Postgraduate education in the United States has a diversity problem. According to the Education Data Initiative, in 2019, Black adults over 25 made up only 9% of U.S. adults with a master’s degree or higher.
The Boston-based nonprofit Leadership Brainery is working to increase that figure through supporting first-generation students, people of color and other underrepresented groups get into and complete master's and doctoral degree programs. The organization works with students, academic institutions, employers and community members who all share the goal of breaking down systemic barriers to postgraduate education.
"We have to continue to encourage our communities, our young people specifically, to envision themselves in the highest levels of education, and thereby, some of the highest levels of the workforce,” said cofounder Jonathan Allen.
Allen and Derrick Young cofounded the organization because of their own lived experiences as first-generation college students. After graduating from Grambling State University, a historically Black university in Louisiana, they both chose to pursue master's degrees.
“Our master’s program is when we started noticing the vast disparities and inequities in terms of access to education for underrepresented communities, people of color and [people] from low-income backgrounds,” said Young. “When I was at Tufts School of Medicine for my master’s in public health, I was the only Black man coming to the public health program that year.”
The men experienced that vast discrepency in law school, too, when Young was one of just two Black men in his program and Allen was one of four.
“Immediately we started thinking about the lack of diversity in the workforce and how there’s a national call for more diversity, but when we look at many of our competitive universities, especially at the highest levels of education, they often accelerate a pathway to leadership roles in the workplace,” said Young. “There’s no pipeline [for us], so Leadership Brainery really ensures that we have a pipeline of diverse talent getting into competitive master’s and doctoral programs so that we can diversify our workforce and close the wealth gap.”
Allen said the lack of diversity has ripple effects on the wellbeing of students of color, similar to his experience. But he said that lived experience shapes how he and Young run Leadership Brainery.
“We’re hearing from our students [about their] feelings of doubt and frustration, and their concern and uncertainty around the outlook of their lives,” he said. “But we are constantly reevaluating leadership rhetoric, how we approach things, and always thinking, ‘How do we not get stuck in a rut but continue to innovate and bring our communities together to press forward?’ Because that’s what is required of us. Because change can’t wait.”
In the wake of the pandemic, Young and Allen set out to expand Leadership Brainery’s reach by creating the Student Relief Fund, which helped students with financial resources address immediate needs, including food and medication.
The nonprofit’s other pandemic-era program, Dear Future Colleague, helped students in lockdown create and maintain connections for their professional lives. Through mentorships and direct access to recruiters at Leadership Brainery’s partner schools, students can access a community that seemed unattainable during the pandemic.
“We really hone in on the importance of social capital,” said Young. “When it comes to career mobility and generational prosperity, it’s not only about the education and the wealth that you gain, but it’s also about the community and the networks around you. So building social capital is a key component of the work we do at Leadership Brainery.”
These efforts came from extensive community mobilization; of Leadership Brainery’s funding, 70% come from individuals, which Allen says is indicative of the grassroots movement they’ve built and are continuing to grow.
“Obviously with the SCOTUS decision, we anticipate that this movement is going to grow even more around Leadership Brainery in particular because there’s not enough attention on the master’s and doctoral degrees,” said Allen. “We have to continue to encourage our communities, our young people specifically, to envision themselves in the highest levels of education, and thereby, some of the highest levels of the workforce.”
