Born in Haiti, Jean-Claude Brizard has dedicated his life to education for four decades. A new Carnegie-commissioned comic series highlights Brizard’s story and the stories of other naturalized citizens who enrich American society and strengthen our democracy
Jean-Claude Brizard's first job in education* was teaching prisoners at Rikers Island. This prompted him to start thinking about how education might be able to stop the flow of kids into prisons. Born in Haiti, Brizard was raised by his grandmother after his parents fled the dictatorship of President François Duvalier, fearing imprisonment. At the age of 12, Brizard flew to New York to be reunited with his parents. He has said that his greatest hope is that every child will feel the hope he felt through the gift of opportunity that his parents’ sacrifice in coming to America afforded him.
Brizard has dedicated his life to education for four decades, as chief executive of Chicago Public Schools, superintendent of schools for the Rochester (NY) City School District, and senior advisor and deputy director in U.S. Programs at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Today, Brizard is president and CEO of Digital Promise, a Carnegie Corporation of New York grantee focused on accelerating innovation in education.
Every Fourth of July, Carnegie Corporation of New York celebrates the exemplary contributions of immigrants to American life, as part of its focus on reducing political polarization and strengthening democracy. To highlight their stories, the foundation has commissioned a new comic series that illustrates how naturalized citizens enrich American society.
Download Jean-Claude Brizard’s full comic here.
* In the U.S., 9.6% of workers in K–12 and 17.4% of workers in colleges and universities were born outside of the United States. (Source: Immigrant Health-Care Workers in the United States, American Immigration Council, August 2021)
For Andrew Carnegie, a free public library was the “best gift which can be given to a community”
Carnegie Reporter Summer 2024
Born in China, Betty Chinn has served more than nine million meals to those in need since 1984. A new Carnegie-commissioned comic series highlights Chinn’s story and the stories of other naturalized citizens who enrich American society and strengthen our democracy
Immigration