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Yolande Beckles

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Yolande Beckles (London, 1962—)[1] is a British educationalist, businesswoman, and diversity consultant.[2] She founded Global Graduates in 1998, a company aimed at raising the aspirations of, and teaching soft skills to mainly ethnic minority children.[3] Additionally, Global Graduates worked closely with The Law Society to create the latter’s Diversity in Law programme, which, according to the Society's CEO, Janet Paraskeva, improved "racial diversity in the profession".[4] Global Graduates collapsed in 2003.[1] After this, debts of over £125,000[1] were left unpaid and at least nineteen County Court judgments were lodged against Beckles.[5]

Shortly after the 2003 insolvency of Global Graduates, Beckles set up Global Graduates Education, where her mother was appointed as a director.[1] In 2004, Beckles, doing business as Global Graduates, offered guidance careers in law to minority students, and was sponsored by Allen & Overy, Freshfields, and Clifford Chance.[6] By 2005, Global Graduates services to legal students included “writing CVs, filling out application forms and interview techniques, as well as arranging talks and open days at top firms,” and had served 600 students.[7]

BBC career

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In 2006, she starred in a three-part documentary series called Don't Mess with Miss Beckles, filmed in Fortismere School,[8] which was aired on BBC Two.[9] In it, she tried to motivate three secondary school children (one per episode) to achieve more in their academic life. The reaction to the show in the media was polarised, with some praising her message of parental involvement in a child's learning,[10] while others suggested that the show was exploitative [11] and that her approach was misguided.[12] A The Times critic questioned her qualifications;[13] Paul Hoggart noted her academic interventions appeared to have worsened student outcomes.[8] One of the parents featured in the show subsequently spoke out about Beckles's 'wholly inappropriate' behaviour.[14] The president of the Association of Educational Psychologists said «The programme was dangerous and Beckles's behaviour completely inappropriate».[1] The screening of the program also prompted a number of Beckles's creditors to issue renewed calls for payment.[15] An individual claiming to be a friend of a creditor has since set up a website to monitor her activities.[16]

Move to the United States

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Beckles currently lives in Los Angeles, where she has set up an educational program called Think Global Kids[17] and is known as an educator.[18] She was elected to a volunteer seat on the Greater Echo Park Elysian Neighborhood council. Think Global Kids has been suspended by the California Franchise Tax Board.[19] In 2023, Beckles was president of the National Association of African American Parents and Youth, and collaborated in the creation of that year’s California Department of Education mathematics framework that discouraged public schools from teaching algebra.[20] In 2024, she was vice chairwoman of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Parent Advisory Committee.[21][22]

Family life and education

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She was born in London in 1962 to parents of Trinidadian origin. She has two siblings, Brian and Hermione, and two children, Diandra and Euan.[23] Beckles left school at age 18; as of 2006, she had “no formal teaching qualifications."[24]

