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Ashanti Branch is featured in the documentary The Mask You Live In, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Ashanti works to change how young men of color interact with their education and how their schools interact with them. Raised in Oakland by a single mother on welfare, Ashanti left the inner city to study civil engineering at Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo. A construction project manager in his first career, his life changed after he tutored struggling students and realized his passion for teaching. During Ashanti’s first year teaching high school math, in 2004, he started The Ever Forward Club to provide support for African American and Latino males who were not achieving to their potential. Since then, Ever Forward has helped all of its more than 150 members graduate from high school, and 93% of them have gone on to attend two- or four-year colleges, military or trade school.

Ashanti has been featured at PBL World and the 2017 Deeper Learning Conference.  He is also is a Project Fellow with Stanford’s d. school.

Keynote Address: The Mask We ALL Wear
Can we share our authentic selves while negotiating the often rigid pressure of cultural roles? There is surprising power in unveiling what we often hide, deny, repress or ignore. What if we showed the world what’s behind our masks?
Taking Off the Mask Workshop
The Ever Forward Club presents our signature workshop for young men that takes them on a journey of team building by looking beyond the characteristics that we allow people to see. It is powerful when young men are invited and willing to participate in a transformational experience of #TAKINGOFFTHEMASK
The Masks We All Wear | Ashanti Branch | TEDxMarin
Can we share our authentic selves while negotiating the often rigid pressure of cultural roles? There is surprising power in unveiling what we often hide, deny, repress or ignore. What if we showed the world what’s behind our masks?
Harnessing Boys' Strengths to Improve Academic Achievement
Increasingly, boys appear to be falling behind girls academically. Test statistics, grades and college degrees are part of the story, but experts are also concerned about the messages young men get about masculinity. Gwen Ifill talks with Michael Thompson, author of "Raising Cain," Ever Forward Club founder Ashanti Branch and Christina Hoff Sommers, author of "The War Against Boys."
Getting Smart Podcast |
It’s a Project-Based World and a PBL Movement
We attended PBL World, a conference held annually by the Buck Institute for Education (BIE) in Napa, California, to dive deeper into high quality project-based learning (PBL), and had the opportunity to hear from education leaders who are investing in high quality PBL to transform the lives of young people.
In this podcast, you will hear from some edleaders we spoke with with including Ashanti Branch of Ever Forward Club, Gia Truong from Envision Education and Bob Lenz from BIE and learn why they are invested in PBL.
20 Educators and Resources Pushing for Progress [GettingSmart website]
We believe it is critically important to harbor a deep commitment to equity—not just in terms of access to education, but as a fundamental aspect of our belief in the value of every human life. With particular urgency due to our current political climate, we believe it is the responsibility of every citizen to make their voice heard and take action in support of equal rights and equal treatment for all races, religions, genders and sexual orientations. We originally published the below piece in July of 2016, and are republishing an updated version now in light of recent events nationwide.