Kandice Sumner

Educator
Kandice Sumner thinks we've been looking at the "achievement gap" in education all wrong.

Why you should listen

Kandice A. Sumner, M.Ed. teaches humanities (a combination of history and English) for the Boston Public Schools and is a Doctoral student in Urban Educational Policy. Sumner created and facilitates a professional development curriculum entitled R.A.C.E. (race, achievement, culture and equity) to engage professionals of all ages on how to conduct courageous critical conversations concerning race for the betterment of today’s youth. As the subject of the documentary film Far From Home, Kandice speaks publicly and consults with organizations on facilitating difficult conversations about race and education.

Born and raised in urban Boston, Kandice graduated from a suburban school system through a voluntary desegregation program (METCO). She then matriculated Spelman College (a historically Black liberal arts college) and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. From being one of a few Blacks in her school to learning at a historically Black college to teaching in the underserved and predominately Black and Latino neighborhoods of Boston, Sumner has spent a lifetime traversing the lines of race, class and gender.

Kandice Sumner’s TED talk