Published works

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  • Yolande Beckles; Rosa Rivera Furumoto; Araceli Simeón; Teneh Weller (2023). "Transforming Learning and Student Outcomes Requires Co-Construction With Families". In Reyna Hernandez; Margaret Caspe (eds.). Family and Community Partnerships Promising Practices for Teachers and Teacher Educators. Information Age Publishing Inc. pp. 127–134. ISBN 979-8-88730-300-0. Retrieved 5 April 2024.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Julia Stuart (9 April 2006). "Yolande Beckles: Little Miss Know-all". The Independent. Archived from the original on 17 August 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  2. ^ Yvonne Roberts. "'I'm telling the real story. That's why I've been attacked'". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 April 2024. moved into diversity consultancy. "I don't often mention the R word [racism], but when I go and address a business meeting and show them what a powerful, dynamic black woman can be like, they know the talent they are missing out on there."
  3. ^ NICK GILLIES (18 May 2004). "Legal placements: no longer a black and white issue". The Times. Retrieved 5 April 2024. Global Graduates. The latter was set up five years ago by Yolande Beckles to boost the chances of children from ethnic minorities
  4. ^ "Global Graduates". Archived from the original on 5 June 2002. Retrieved 5 April 2024. Janet Paraskeva, Chief Excecutive, The Law Society - "The Law Society worked closely with the team at Global Graduates in devising the Diversity in Law w programme. We believe the programme offers a practical way for solicitors and firms to turn policies into action and demonstrate their commitment to improving racial diversity in the profession."
  5. ^ Evening Standard - TV school guru "took kid's cash then flew off to meet religious cult"
  6. ^ Lisa Clifford (13 May 2003). "Young, gifted and stuck for a job". The Times. Retrieved 5 April 2024. Yolande Beckles, the founder of the Global Graduates […] Beckles initially struggled to sell Global Graduates to a sceptical City. Eventually firms warmed to the scheme. She is now sponsored by Allen & Overy, Freshfields and Clifford Chance, among others. The Law Society was especially slow to sign up but is now collaborating with Beckles
  7. ^ GRANIA LANGDON DOWN (18 October 2005). "Outsiders learn the insiders' code". The Times. Retrieved 5 April 2024. Global Graduates (GG), which runs programmes to help students from non-traditional backgrounds — about 75 per cent from ethnic minorities and 25 per cent white — to achieve their ambitions as lawyers […] GG offers students "soft skills" training in writing CVs, filling out application forms and interview techniques, as well as arranging talks and open days at top firms. Beckles explains: "Inner-city kids often miss out on self- confidence and networking skills. We give them the code to the game
  8. ^ a b Paul Hoggart (25 March 2006). "A class act? No, Beeb must try harder". The Times. Retrieved 5 April 2024. filmed at Fortismere School […] intervention from Miss Beckles even seems to make worse
  9. ^ "Fraudster teacher conquers California". UnHerd. April 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2024. Beckles was the star of a 2006 BBC documentary, Don't Mess with Miss Beckles, in which she attempted to improve the performance of disaffected teenagers in London
  10. ^ Guardian - Learning from Miss Beckles
  11. ^ BBC News - 'Miss Beckles' show sparks anger
  12. ^ Guardian - How Miss Beckles messed up my son
  13. ^ Joe Joseph. "Hey, Beckles, leave those kids alone!". The Times. Retrieved 5 April 2024. What exactly are Beckles's qualifications to "kick butt", anyway? The programme never made it very clear. When John Harvey Jones or Gerry Robinson have gone in to sort out troubled companies, or when Gordon Ramsay has visited faltering restaurants to advise them how to get back on their feet, we know what experience they have and we are familiar with their track record of success
  14. ^ Guardian - How Miss Beckles messed up my son
  15. ^ Observer - Miss Beckles owes us money, claim staff
  16. ^ Independent - The Messy Life of Miss Beckles
  17. ^ Independent - The Messy Life of Miss Beckles
  18. ^ Laurent Belsie (1 February 2021). "Reopen public schools? How Chicago became ground zero for debate". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 6 April 2024. says Yolande Beckles, a community educator in Los Angeles
  19. ^ https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ca/200809210269
  20. ^ Allyson Aleksey (11 July 2023). "Leaders voice concern over statewide math framework". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 5 April 2024. state Department of Education voted unanimously Wednesday night to roll out a new framework […] the new curriculum drew widespread criticism for discouraging public schools from teaching algebra […] Yolande Beckles, President of the National Association of African American Parents and Youth, said the framework authors had included the voices of family and engagement experts like herself
  21. ^ https://www.lausd.org/Page/10284
  22. ^ Sanjana Friedman (2 April 2024). "Meet the British Scammer Who Infiltrated the Highest Levels of CA Education Policymaking". Pirate Wires. Retrieved 3 April 2024. currently serves as vice chair of LAUSD's Parent Advisory Committee
  23. ^ Guardian - Yvonne Roberts meets controversial educational motivator Yolande Beckles
  24. ^ Sian Griffiths. "The no nonsense guide to 10 A grades". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 5 April 2024. Beckles, who left school at 18 and has no formal teaching qualifications
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