Giving Compass' Take:

• Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, The Network for the Development of Children of African Descent (NdCAD) is drawing on the African heritage of local families to help boost student performance and parental engagement.

• The senior associate at the foundation says, “it’s vital that we uncover more academic programs and approaches that instill a sense of belonging for youth of color and indigenous youth and build these characteristics into our public systems, programs, and policies.” 

• Here's an article on the legacy of African-American giving. 

The Network for the Development of Children of African Descent (NdCAD) — which receives support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation — offers several academic enrichment and leadership programs for the region’s students and parents. NdCAD’s Imhotep Science Academy encourages students to emulate Senegalese anthropologist, Cheikh Anta Diop. The Uhuru Youth Scholars program teaches high school upperclassmen ancient African research techniques. And an afterschool Sankofa Reading Program has seen nearly all of its students raise their literacy skills.

The programming’s cultural framework is intentional. Developing more evidence-based practices with culturally rooted approaches was a key recommendation of the Foundation’s 2014 Race for Results, which identifies strategies to improve outcomes for children of color.

“The Minneapolis and St. Paul region has a higher concentration of black families — including many from east and central Africa — compared with the rest of the state, which makes the fusion of Afrocentric history and tradition into NdCAD’s curriculum especially relevant,” says Gevonee Ford, the nonprofit’s executive director and one of its founders.

Read the full article about The Network for the Development of Children of African Descent by the team at The Annie E. Casey Foundation.