Ed Farm

If Ed Farm is selected as a recipient of the Elevate Prize, our goal is to put the funding towards our expansion of Ed Farm’s signature programming into new markets across the United States. We have strategically identified 10 target markets for expansion in 2021-2024, where we feel our programs would have the greatest impact on our country’s digital divide. The funding from this prize would be instrumental in helping to expand access to devices and innovative digital skills learning opportunities to thousands of learners and educators across the United States. Additionally, we are interested in leveraging the Elevate Prize’s resources to amplify our messaging across multiple platforms. We experienced a bit of this following our launch event in February 2020 featuring Apple CEO Tim Cook, which resulted in millions of news media impressions and thousands of Instagram followers, but our team would surely benefit from The Elevate Prize’s expertise in this space. Finally, we recognize that bold solutions require collective action, and our work would not be as successful without our growing network of community and advocates. Through the Elevate Prize, we are looking to coalition build with other innovators to collectively and strategically amplify our impact.

My name is Waymond Jackson, and I am the CEO of Ed Farm. As our CEO, I am charged with building a team to implement the ambitious mission of our organization and expanding its presence throughout the state of Alabama and beyond. My background is in workforce development; prior to working at Ed Farm, I served as the Senior Vice President of Policy at Birmingham Business Alliance, where my work was instrumental in building out workforce development initiatives for attracting and attaining early-career talent in the Birmingham Metro area. Now, my goals with Ed Farm are to enable our staff to increase our footprint across the southeast, and also to connect our K-12 programs to higher education. In January, we announced the Propel Center: a global headquarters for innovation and learning for all Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). As a Birmingham native, I’m passionate about reducing educational inequity in my own community but also driven by the ambition to put Birmingham on the map as the world’s next best leader and innovator in education. Beyond that, I’m also passionate about being the best father I can be to my two incredible children: Leo (8) and Kai (10 months).  

Ed Farm is a transformative education and workforce initiative based in Birmingham, Alabama. We are proudly partnered with Apple’s Community Engagement Initiative and several other innovative ecosystem builders in our guiding mission to radically rethink and reimagine how students learn, introducing investment in communities that have been left behind. 

In the Birmingham City Schools (BCS) district, where Ed Farm’s flagship programs were launched, 91% of students are Black, and 100% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Among this population, less than 1 in 4 demonstrate proficiency in math, science, and reading. Historically, interventions to challenge these statistics have produced limited results, meaning our investment in these schools is long overdue.

We are acutely aware of these disheartening trends in Birmingham, and acknowledge these issues exist nationally and globally. According to the United Negro College Fund, K-12 public schools with 90% or more students of color spend $733 less per student per year than schools with 90+% white students. Disparities in funding translate into a lack of resources and innovative learning strategies in classrooms composed of mostly students of color, leading to fewer opportunities and career paths throughout their lives. Ed Farm exists to challenge and change those numbers. 

We are confident that our ability to be innovative and agile stems from the diversity of our own team’s experiences and backgrounds. Of our 19 full-time staff members, 68% identify as female, 79% identify as Black, and 42% hold a degree from a Historically Black College or University. Because our programs directly impact Black students, we pay close attention to the reality that systemic racism is prevalent, that the digital divide disproportionally affects Black Americans, and that Black talent continues to be underrepresented in the tech talent pool. We remedy these inequities by leading by example: our team brings together a collection of Black experts in education, entertainment, development, marketing, and beyond.  

Black leaders are egregiously underrepresented in tech companies and the business ecosystem more generally. What is disruptive about our work is that we firmly believe in the power of Black talent to bring the related experience, execution capacity, best practices, community understanding, and sensitivity necessary to ensure excellence. Moreover, we are committed to uplifting Black voices through programs and curricula as we continue to grow and scale. In a world that systemically invalidates and silences Black voices, Ed Farm provides platforms and tools to radically contest the norm.

Step One. Beyond Birmingham City Schools, we have existing partnerships with 3 other schools and multiple community-based organizations in the Birmingham Metro area, creating a real impact for over 10,000 learners. 

Step Two. We are beginning to expand our work to other high-need schools and communities across the Southeast, and have existing partnerships with additional school districts in Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina. Over the next year, we will implement these programs and introduce some new ones with exciting new partners, while also continuing to scale our work in Birmingham. 

Step Three. We have identified 10 target markets across the United States where we feel our work would have the greatest impact, and we have engaged the leadership of United Way chapters in each market to leverage national expansion. Once we secure funding, we will work with United Way leadership to identify and secure partnership agreements with target stakeholder groups in each market, namely community centers and high-need school districts. After that, we will begin the process of deploying our programming and technology offerings to thousands of students over the next 3-5 years.