Marcella Maxwell

Ed.D. Former Director of Development and Government Affairs
Concord Family Services
Brooklyn, N.Y.

Marcella Maxwell recognized the benefits of social networking long before Facebook and MySpace came into being.

With what she describes as a “million-dollar Rolodex,” she has forged partnerships with a host of organizations, resulting in scholarships and educational programs for New York City-area youth.

One of her proudest accomplishments is securing a $100,000 grant to establish the Willie Randolph Leadership Academy for Concord Family Services, where she served until recently as director of development and government affairs.

“I was fortunate enough to be part of a family that believed in education,” says Maxwell, whose grandfather donated the land for the first elementary school for African-Americans in Cleveland, N.C.

Maxwell holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in elementary education from Long Island University and a doctorate in educational administration and supervision from Fordham University.

None of her educational and professional achievements would have been possible, she says, without the support of Mary Lai, the treasurer at LIU; John B. King, New York City’s first African-American assistant superintendent for elementary schools, who was instrumental in her receiving a Ford Foundation Scholarship; and Terry Schwarz, Ph.D., a professor and dean at Brooklyn College.

Now a clinical supervisor of Teaching Fellows at Brooklyn College, she is nurturing the next generation of educators.

She is involved in several outreach projects through her membership in organizations such as the Greater New York Links, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and the Women’s Forum.

“By educating women, you educate a family and an entire generation,” she says.