Shawna Young, EMBA ’15, talks about access to advanced learning opportunities for children of color.

A conversation with Shawna Young, EMBA ’15, on her experiences from North Carolina to Cambridge, from teaching high school to reinvigorating the Scratch Foundation at MIT and advocating for her community.  A graduate of Howard University, Shawna tells us about being in a space where her classmates could be themselves, “unapologetically black and ambitious.” It set her on a path to focus on the access to advanced learning opportunities for children of color early in their educational journey.   

Shawna tells us about the challenges of navigating both parenting and a career guided by the principles of helping the underserved, whether in the high schools where she taught, or through the Duke Talent Identification Program, or at several positions that she has held at MIT. 

Shawna closes by talking about the diverse community she encountered at MIT Sloan, and how she and her classmates bonded over the challenges of juggling school, career, and personal lives.