The Black Alliance for Educational Options has announced as of July 2nd that it will be hiring a new ED here in Tennessee, Mendell Grinter. Mr. Griinter comes from Kentucky’s BAEO organization where, according to the TNEdReport, he led a failed effort to bring school vouchers to the state. Given his experience in Kentucky and advocate’s consistent push for vouchers in recent years in our state, its likely that he was brought in specifically to advocate on behalf of a voucher program in the state.
Here is the organization’s release in full:
The Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO), one of the nation’s only Black-led organizations advocating for high-quality educational options for low-income and working class Black families, announced today that Mendell Grinter has been selected as the State Director for Tennessee.
“We are excited to have Mendell leading BAEO’s mission in Tennessee,” said Jacqueline Cooper, Interim President. “We look forward to Mendell bringing his experience in education reform advocacy and community organizing to Tennessee as we continue our work of bringing high-quality educational options to low-income and working class Black families in the state.”
“Mendell was a clear standout to me in the candidate pool. His strategic planning, awareness of the landscape, and knowledge of organizing was far superior than that of the other candidates,” said Tosha Downey, Director of Advocacy, Teacher Town USA. “I see Mendell and Tennessee BAEO setting the standard for educating, engaging, and mobilizing the most critical organization in the communities where we serve – the church. Once he leverages the clergy in the city to advocate for education reform in Tennessee, then we
will know that we have turned the corner for transforming education for children in this state.
Grinter previously served as the Kentucky State Director for BAEO where he led the creation of BAEO’s first Pastors Coalition. Under his leadership the Coalition led rallies, press conferences, community meetings and received over 30 media placements. Prior to that, Mendell served as the Deputy Chief of Staff and Field Coordinator for StudentsFirst New York where he developed strong organizing campaigns, planned large events and recruited, trained and managed a team of 25 organizers.
“I am excited to return to BAEO and continue the important work that BAEO does everyday for low-income and working class Black families. There’s a lot of work to do in Tennessee to ensure that our communities have access to high-quality educational options; however, we have a passionate and dedicated team of Memphians that will help us achieve better outcomes for our children statewide. I also look forward to working with our members and partners to bring about the changes our families so desperately need.”
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