Introduction
Descriptions of the women and men who have influenced and continue to influence National Urban Alliance’s mission, values and purpose as shown below are directly from sources listed beneath each section. Please click on the links below each paragraph to read more about our influencers. Each section also includes a brief statement in blue font on why our soul and spirit connect with each of them.

Asa Hilliard
Dr. Asa G. Hilliard III was a giant in the field of education.  He was also known as Nana Baffour Amankwatia II. A professor of educational psychology who was one of the most revered American experts on indigenous ancient African history. He fought to change racist beliefs that Black and Brown students are not as intelligent as White students.  His research uncovered the brilliance of ancient African civilization in the arts and sciences, and he brought this recognition to tens of thousands of students and adults alike. Through these efforts he enabled those that embraced his wisdom and knowledge to challenge and eliminate extant and demeaning stereotypes affixed to people of color.
~Eric Cooper

“I am a teacher, a psychologist and a historian.  As such, I am interested in the aims, the methods and the content of the socialization processes that we ought to have in place to create wholeness among our people”
—Dr. Asa G. Hilliard, III

After earning his bachelor’s in psychology, Hilliard began teaching in the Denver Public School system, where he remained until 1960; that year, he began as a teaching fellow at the University of Denver, where he remained until he earned his Ph.D. Joining the faculty at San Francisco State University in 1963, Hilliard spent the next eighteen years there. While at San Francisco State, Hilliard first became department chairman, then went on to spend his final eight years as dean of education. Hilliard also served as a consultant to the Peace Corps and as superintendent of schools in Monrovia, Liberia, for two years. Departing from San Francisco State, Hilliard became a professor at Georgia State University; he served as the Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Urban Education, serving in both the Department of Educational Policy Studies and the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education.
www.thehistorymakers.org

Reuven Feuerstein
Dr. Reuven Feuerstein, was a Israeli cognitive scientist whose work was educationally transformative.  He often shared that only “God knows the brilliance of children.”  And he often asked the question of educators: “Do you think God would have created two sets of children – one destined for gifted education and the other for the low expectations of some special education programs?” He believed fervently that cognition and thinking is modifiable.  When working directly with students, the refrain from the children was often heard: “he makes my brain strong every time he works with me!”  Trained by Jean Piaget as a college student, he was able to prove to Dr. Piaget that intelligence is modifiable and that each student was able to achieve at the highest levels when the mediator (the teacher) was able to identify the “zone of proximal development” — the instructional range where learning is accelerated through appropriate interventions by the educator.
~Eric Cooper

“If you are not prepared to look at your pupils strength’s, don’t touch their weaknesses.”
—Reuven Feuerstein

“A goal of education is. to assist growth toward greater complexity and integration and to assist in the process of self-organization – to modify individuals capacity to modify themselves.”
—Reuven Feuerstein

Professor Feuerstein began to develop his theories of structural cognitive modifiability and mediated learning while studying at the University of Geneva. Through his professional work with immigrants, refugees, and persons with disabilities, he found support for his presupposition that intelligence and achievement are not accurately measured by static assessment examinations, such as IQ tests.  Having realized that not everyone learns in the same manner, Feuerstein began to develop his own set of tools in order to assess potential and teach new ways of learning.

From the 1970s until his passing in 2014, Feuerstein created and developed numerous application for his methodology, aimed at integrating and improving the lives of disadvantaged groups. Feuerstein has given hope to hundreds of thousands of people, having provided them with the opportunity to create a significant and life-altering change by improving their functional abilities through their learning aptitude.

For his work, Professor Reuven Feuerstein received many awards, prizes and worldwide recognition for his groundbreaking work in actualizing human potential; he was a recipient of the Israel Prize in Education in 1992, nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2012, and posthumously received the President’s Medal in 2014.
The Fuerstein Institute

Linda Darling Hammond
The descriptive on how they inspired from different people part of the NUA team

Linda Darling-Hammondis the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emeritus at Stanford University where she founded the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education and served as the faculty sponsor of the Stanford Teacher Education Program, which she helped to redesign.

Darling-Hammond is past president of the American Educational Research Association and recipient of its awards for Distinguished Contributions to Research, Lifetime Achievement, and Research-to-Policy. She is also a member of the American Association of Arts and Sciences and of the National Academy of Education. From 1994–2001, she was executive director of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, whose 1996 report What Matters Most: Teaching for America’s Future was named one of the most influential reports affecting U.S. education in that decade. In 2006, Darling-Hammond was named one of the nation’s ten most influential people affecting educational policy. In 2008, she served as the leader of President Barack Obama’s education policy transition team.
https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/

John Dewey
The descriptive on how they inspired from different people part of the NUA team

John Dewey was the most significant educational thinker of his era and, many would argue, of the 20th century. As a philosopher, social reformer and educator, he changed fundamental approaches to teaching and learning. His ideas about education sprang from a philosophy of pragmatism and were central to the Progressive Movement in schooling. In light of his importance, it is ironic that many of his theories have been relatively poorly understood and haphazardly applied over the past hundred years.

Dewey’s concept of education put a premium on meaningful activity in learning and participation in classroom democracy. Unlike earlier models of teaching, which relied on authoritarianism and rote learning, progressive education asserted that students must be invested in what they were learning. Dewey argued that curriculum should be relevant to students’ lives. He saw learning by doing and development of practical life skills as crucial to children’s education. Some critics assumed that, under Dewey’s system, students would fail to acquire basic academic skills and knowledge. Others believed that classroom order and the teacher’s authority would disappear.
www.pbs.org

Mary Oberg
The state of Minnesota has had many exceptional leaders who have had local, regional, statewide and national impact. As well there have been exceptional educators who have had  a positive impact on the academic trajectories of students. One such educator is the late-great Mary Oberg. Mary served successfully in many roles as a teacher and administrator.  She performed in these roles with grace, love and brilliance.  Her knowledge of research and literature was unparalleled. Working with an important school desegregation initiative called the West Metro Education Program (WMEP), Mary was instrumental in bringing the NUA to the school districts who were part of the initiative.  Since 2000, several districts, working with the NUA as a partner, had historic achievement gains.  Eden Prairie is just one example.  During the 6+ years NUA collaborated with Eden Prairie, the district was able to reduce the “achievement gap” by nearly 60 percentage points. The gains made by students of color were two standard deviation from the norm. This was accomplished without lowering the standards for wealthier students.  These students also made significant gains during that period.

Mary Oberg is remembered as a social justice warrior whose adult life was focused on improving the lives on all students. She is deeply missed by the NUA family and those in the Minneapolis region.
~Eric Cooper

Family was everything to Mary. Mary was a tireless and indomitable warrior for social justice through education. She helped to lift thousands of students in the region from underperforming to high performing. She battled to reduce the “soft bigotry of low expectations” for children of color and those from lower socio-economic levels. She believed in the importance of human stories to convey knowledge. From the board room, to the state capitol, to the streets, she advocated for civil rights and human justice. Her story needs to go beyond short and sweet because her legacy is important to reflect on.
Minnesota Star Tribune