Founder
Dr. Floyd D. Harris, Jr.
Dr. Floyd D. Harris, Jr. founded the Fresno Freedom School in the summer of 2015 with 10 founding youth members, Fresno, CA is the fifth largest city in California and is the urban heart of the Central San Joaquin Valley a major agricultural hub and home to diverse communities, rich in history and cultural traditions. African Americans, Latinos, and Southeast Asians all call West Fresno home.
West Fresno is culturally wealthy but the residents suffer under concentrated poverty with decades of racial segregation poor urban communities. West Fresno youth face inadequate educational and recreational facilities outlets and high exposures to toxins from agriculture and other polluting industries, decrepit housing conditions and few sustainable economic opportunities. The billions of dollars in profits generated by the region's agricultural industries are not equitably redistributed amongst Central Valley communities.
Having grown up in West Fresno, Dr. Harris knows first hand the challenges that young people face where gang activity, drug and alcohol abuse and teen parenthood are commonplace.
Dr. Harris was inspired by the Freedom School movement in Mississippi, 1964 of the Civil Rights era in where black teachers and youth organized to foster social change.
Co-Founder
Dr. Jean Kennedy
Dr. Jean Kennedy is an organizational psychologist, public speaker and has hosted several radio station networks. She has worked and trained within the education system for the past 35 years. As am educator, Dr. Kennedy believes in the Fresno Freedom School and its ability to educate and mentor the youth of today. According to Dr. Kennedy, 'Teaching through example', is a philosophy that produces evidence based results. Our youth must be prepared to compete worldwide, and the Fresno Freedom School will prepare them for such a task. Our youth must have a retrospect on who they are in today's society. So by using STEM and combining Arts and Social Justice into the curriculum, the Fresno Freedom School is producing the best. Dr. Kennedy is proud to oversee this process as co-founder of the Freedom School.