Wayne Taliaferro

Strategy Director

Articles by Wayne

Wayne Taliaferro is a strategy director for student success at Lumina Foundation, an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis that is committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all. In that role, he leads a grantmaking portfolio focused on enhancing student success at community colleges. He previously supported a portfolio focused on affordability.

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

Prior to working at CLASP, he worked as a research analyst in the University of Maryland’s Office of Institutional Research, where his work informed enrollment, budget, and planning decisions at the college, as well as reporting and special projects for institutional and systemwide audiences. He also served as a data consultant for Collegiate Directions, Inc.

Earlier in his career, he worked in K-12 education 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.

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

More from Wayne

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.

When it comes to student borrowers of color, policymakers should explore the shades of gray

The last recession consumed the modest wealth of Black and Hispanic communities, further deepening racial wealth divides and burdening college students from these communities with higher loan debt. Today, the United States is experiencing another severe economic downturn, with record-high unemployment fueled by a pandemic—and it’s affecting college affordability even more dramatically.

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