Ed Center is one of 15 members in the 2019–21 class of the Casey Foundation’s Children and Family Fellowship.
Center has committed his life to improving outcomes for young people, both as the father of adopted sons born into vulnerable conditions and as a tireless advocate for youth. As senior program officer for education at the Tipping Point Community in San Francisco, he is especially interested in raising college graduation rates among students of color.
“Under-resourced public schools are funneling students into remedial college classes with very low pass rates,” Center says. “When you place those same students in a regular freshman class along with a concurrent class that offers extra support, they thrive and do well.”
Students who enroll in four-year universities are more likely to graduate than those in two-year colleges, so Center is working to improve the quality of college advising at a set of high schools. He is also focused on changing financial aid systems with reforms such as enabling stops and starts along the education pathway and providing living expenses for working adults at community colleges.
“When I fight for equity and systems change, it’s because I remember that poverty is less about individual choices and more about policies designed to keep people poor,” he says.