Black Voices in Education: Karen J. Pittman
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Horizons National is honored to host a conversation with Karen Pittman, Co-Founder and Senior Fellow at the The Forum for Youth Investment, to kick off our 2021 Community Series: Together in Action for Equity.
Karen J. Pittman is a respected sociologist and leader in youth development, who has spent her career launching organizations and initiatives to promote healthy, positive development.
While attending Oberlin College, Karen spent her summers building learning communities as a camp counselor, learning the benefits of active learning and whole-child development from psychologist and educator David Weikart. After graduating, Karen started her career at the Urban Institute, conducting studies on social services for students and families. She then moved on to the Children’s Defense Fund, where she brought ideas from her studies into an advocacy space as she helped create the Fund’s adolescent policy agenda, and launched its adolescent pregnancy prevention initiatives. Aiming to start shifting the narrative from “fixing” behaviors to building and nurturing positive skills, Karen became a Vice President at the Academy for Educational Development in 1990, where she founded and directed the Center for Youth Development and Policy Research.
In 1995, Karen joined the Clinton administration as director of the President’s Crime Prevention Council, where she worked with 13 cabinet secretaries to create a coordinated prevention agenda. In 1998, along with Merita Irby, Karen co-founded the Forum for Youth Investment, a national nonprofit helping leaders improve partnerships, policies, and practices for young people. Under their leadership, the Forum established deep roots as a national nonprofit, nonpartisan “action tank,” combining thought leadership on youth policy, development, cross-sector partnerships, and more with on-the-ground training and supports.
Karen has been honored with numerous awards related to youth development, nonprofit service, and the education of Black Americans. She is a strong advocate of whole-child teaching, empowered leaders, and the fact that learning happens everywhere – not just in the classroom!
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