Our Team

Meet Our Team & Board

The staff and board of SEF is intentionally reflective of the very students we serve. Many of us are first generation college students, HBCU alumnae, we hail from small towns and major metropolitan areas that have some of the greatest educational disparities in the U.S and in the process have borne witness to some of the most challenged schools in the South and beyond. The passion that fuels our work is intensely personal and lives at the heart of our mission.

Our Staff Our Board

Raymond Pierce attends the unveiling of the Anna T. Jeanes historical marker in Philadelphia. The marker was installed to honor Jeanes’ philanthropic work including the million-dollar donation that in-part established the Southern Education Foundation as well as her funding of the Jeanes Hospital.

SEF Chief Operating Officer Kenita Williams presenting on the ‘Leveraging Collaborative Strength to Develop District Racial Equity Leadership’ panel at AERA’s 2019 Annual Meeting, joined by Larkin Willis of Learning Policy Institute, RELN 2017 alumna, Dr. Ebony Green, and Victor Cary of the National Equity Project.

SEF was honored to host undergrad students from the University of Detroit Mercy’s TRIO program as part of their Southern Grad School College Tour. We spoke to the students about career pathways and key education policies that impact students like themselves.

SEF President, Raymond Pierce, and Senior Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, Fred Jones, at the dedication of the Richard Riley Papers at the University of South Carolina as they greet former U.S. President, Bill Clinton, and former U.S. Secretary of Education, Richard Riley.

SEF President, Raymond Pierce, delivers the keynote address at Saint Augustine University’s 2019 Founders’ Day Convocation, where he paid homage to the shared history of this HBCU and SEF both having been founded in 1867 with the mission of advancing educational opportunity.

Miles To Go: The State of Education for Black Students in America

Meet Our Team & Board

SEF was honored to host undergrad students from the University of Detroit Mercy’s TRIO program as part of their Southern Grad School College Tour. We spoke to the students about career pathways and key education policies that impact students like themselves.

SEF President, Raymond Pierce, and Senior Director of Public Policy and Advocacy, Fred Jones, at the dedication of the Richard Riley Papers at the University of South Carolina as they greet former U.S. President, Bill Clinton, and former U.S. Secretary of Education, Richard Riley.

SEF President, Raymond Pierce, delivers the keynote address at Saint Augustine University’s 2019 Founders’ Day Convocation, where he paid homage to the shared history of this HBCU and SEF both having been founded in 1867 with the mission of advancing educational opportunity.