About Schooling for Hope
Schooling for Hope (SfH) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that was founded in 2020 to provide affordable consulting to private schools serving predominantly students of color and to bring Founder Don Grace’s talents to support the students, families, faculties, and leaders of those schools. SfH is dedicated to stewarding re-energizing work with schools serving predominantly students of color, to turn loose the amazing energies of students who are among our most valuable and our most vulnerable—for the benefit of us all.
OUR VISION
Schooling for the American Dream
As a member of the Smart Cities and Connected Communities Initiative and Think Tank of Dentons (the largest law firm in the world), I viewed a Think Tank webinar about the scientist Lewis Latimer that astounded me. Latimer was such a talent that Thomas Edison battled him for the first patent of the lightbulb (and hired Latimer after Edison won), and Alexander Graham Bell recruited him to be a leader of his team to invent the telephone. According to Steve Mitnick’s Lewis Latimer, The First Hidden Figure, Latimer might well have been credited with both inventions—if he hadn’t been African American. I graduated from Harvard with a B.A. in American history; read a range of history, politics, and racial justice books and articles; and have taken several antiracism courses—but I never knew anything about Latimer. If we are so unaware of such an influential scientist’s role in two transformational inventions, imagine how many other hidden figures of color there are in American history.
For most of the last century, America has been a world leader, due to our political, economic, military, educational, and scientific power. Between 2016 and 2020, however, America became something of its own “hidden figure” on the world stage, facing what some have called “cascading crises”—the pandemic, racial justice, the economy, climate change, and the growing challenges to our democracy. To reclaim our leadership role in the world and to fulfill the American Dream, our country needs to tap the fullest extent of our entire population’s potential. In that process, populations of color are some of the most valuable even as they continue to be some of the most vulnerable.
For 40 years, I enjoyed a career re-energizing a range of under-resourced, creative private schools serving predominantly white, upper/middle class students and families. In each community, I started my leadership tenure by inviting several constituencies to celebrate the school’s strengths and also asking them to identify a few critical challenges it faced. I worked with leaders to design and implement inventive solutions to address those challenges, releasing new energies in each school in the process. I bring re-energizing affinities and talents to the NativityMiguel Coalition, along with strategic partners I have recruited–all in service of providing the empowering education that all children deserve.
Don Grace
Founder
Don is also a clarinetist trained in classical and jazz by Chet Hazlett, who played with Toscanini and with Jimmy Dorsey. He believes that transformative educational leadership entails improvising as well as following the notes on the page.
Don Grace has been a learning leader of a wide range under-resourced, creative private schools for 40 years, re-energizing those schools by engaging them in celebrating their signal strengths, identifying their most significant challenges, and doing innovative problem solving to address those challenges. In one school, the faculty named “faculty cohesion” as one of the top two challenges; four years later, the regional accreditation team cited “faculty unity” as a signal strength of the school. One of the delights of Don’s professional life has been watching the schools he leads flourish from the transformative work that he and others did together.
Don has mentored more than 10 former colleagues and for several years (at the invitation of the National Association of Independent Schools) organized an annual conference panel on the first year of a headship, with newly minted heads providing insights about their successes and setbacks.
Don has a B.A. in American History from Harvard College, a Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) in Secondary Social Studies from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a Certificate of Advanced Study in School Administration from Fairfield University. He has also engaged in DEI training in several forms, including: NAIS diversity training in the early 1990s; Seeking Education Equity and Diversity (SEED) training while head of Park School of Buffalo in the early 2000s that led to Park School hosting a student SEED component the following year; East Ed anti-racism courses in 2020 to present; and DEI conferences by the Association of Independent Schools of New England (AISNE) 2020 to present. Don continues to learn about how to support DEIB work with the NativityMiguel Coalition and in other private schools serving predominantly students of color.
Board of Directors
Edward Carson
Dean of Multicultural Education of The Governor’s Academy (Byfield, MA)
Edward Carson is an independent historian, residential faculty member, and Dean at The Governor’s Academy, in Byfield, Massachusetts. He is the current Dean of Multicultural Education and member of the History Department and senior leadership team. After graduating from Alabama Christian Academy in his hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, Carson earned a B.A. in History and Biblical Christianity, as well as a graduate degree from Harding University. He primarily teaches Advanced Placement United States history and European history, and African American Studies seminar courses. Carson is a national leader in the College Board AP community — serving on the Development Committee and as a Table Leader for the National Exam Reading.
Brenda Crawley
Head of Plymouth Meeting Friends School (Plymouth Meeting, PA)
Brenda Crawley is in her third year as Head of Plymouth Meeting Friends. Prior to headship, she served as Head of Lower School for eight years at Sandy Spring Friends School in Sandy Spring, Maryland. Before that appointment, she spent seven years as Head of Lower School at McLean School of Maryland in Potomac, Maryland, where she began her independent school career as a music teacher, music department chair and diversity coordinator. Brenda holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education/Piano from Manhattanville College, Purchase, N.Y., and a Master of Science in Organization Development and Human Resources from The Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School.
Nicole A. DuFauchard
Head of the Advent School (Boston, MA)
Nicole A. DuFauchard has been the Head of the Advent School since 2013. Before her time at Advent, she served as the Director of Multicultural Affairs at Providence Day School in Charlotte, N.C. Nicole holds a B.A. in Political Science and International Affairs, and an M.A. in Organizational Communications and Development with a concentration on Cross-Cultural Communications. Nicole has spent the last 20 years exploring equity and access in education. Nicole works with school boards across the country to engage in equity and justice work and serves as a mentor for Administrators and Faculty of Color and Women aspiring for school leadership roles with the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and the Association of Independent Schools of New England (AISNE).
Tiffany Truong
Director of Marketing and Communications, La Jolla Country Day School (San Diego, CA)
Tiffany Truong has been the director of marketing and communications at La Jolla Country Day School (LJCDS) since 2015. During her tenure at LJCDS, she has led the school’s major rebranding efforts; redesigns of the website, magazine and admission materials; mobile app launch; and execution of digital marketing strategies. The LJCDS magazine has earned several CASE and InspirED School Marketers Brilliance awards. As a senior leadership team member, she has served on committees supporting DEI, enrollment management, hiring for leadership roles, the school’s vision framework, and the board of trustees’ engagement. In August 2023, she will return to Noble & Greenough School as the Director of Marketing and Communications.
George N. King, Jr.
Head of School, Retired
George N. King, Jr.’s thirty-plus years as a teacher, administrator, and educational leader began in Boston, MA where he taught instrumental music at The Elma Lewis School and Boston Latin School. At the conclusion of his tenure at Boston Latin School, George entered the world of independent schools. In pursuit of his goal of becoming a Head of School, George held several key positions, including Director of Instrumental Music and Assistant Director of Admissions at Newark Academy in Livingston, NJ; Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at the Queen Anne School in Upper Marlboro, Maryland; Principal of Grades 9 & 10 at the Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland; and Head of Upper School at the Greenhill School in Dallas, Texas. As Headmaster at the Wooster School in Danbury, Connecticut, and Moravian Academy in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, George worked with his leadership teams, students, parents, trustees, and consultants to successfully lead those schools through transformative strategic planning processes. Since “retiring”, George has served as Interim Head of School at the Woodlynde School in Strafford, Pennsylvania, and as Interim Director of Upper School at William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.