New America: What inspired you to start this work?
Nicole Lynn Lewis: I do this work and live and breathe this mission. I am a former student parent and a black woman. And many of the problems that exist today are the same problems that I experienced years ago as a parent of a student.
I got pregnant when I was a senior in high school. I was an honors student who went on to university. In fact, I had just received several acceptance letters when I found out I was pregnant. Yet, as a teenage mother, I was told that my life was over and that I would not go to college. Essentially, I was a failure. This is the message many young parents hear in this situation. At the same time, I knew that going to college was more important than ever. Earning your degree will give you the resources you need for this baby.
When my daughter was just under 3 months old, I joined William & Mary as a full-time freshman. I became a mother and a college student at the same time, so I was struggling financially. I didn’t know how I was going to pay for my tuition, books, or gas for my car. I was also one of the few black students at William & Mary, but there was no support for me to succeed. I was very nervous, but in the end, I was able to graduate in four years with excellent grades, and I walked on the graduation stage with my daughter.
That experience fueled my desire to make post-secondary qualifications more accessible to more young parents, and parents of all ages. When I saw the statistic that less than 2 percent of teenage mothers complete a degree by age 30, I knew organizations like Generation Hope needed to exist in the world. I started Generation Hope in her 2010 and it’s been 13 years and it’s amazing to see how we’ve grown and the impact we’ve been able to make.
New America: How is Generation Hope’s approach to serving student parents unique?
Nicole Lynn Lewis: At the heart of Generation Hope’s work is that parents are the experts in their lives, whether working directly with families or with education and policy leaders, and that we ensure their voices are heard in everything we do. It is a belief that we are centered. They help shape our direct services program, including the services we offer and where we strategically grow. We also highlight the most pressing issues policymakers and advocates need to know about, decide which research projects and reports to publish, and how to help universities create more family-friendly campuses. and inform our systems transformation efforts. The fact that Generation Hope is both a direct service organization and an organization addressing larger systemic issues is part of what makes us unique. We are not theorizing about what public and institutional policies will make a big difference for families. We see the effects of those policies every day in the families we work with. We bring that up-close experience to every room we enter.
New America: What does Generation Hope have in store in improving student parent space?
Nicole Lynn Lewis: When we started Generation Hope in 2010, we saw a need for our Scholars program in communities across the country. We have been serving parents of her teens in the Washington, DC area for over 10 years, but in January 2023, announced Expanding the scholar program new orleans, Louisiana. This is our second Scholars program location, with the first New Orleans Scholars class beginning in July.
On the system change front, we published our 2023 Regional and National Policy Agenda in February, which will focus on higher education affordability and accessibility, childcare affordability and accessibility, and economic He highlighted the legislative opportunities we are pursuing this year in the area of true pathways to liquidity. . We plan to welcome five colleges and universities to our school this summer. 2023 FamilyU CohortThis is a two-year development experience that assists selected institutions in transforming their campuses to better serve their students’ parents. They join the 11 institutions already participating in our cohort and will be able to impact the parents of her 100,000 students across the country through this initiative. There are some other interesting things that we will introduce to you soon. There is so much to look forward to!
New America: Are there student parent issues that need more attention in the policy arena?
Nicole Lynn Lewis: Because there is so much intersectionality in the student parent population, there are so many potential and overlooked issues that require more attention from policy makers and advocates. One of them is the lack of support and recognition for fathers of students, especially fathers of color. Generation Hope has always provided direct service to the fathers of her teens. They are also prioritized in system change efforts because there are so few programs and resources to ensure they can earn post-secondary qualifications. We found that 71 percent of single fathers dropped out of college, 72 percent of black fathers, and 66 percent of Latino fathers. These numbers are shocking and confirm the need for us to focus on this population. Additionally, Generation Hope’s definition of student parent includes pregnant and expecting parents. These students also need special support to be able to enroll in college and complete their education. These are just two examples, but there are many other issues in the discussion with students’ parents that more people need to talk about and take some action on.
New America: What resources do you think are needed in this space to advance policies and practices for student parents?
Nicole Lynn Lewis: data. We know that policies are easier to push forward when there is evidence to support them. Without data on this population, people may ignore student parents as a small, niche group. Through FamilyU, we help institutions establish data collection systems to track student child care. It turns out that in some educational institutions these students make up 30 percent of the total student body. Denying support and resources to her 30% of students is much more difficult. This data also provides institutions and policy makers with a complete picture of students and families. It is important to know how many students are food insecure, and it is critical to know how many of them can be fed through multiple mouths.
However, data is not the only answer. We need to combine data with the voices of students’ parents. Their journey is incredibly powerful and brings the numbers to life. Every time I hear parents of scholars or other students talk about their experiences, I learn something new and come away with a deeper appreciation for what they were able to accomplish.
Spaces that bring together people such as funders, policy makers, practitioners, and advocates are important, but they must center the voices of those most affected. Traditionally, these spaces have not included the voices of families and leaders of community-based organizations that are close to the work and people. As a woman of color, as a Black woman, and as a leader who has lived this work, I have felt these exclusions deeply. To truly advance policies and practices for student parents, we must not only invite families and leaders of color to the table, but also provide them with the resources to establish their own tables. there is.
New America: Where do you see Generation Hope’s work going in the next three years? Five years? What kind of support do I need to get there?
Nicole Lynn Lewis: We want to grow our impact over the next three years. We are excited to expand our Scholars program to new communities and build evidence in different regions of what it looks like to help young families experience economic mobility. We also want to continue to expand our research, technical assistance, and advocacy efforts. All of these initiatives inspire each other and ensure that all parents of her teens, parents of students, and their children have every opportunity to succeed and have the power to build a better future for themselves, their communities, and the world. helps us achieve our long-term vision of achieving
