Geoffrey Canada has devoted his life to help change the quality of life of inner city children across the United States. From 1990 to 2014, he served as the President and Chief Executive Officer for the Harlem Children’s Zone, an organization which has guided more than 13,000 children and 14,000 adults through programs which focus on education, housing development, and community pride. In response to the program’s success, the Obama administration announced a replica program, Promise Neighborhoods, which in 2010 was awarded $10 million in federal grants in hopes of aiding 21 poverty-stricken communities in U.S. cities.
In 2011, Geoffrey Canada was named to the TIME 100 list of most influential people, and, in 2014, was named as one of Fortune’s 50 greatest leaders in the world. He will be speaking at Siena College’s Marcelle Athletic Complex on Thursday, March 26 at 7 p.m. as part of Siena’s Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King Lecture Series on Race and Nonviolent Social Change.
