For more than three decades, Christopher Edley Jr. has used his various positions in the professoriate to fight for civil rights, especially for improving educational access among the poorest families. His most recent endeavor is yet another example of that.
A University of California, Berkeley law professor, Edley has co-founded a new, Berkeley-based nonprofit promoting social equity through education, using a cradle-to-career reach across four distinct demographic groups.
Dubbed “Opportunity Institute,” the organization aims to address infant and toddler development and improve services for preK-12 students, college students, and incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people.
The new institute will employ policy research, pilot projects, legal analysis, public awareness campaigns, coalition building, public-private partnerships and technical assistance.
“This new organization is combating the cycle of poverty with a cycle of opportunity, attacking the obstacles to success at critical stages in life,” Edley said. “Our approach to complex challenges is unique. We work across traditional issue silos and disciplinary perspectives, using an exceptionally broad range of tools to promote change at the local, state and national levels.”
The institute brings together four pre-existing organizations, including Partners for Each and Every Child, which Edley has and continues to chair. This entity works on improving preK-12 education across the board by building infrastructure across states to encourage policymakers to address the needs of students considered at risk, underserved and politically underrepresented.
Another already existing project now housed under Opportunity Institute is Renewing Communities, which aims to reduce prison recidivism by bringing college courses and job opportunities to people who are incarcerated or formerly incarcerated. Edley and his colleagues noted that about half of the Americans in this cohort are parents of underage minors.
