Today we’d like to introduce you to Trent Ramsey.
Trent, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. After graduating from college in the 1990s, I decided to start a nonprofit with a friend of mine with the goal of bringing youth of different races and socio-economic levels to downtown Birmingham to participate in prejudice reduction and social activism. After a few years, a funder stepped forward–the father of one of the student participants–and helped us launch as a nonprofit. He also agreed to serve as our board chair, and he and I led the organization, YouthServe, for just over ten years. It’s still going strong in Alabama, which is a point of great pride for me.
About 11 years ago, my wife, 2 kids and I relocated to Boston–we live in Melrose–and I was the director of the Area 4 Youth Center in Cambridge. I am very passionate about youth empowerment, as well as education, so after Cambridge, I worked with charter schools for several years before ending up at Acera: The Massachusetts School of Science, Creativity and Leadership. Acera is a progressive private school, founded 8 years ago by the school director, Courtney Dickinson that focuses on individualized, hands-on learning and inquiry-based education. The school also has a broader mission of testing hands-on learning experiences within its walls, and then taking that success and sharing it with public schools across the country.
Politics aside, I very much identify as a person with Southern roots and a Northern life. I will always be a Southerner, and will always care passionately about making the South the best that it can be–and ensuring that children in the South have access to the opportunities across the world–but I also love living in the Northeast, with its progressive leanings and amazing experiences for my children.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Professionally, I have always worked in nonprofit leadership positions. For the past ten years, I have focused mostly on fundraising and community building. Currently I focus most of my attention on raising money for Acera, this school that I think is amazing, as well as raising funds and awareness for the broader mission of sharing Acera’s curriculum and practices with public schools. Before Acera, I worked in Lowell at a charter school, and had the privilege of working with some amazing people who gave me the freedom to use my creativity and passion for quality education for all to raise money, and it was an amazing experience.
When I first moved to Massachusetts, I was naive in thinking that the work I did in Alabama would translate well to the North. It did not. No one was interested in an executive director from Alabama. I had more than one interviewer ask if my family had shoes in Alabama or if I had access to running water. It was amazing to me how a state that was so progressive could really believe so many stereotypes. But after a few years of working in the state, as well as one job where I drove all over the state working with families, I realized that a lot of my experiences in Alabama, as well as the skills I learned at a start-up nonprofit, could work really well in my work in Massachusetts.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Acera School story. Tell us more about the business.
I am the director of Strategic Advancement at Acera School in Winchester, MA. At Acera, we believe in deep, authentic learning where students engage because of their intrinsic motivation, explore the world in new ways and solve challenges with creativity. The school serves 140 students. Our programs uniquely combine science, engineering and creativity with the development of emotional intelligence–facets found in programs such as computer science curricula, which was pilot tested at the school for the past three years. This work exemplifies Acera’s innovative and scalable education solutions that are ripe for broader dissemination.
There are so many aspects of the school that I love but two are the community enrichment programs–after school, school vacation weeks and summer programs that are open to the community that are so amazing and unique, I wish I could have participated as a child! For example our summer offerings beginning next week include metal casting, flying machines and drones, games for strategic thinkers, advanced printmaking, biomimicry in architecture, experiential art–an awesome list of programs!
As someone who is passionate about education and education reform, the broader mission of Acera–to reinvent education for teachers and children across the country–is one that excites me and makes me want to do all I can to see it come to fruition.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I am not sure I really believe in luck, but I do believe in privilege, and I feel that I am fully aware of where my privilege has helped me in my life. As a white male who grew up in a middle class two parent family, I rarely (if ever) experienced the hardships or rejections that many people of color have. I believe that had I been born into a family of a different race, particularly in the South, but across the country as well, I would not have been given the opportunity to start a nonprofit in my 20s, or own my own home before I was 30. I would not be able to say that I had even walked through a department store without being followed, that people didn’t lock their car doors when they saw me walking, or that I had to worry if I was being loud that I would be asked to leave.
I have worked hard all of my life, and both of my parents instilled that in me, but I am not sure I believe that luck has been involved.
Contact Info:
- Address: 5 Lowell Avenue
Winchester, MA 01890 - Website: www.aceraschool.org
- Phone: 781-729-3489
- Email: trent@aceraschool.org
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
