter)

147
00:09:54,363 --> 00:09:56,649
So I kind of walked up behind the kids

148
00:09:56,673 --> 00:09:59,093
to figure out what they were
talking about.

149
00:09:59,711 --> 00:10:02,546
They were comparing passport stamps.

150
00:10:02,570 --> 00:10:03,571
(Laughter)

151
00:10:03,595 --> 00:10:07,466
And they were dreaming out loud
about all the other countries

152
00:10:07,490 --> 00:10:09,767
they planned to visit in the future.

153
00:10:10,728 --> 00:10:15,912
And seeing these young people
from New York City

154
00:10:15,936 --> 00:10:18,783
go on to not just become college students

155
00:10:18,807 --> 00:10:22,117
but to participate
in study abroad programs

156
00:10:22,141 --> 00:10:25,007
and to then take jobs around the world

157
00:10:25,031 --> 00:10:26,871
was incredibly gratifying.

158
00:10:27,712 --> 00:10:29,482
When I think of my kids

159
00:10:29,506 --> 00:10:34,133
and all the doctors, lawyers,
teachers, social workers,

160
00:10:34,157 --> 00:10:36,212
journalists and artists

161
00:10:36,236 --> 00:10:40,211
who came from our little nook
in New York City,

162
00:10:40,235 --> 00:10:43,132
I hate to think
of what would have happened

163
00:10:43,156 --> 00:10:45,556
if we hadn't invested in the middle.

164
00:10:46,076 --> 00:10:49,779
Just think about all
that their communities and the world

165
00:10:49,803 --> 00:10:51,470
would have missed out on.

166
00:10:52,673 --> 00:10:56,944
This formula for the middle
doesn't just work with young people.

167
00:10:57,724 --> 00:11:00,994
It can transform
our organizations as well.

168
00:11:01,843 --> 00:11:04,058
We can be more bold

169
00:11:04,082 --> 00:11:08,819
in coming up and articulating a mission
that inspires everyone.

170
00:11:09,418 --> 00:11:13,775
We can authentically
invite our colleagues to the table

171
00:11:13,799 --> 00:11:17,100
to come up with a strategy
to meet the mission.

172
00:11:18,157 --> 00:11:22,386
We can give meaningful feedback
to folks along the way,

173
00:11:23,141 --> 00:11:26,403
and -- and sometimes most importantly --

174
00:11:26,427 --> 00:11:31,576
make sure that you're sharing credit
for everyone's contributions.

175
00:11:33,211 --> 00:11:37,742
What happened when my staff
aimed high for themselves

176
00:11:37,766 --> 00:11:41,012
is that what they were able
to do for young people

177
00:11:41,036 --> 00:11:43,155
was pretty transformational.

178
00:11:43,728 --> 00:11:48,879
And it's been so wonderful to look back
and see all of my former colleagues

179
00:11:48,903 --> 00:11:51,014
who've gone on to get doctorates

180
00:11:51,038 --> 00:11:55,116
and assume leadership roles
in other organizations.

181
00:11:56,585 --> 00:12:02,718
We have what it takes to inspire
and uplift the folks in the middle.

182
00:12:03,410 --> 00:12:07,506
We can extend love
to the people in the middle.

183
00:12:08,244 --> 00:12:14,450
We can challenge our own biases
about who deserves a hand-up, and how.

184
00:12:15,982 --> 00:12:21,136
We can structure our organizations,
communities and institutions

185
00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:26,167
in ways that are inclusive
and that uphold principles of equity.

186
00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:33,212
Because, in the final analysis,
what is often mistaken for a period

187
00:12:33,236 --> 00:12:35,569
is really just a comma.

188
00:12:36,370 --> 00:12:37,521
Thank you.

189
00:12:37,545 --> 00:12:44,545
(Applause)