Glynda C. Carr, Executive Director
Concerned about the deteriorating quality of the public education system of inner city Hartford, CT and wanting more for their children, Glynda C. Carr’s parents made the decision to enroll her in an experimental desegregation busing program. Little did they know that their bright and precocious 6 year old daughter who got on that bus for the first time in 1978 to travel 30 minutes to an affluent Connecticut suburb would today be a leader in the grassroots movement dedicated to engaging voters in the fight for quality public education for every child and be the youngest African-American woman running a statewide advocacy organization in New York.
Glynda C. Carr is Executive Director of Education Voters of New York, a leading independent voice for school reform in the state. Education Voters is building a powerful statewide movement to demand that every neighborhood have an excellent school where every child can get an excellent education that prepares them to succeed in life in the 21st century; regardless of race, ethnicity and socio-economic background.
Carr believes that it our civic responsibility as Americans to be involved in finding the solution for public education and making our schools better. Since 2008, under Carr’s leadership and after intense lobbying from a coalition of education advocates, civic and community groups, and clergy; Education Voters has successfully rally against funding cuts and continues to fight to protect the gains made and the future of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity settlement. This savvy diplomat has also created strategic alliances with elected officials on the city, state and federal level and played a key role in public campaigns highlighting political candidates’ positions on education funding.
Carr has an extensive and diverse background in public relations, fundraising, program management, campaign development, and leadership development. She has long-standing working relationships with New York State political and business leaders, and a track record of building effective teams of corporate executives. Her experience includes developing and implementing marketing strategies to reach underrepresented populations, implementing diversity seminars, and organizing programming for historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Prior to Education Voters, Carr was Chief of Staff for State Senator Kevin Parker (Brooklyn), and managed the Senator’s key initiatives and shaped policy around youth development and economic development for the, then, newly created 21st senatorial district. She conceived and implemented major community events like the Back to School Harvest Fest and The Annual Shared Dream Concert, the second largest Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration in the state. While there, Carr aided the Senator in his efforts to win an unprecedented increase in state aid for public schools ($1.76 billion for FY 2007-08), which led to the settlement of the 14-year Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) lawsuit. She also served as campaign manager for two of his successful re-election campaigns.
Carr has held senior management positions with the New York Blood Center, the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. She also managed the campaign to elect Jennifer James to the New York City Council.
Carr holds a BA in Music from the University of Hartford. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and a founding member and co-chair of Olori, an organization devoted to expanding the number of Black women living or working in Brooklyn, NY in leadership positions in electoral politics, government, education, and advocacy. She resides in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.
Joseph Rogers, Director of Policy and Civic Engagement
Joe Rogers believes that the educational challenges of our communities are best solved by building, networking, leveraging, and sustaining the problem solving and advocacy capacity of those stakeholders most impacted by educational and social policymaking. To that end, he has provided strategic planning, policy, and community engagement services to non-profit and civic organizations committed to helping New York communities actualize their full potential.
Prior to joining the Education Voters of New York as Director of Policy and Civic Engagement, Joe served as a consultant to several New York City-based organizations, including Education Voters and NYC Mission Society. Previously, he served as a Program Associate in Teaching and Learning at New Visions for Public Schools, where he provided professional development, strategic planning, and program support to strengthen library media services throughout the NYC public school system and worked to improve teacher quality and diversity. After beginning his career in education as an AmeriCorps VISTA with Georgetown University’s Volunteer and Public Service Center, Joe launched and managed a Literacy*AmeriCorps program for D.C. LEARNs, a coalition of community-based adult, child, and family literacy service providers in the nation’s capital.
Joe holds a master’s degree in education leadership, policy and politics from Teachers College, Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from The George Washington University.
