Leading with Purpose: Earl Martin Phalen of Great Jobs KC, an educator at heart

Earl Martin Phalen is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Great Jobs KC, one of the nation’s most impactful programs in supporting young adults and adults who live in low-income communities on the pathway to good careers. Great Jobs KC has two core programs, one which awards 11th graders college scholarships and supports them to and through college. The KC Scholars Program awards over one thousand (1,000) $50,000 college scholarships each year. The program's scholars are on track for 75% graduation rates — 3 times the national average for low-income and first-generation students. Great Jobs KC, with a $50 million grant from the Kauffman Foundation, also supports adults who want to secure a credential in a high-demand career. Over the next 10 years, Great Jobs KC is going to help 50,000 adults secure careers that allow them to care for themselves and their loved ones. Under his leadership, a Great Jobs KC (GJKC) program has been established to assist Kansas City organizations and their workforce achieve higher levels of performance and income. Earl Martin Phalen is also the Founder and CEO of K-12 public-school network, the George and Veronica Phalen Leadership Academies (PLA) named in honor of his parents. Under Earl’s leadership, Phalen Leadership Academies have grown from one school to a national network of 23 schools serving nearly 10,000 Scholars. Helping the most vulnerable communities achieve exceptional educational outcomes is a passion Earl discovered in himself while studying at Harvard. PLA’s oldest school is 10 years old, and scholars at that school have outperformed the state average on both the English Learning Arts (ELA) and math portions of state tests consistently for years. As an entrepreneur, Phalen is a nationally recognized leader in education with a track record of successful leadership and innovation. Phalen brings over two decades of executive experience to Great Jobs KC. Phalen began his career in education while a law student at Harvard, where he founded the organization Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL), which operates after-school and summer education programs in several major U.S. cities. Under his leadership, the organization grew from a local community service project to a national non-profit educating 15,000 children annually. He then founded Summer Advantage USA, a summer reading program that has served 20,000 children in six states since its inception in 2009. As a result of the impact of Summer Advantage, Phalen and his team were encouraged to expand their 25-day summer program model to a year-round school model. In 1997, President Clinton awarded Phalen the President’s Service Award for his impact on the lives of children. Other honors and awards include: The Silver Anniversary Award from NCAA; Black Law Student Association Community Service Chair; Co-founder of the Charles Ogletree Scholarship Fund; Board Member of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation; Boston Uncornered Advisory Board Member; and Advisor for Coaching for Change. Phalen is also a Mind Trust and Ashoka Fellow. He was awarded the Black Entertainment Television (BET) National Hero Award and is a three-time recipient of Fast Company’s Social Capitalist Award. Phalen holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Yale University and a law degree from Harvard. Books by Earl Martin Phalen: Giving My All:  An Autobiography From Vision to Impact: The Secrets to Building a Successful Social Enterprise Aim High, Dream Big: The Story of Earl Martin Phalen   Host/producer/engineer:  Donna Morrow Wolfe