Keith Hardy: Quality Education Advocate

 At age 8, while living in Seneca, South Carolina, Keith Hardy began teaching his grandfather to read. No one told him to do it.  He simply felt it was the right thing to do.   Similarly, he was a peer mentor in math for classmates in junior and senior high.  Keith’s natural sense of responsibility for sharing his own love of learning with his grandfather and classmates were his early efforts of a long-long commitment to education.

Keith‘s first employer after graduation from the University of Texas- Arlington was Burlington Northern Railroad in Minnesota where he worked as a technical writer in informational Technology.  He began promoting educational opportunities for Twin Cities youth after he moved to the company’s Minnesota office in St. Paul.

One of Keith’s local educational ventures was to work with an agency that primarily helped African-American elementary students build their computer skills.  Another venture was to introduce a Toastmasters International Youth Leadership program to strengthen students’ communication and leadership skills at the Benjamin E. Mays International Magnet School (K-6).  Since 1991 he has conducted that program for more then 30 youth groups around the Twin Cities.  Keith is passionate about initiatives that empower “young people to find their voices”.

Keith was elected to the St. Paul School Board in 2007 after serving in a volunteer role on its ‘Citizens Budget and Finance Advisory Committee’.  He understood the social policy implications of budget decisions at the same time as he enjoyed poring over the numbers. This committee experience led Keith to decide to do something that would allow him to “have direct involvement in helping thousands of students”. That led him to be a candidate for the board.

Keith joined St. Paul Youth Services Board of Directors in 2009. He accepted this invitation from Kathy Lantry to volunteer because he saw in the agency’s young clients the faces of his own cousins who had made some bad choices; they too needed a second chance and guidance to get back on track. He knows the cruel effects of the intersection of race and poverty that negatively affects families.  He values St. Paul Youth Services because it is “another organization making a positive difference” in the lives of these youth and their families.

Keith’s strong connections in the African-American community allows him to link the new generation of young professionals with the St. Paul Youth Services Board‘s open positions.  Keith also serves on the St. Paul Youth Services Board of Director’s Finance Committee.

Keith Hardy’s life journey is an expression of the creative application of personal assets to community need.  The work of the St. Paul Youth Services Board of Directors is enriched by his efforts.