William T. Grant Foundation Appoints Kenji Hakuta and Mark Soler to Board of Trustees
The William T. Grant Foundation today announced the appointments of Kenji Hakuta and Mark Soler to serve as members of its Board of Trustees. Both have been longtime advocates and voices for vulnerable children and youth.
Kenji Hakuta has been on the faculty at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education since 1989. His work is in the areas of bilingualism and the acquisition of English by immigrant students. He is the author of numerous research papers and books, including Mirror of Language: The Debate on Bilingualism and In Other Words: The Science and Psychology of Second Language Acquisition. Hakuta chaired a National Academy of Sciences report, Improving Schooling for Language-Minority Children, and co-edited Compelling Interest: Examining the Evidence on Racial Dynamics in Higher Education, a book on affirmative action in higher education. He is also active in the policy applications of his research: Hakuta has testified to Congress and other public bodies on a variety of topics, including language policy, the education of language minority students, affirmative action in higher education, and improvement of quality in educational research. He has served as an expert witness in education cases involving language minority students. Hakuta received his B.A. Magna Cum Laude in Psychology and Social Relations, and his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology, both from Harvard University.
Mark Soler is the Executive Director of the Center for Children’s Law and Policy. From 1978 until February 2006, Mark held a range of positions, including Senior Staff Attorney, Executive Director, and President, at the Youth Law Center, a national public interest law firm. While there, he and his colleagues worked in more than 40 states on juvenile justice, child welfare, health, mental health, and education issues, and litigated successfully in 16 states on behalf of children whose rights had been violated in juvenile justice and child welfare systems. He has written more than 20 articles and book chapters on civil rights issues and the rights of children, and has taught at Boston College Law School, the Washington College of Law at American University, Boston University School of Law, the University of Nebraska Law School, and San Francisco State University. He has received awards for his work from the American Psychological Association, American Bar Association, Alliance for Juvenile Justice, and Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Mark graduated from Yale University and Yale Law School.
“We could not be more thrilled that Kenji and Mark have joined the Board. Kenji’s deep expertise with English language acquisition in immigrant students and Mark’s esteemed career in the juvenile justice system will round out a board that comprises academics, finance professionals, and others from the nonprofit sector,” said Foundation President Adam Gamoran.
The 13-member Board of Trustees helps to shape, review, and approve the Foundation’s grants, and the strategies and policies that shape its work. Trustees may serve up to three terms of three years each. Between 2015 and 2016, four members rotated off the Board. In addition to nominating Hakuta and Soler in 2017, the Foundation also recruited Estelle Richman, who held key roles in local, state, and federal government, and Mary Pattillo, Professor of Sociology and African American Studies at Northwestern University.