Carter is bringing her expertise on youth and inequality to the esteemed foundation as it charts a new direction under its new president, Adam Gamoran.
The William T. Grant Foundation recently announced that Prudence Carter, the faculty director of the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford, has joined its board of trustees.
"I came to know the William T. Grant Foundation when I first began my career and have admired its commitment to producing the highest quality research on the contextual factors that improve the overall well-being of children and youth,” said Carter, who is a professor of education and (by courtesy) sociology at Stanford University. “At the time, the foundation was under the leadership of Robert Granger, whose perspective and vision resonated deeply with me.”Founded in 1936, the New York-based foundation is dedicated to the original goal of William T. Grant: understanding human behavior through research. The foundation currently funds high-quality empirical research, with the ultimate aim of improving the lives of youth ages 8 to 25 in the United States.
Prior to joining Stanford, she was an associate professor of sociology at Harvard University and a Ford Postdoctoral Fellow on Poverty and the Underclass at the University of Michigan.
Carter's research focuses on academic achievement disparities and social inequality, particularly in relation to race, ethnicity, class, gender, culture, and identity. She is the author of two books, Keepin’ It Real: School Success Beyond Black and White and Stubborn Roots: Race, Culture, and Inequality in U.S. and South African Schools. She recently co-edited Closing the Opportunity Gap: What America Must Do to Give Every Child an Even Chance and has written a host of published journal articles, book chapters, and essays. She earned a master of arts in sociology and education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a masters and doctorate in sociology from Columbia University.
“Prudence Carter is one of the nation’s leading scholars of education and inequality and her work has provided strong support for evidence-based policy and practice,” said Adam Gamoran, who assumed his tenure as the Foundation’s ninth president in September. “I have followed her work for years and used it in my own research and teaching. She comes to the board at a critical time, as we are charting new directions that intersect with her expertise, and I am delighted we will have her wisdom in our deliberations.”
Carter elaborated: “Adam Gamaron will encourage the foundation to address head-on some of the most vexing challenges of inequality faced by today's youth. The confluence of research, policy, and advocacy — in working toward a commitment of a better society for our nation's children and youth — is clear to me in all of my roles as a board trustee, a scholar-researcher and the faculty director of the John W. Gardner Center. And that is exciting!”
Carter joined the Stanford faculty in 2007 and was appointed faculty director of the Gardner Center earlier this year. She also serves on the board of Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth in San Francisco.
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