It has been long said that knowledge is power and Dr. Kassie Freeman, founder, president and CEO of the African Diaspora Consortium (ADC) is among those leading the fight to make sure that education, and education around the African diaspora is being centered. Dr. Freeman, who is a former dean of academic advancement at Bowdoin College, led the effort to create African diaspora content to be incorporated into an Advanced Placement (AP) seminar. The success of this effort helped to shape the design of the new African American AP Course. She was recently named to the Export-Import Bank’s Council on Advancing Women in Business and she spoke with the Amsterdam News about her lifelong dedication to education. This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.
AmNews: Can you tell us a little about the work that ADC does and its recent projects?
Freeman: One of our members, Dr. Michael Nettles suggested that we approach the College Board about adding an Africa topic to their portfolio of Advanced Placement seminar courses. In fact, at the time they had no Africa-themed courses, and that was just maybe 10 years ago. So we were quite surprised that they had he had the conversation with a senior vice president and on the spot he agreed that would be an interesting idea. With a phenomenal team of scholars, from Ernest Morrell to Henry Levin and the former premier of Bermuda, the Honorable Paula Cox, we set out to develop something that had never been done before, and the content has exceeded all of our expectations. What started as a pilot in four or five schools has now grown to nearly 300 schools in more than 25 states and five countries as far as Senegal and Mexico. And people are surprised by the fact that even in the midst of the pushback, our courses continue to be in growth mode.
AmNews: Tell us about the Export Import Bank and you being named to the Council on Advancing Women in Business. How did this appointment come about? And what do you hope the council will be able to accomplish?
Freeman: I’ve been a long admirer, for sure, of the president, Reta Jo Lewis who is the first African American to head the Export-Import Bank. So I’ve known her for a long period of time, and just the way in which she has led has just been awe inspiring. She’s worked across countries and visited and spent quite a bit of time in Africa for sure. So that led to my admiration for her and her work. And so when she was naming these very various councils, she asked me if I would be willing to serve on the Council for Women in Business, and that speaks very much to what I value in, seeing all individuals, a global knowledge and influence, but particularly women.
One of the things that I pride myself on is helping people to understand the way in which education impacts everything else, whether it’s economics, politics. Individuals who are educated are more politically active; they’re advancing into the middle class and beyond. And I think sometimes people underestimate and devalue the important role that education plays in every aspect of uplift. And so I hope to bring that aspect to the work. I think I’m the only individual on the council that focuses on education, and so I really hope to have an impact in that way.
AmNews: When people think about the Export-Import Bank, they might think of loans or funding but they don’t necessarily think of education. What role do you think business, something an organization like the Export Import Bank, can have on education around the world, especially when it comes to women?
Freeman: I think the very fact that there’s an emphasis on women in business through the new council provides an opportunity to help people understand the role of the Export-Import Bank a little bit more than simply that it is strengthening American jobs through facilitating export. I think that education plays a huge role in helping both women and then organizations to be able to take advantage of the services that an organization like the Export-Import Bank offers. There is a really important role for us to play, because people often don’t really understand the role education plays in building more women who are capable of owning businesses and leading to the success of not just owning the business, but leading to the success of those building those businesses.