Native Genius

Black Educators Matter: Project 500 Podcast

“The value of having a Black educator… to give you perspective, to sit you down and to set you straight.”

Andrea Vaughn

Director of Corporate Engagement at Year Up Chicago

“Educators help shine a spotlight on our native geniuses. And once you find it, it ignites something in you that just catapults you in a way.”

Hailing from Jamaica by way of New Jersey, we speak with Andrea Vaughn. Her career started early. Her mom worked at Wall Street, where she also started working at 16 years old. She was the go-to young professional her friends went to for help, having early exposure that most of them did not. She attended a Catholic high school and didn’t have a single Black educator throughout her education. She recalls her third grade teacher, at a parent-teacher conference, called her retarded. If she didn’t have her mother to advocate for her, also an educator, that would have been disastrous.

“Educators, your job is to prepare them for life, to challenge them and prepare them and motivate them to motivate others.”

Andrea worked in HR and was able to see the disconnect up close and personal. She saw unfair practices and favoritism in the office. Working with 18-24 year old young adults at Year Up, she’s closing the opportunity divide. Rather than focusing on college, she wants to help connect the dots on why the foundational skills are so important. Her superpower is giving students real talk, mentoring them from where they are, and creating a safe space for them to fail, learn and grow. Realizing learning is a lifelong journey, she’s still learning new things about herself and her native geniuses, and makes it her mission to tell anyone she encounters about theirs.