Wayne Taliaferro

Articles by Wayne

Wayne Taliaferro served in multiple roles at Lumina Foundation from 2018 to 2026. He led a grantmaking portfolio focused on enhancing student success at two- and four-year colleges and previously supported a portfolio focused on affordability.

Prior to joining Lumina, Taliaferro was a senior policy analyst at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP). While there, he helped drive policy advocacy on issues of college affordability and economic opportunity.

Before his work at CLASP, he was a research analyst in the University of Maryland’s Office of Institutional Research. His work there informed the university’s enrollment, budget, and planning decisions. It also supported reporting and special projects for institutional and systemwide audiences.

He also served as a data consultant for Collegiate Directions, Inc., as a coordinator and analyst at D.C. Public Schools, and as a graduate intern in the Office of Research, Planning, and Accountability at Providence Public Schools.

Taliaferro holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Morehouse College and a master’s in urban education policy from Brown University.

More from Wayne

A hidden student success strategy? Rethink course scheduling.

A student’s course schedule is one of the most consequential (and often overlooked) factors shaping whether they stay on track for their degree or credential. Yet the path to earning a degree or credential remains unnecessarily difficult for far too many students. Beyond juggling work, family, financial, and academic demands, they can also encounter barriers […]
•

Remapping higher ed: Here’s where innovation and equity are already taking root

Some of America’s most vital engines of post-high school learning and opportunity are overlooked and underfunded. Historically Black Community Colleges (HBCCs) and Predominantly Black Community Colleges (PBCCs) play an outsized role in connecting people to learning, credentials, and careers, especially in communities that traditional schools have long underserved.
•

Supporting adult students of color with flexibility, relationships, and empowerment

Three years ago, Lumina Foundation launched the REACH Collaborative with a very clear and specific goal: to increase the number of Black, Hispanic and Latino, and Native American adults with quality credentials and degrees. Alongside our partners, we welcomed more than 100 community colleges in six states into the collaborative and supported them in implementing the REACH Framework, which includes three pillars.
•

Community colleges in six states join national effort to support adult students of color

Education and training after high school, long known to be a vehicle for economic mobility, will play a pivotal role in our recovery, but only if that promise is just as true for communities of color. Systematically, however, that has not been the case for Black, Hispanic, Latino, and Native American adult students. Some renewed commitments and opportunities at community colleges may help change that.
•

What are you looking for?