Closing the Opportunity Gap for Young Men of Color
Date of Event: March 30, 2016
About the Speaker: College of the Holy Cross alumnus Broderick Johnson '78 works in the White House as assistant to President Barack Obama, Cabinet secretary, and chair of the My Brother's Keeper Task Force. He has been an advisor to Obama for many years. He was the senior congressional affairs advisor on John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign and served as deputy assistant to the president for legislative affairs during the Clinton administration. Johnson started his career as an attorney in the House of Representatives drafting landmark legislation including the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.
About the Talk: Johnson shared some of his background, described his roles in the White House, and focused particularly on the achievements of My Brother's Keeper, which creates mentoring and networking opportunities to help boys and young men of color better prepare for college and employment. A panel of students — Greyson Ford ’16, Jewel Duberry-Douglas ’18, Lance Madden ’18, Isaish Baker ’16, and Marcellis Perkins ’19 — prepared questions for Johnson ranging from educational policy and STEM initiatives to police-community relations and criminal justice reform.
Watch the lecture below or download it free from iTunes U.