The Aspen Institute

Adam Layne is an education advocate who has been driving toward educational equity and excellence in the city of St. Louis since he began his professional career. In 2011, he joined Teach For America, teaching Algebra and Trigonometry to high school students. In 2014, he joined InspireSTL, an education access and support nonprofit serving students in St. Louis. While there, he built mentorship, leadership, educational excellence, and college access programs geared toward ensuring students were prepared for the academic rigors of high school and had the support necessary to succeed. In 2016, he was named Director and during his tenure, 100% of students graduated on-time from high school with an over 90% college persistence rate. Adam considers himself an activist, passionate about topics of race and equity as well as the action that follows those discussions. He regularly speaks and facilitates conversations about how these topics intersect with education and how we can change the current narrative. He has created and facilitated diversity, equity, and inclusion training within predominantly white schools to address bias, culturally responsive curriculum, and inclusive education policies. Adam was recently elected to serve as a board member for the Board of Education. Adam also launched his own organization called the Young Griot Society, a nonprofit program that seeks to increase youth literacy through poetry and other forms of creative writing. Adam was born and raised in Boston and received his bachelor’s degree from The George Washington University and his master’s degree from UMSL.