OCF Launches New Initiative for Black Student Success

The Oregon Community Foundation (OCF), the state’s largest public charity, announced today that Marcy Bradley has been hired as the foundation’s Program Officer for Black Student Success, where she will design and implement approaches to support work in Oregon communities to improve outcomes for Black students.

Black students in Oregon continue to experience opportunity and access gaps. These gaps persist throughout the education continuum and appear in early childhood, youth development, K-12 and higher education settings. Black students in Oregon experience more poverty, higher rates of exclusionary discipline, and lower graduation rates than white students. To address this and other disparities, OCF initiated the Black Student Success program to support an improved culture of learning for the state’s most vulnerable children.

“Throughout her career, Marcy has been a relentless advocate for equity, and someone who understands firsthand the significance of programs and investments that remove barriers and build resilience to increase student success,” said Max Williams, President and CEO of Oregon Community Foundation. “We are thrilled to have her join OCF and help create a coalition of stakeholders statewide committed to improving academic achievement for black students in Oregon.”

Marcy has more than 25 years of experience as a nonprofit leader dedicated to improving educational outcomes for Oregon’s children. She will help OCF develop a three-year strategy and timeline for advancing Black student success strategies through visibility efforts, dissemination of best practices, partnerships and advocacy.

“As Oregon continues to experience widening disparities along racial, ethnic and socioeconomic lines, we need to be honest about our past and present in order to effectively address the challenges that lead to these gaps,” said Bradley. “I am extremely excited to work with the innovative, compassionate people in the community and at OCF to confront these issues and foster an education system that works for all children.”

After starting her career as a youth advocate at the Youth Employment Institute and as a principal at McCoy Academy, Marcy worked her way up to the executive director position at Self-Enhancement, Inc. More recently, Marcy held positions as president of Future Minds and executive director of Elevate Oregon.

Marcy joined OCF as the Program Officer for Black Student Success on October 1, 2018.