North Madison
Congregational
Church

Marvin Walker is a proud Brooklyn born ABC alum born to amazing immigrant parents, Veronica & Melvin, of Jamaica. As many of our hard-working parents do, they wanted Marvin to be able to see the world on his terms - without struggle, having boundless choice to blaze his own trail and enact his own change on the world. Before all that would come to fruition Marvin would have to navigate the realities of growing up an only child even though he had 6 sisters and 2 brothers on his dad’s side of the family. Marvin always excelled in school, mostly due to his own fervor for learning but also having a mom for all intents and purposes - who knew how to raise a precocious child definitely helped. Her penchant for communicating with his school and seizing all opportunities coupled with a son who knew how to do his own research and push for his own decisions ultimately coalesced into his Madison journey via ABC Program.

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At Hand, Marvin continued to excel on the Track, on the football field, winning back-to-back to state titles but more importantly in the classroom. As a scholar Marvin loved both Humanities and Math but in general loved to dream and problem solve. When Marvin had time away from Hand he thoroughly enjoyed hanging with his fellow ABC brothers no matter how annoying they may have been at times; dinners, study hours and weekend basketball games in the driveway; these are all memories that give joy to him today. Marvin is also equally lucky to have a strong bond with his amazing host family here in town, the Blundons. Together they camped, hiked, biked, swam, ate a lot, laughed, cried and built connections that have managed to stand the test of time and distance. Marvin will tell you himself he learned a ton working at Madison Earth Care, biking through the Connecticut backroads with Bob, and having endless conversations with Mrs. Mac about the history of Madison, particularly ABC. The memories of times in Madison are endless and will continue to impact his life, personally and professionally.

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Today Marvin has only continued to build on his early success as a young Brooklyn kid of proud immigrant parents. Marvin Walker is a dedicated educator, learner, and leader with a strong passion for service and creating safe and equitable societies. With a background in education administration and a focus on change management, urban education, and youth development, Marvin is doing his part among the landscape of great educators to reimagine what learning experiences look like for our most vulnerable communities. He has amassed a diverse skill set that includes teaching educators & leaders, action research, public speaking, program development, data analysis and deep expertise in 5-8 math curricula. He has held various roles in the education sector, including founding educator, special education teacher, instructional coach, assistant principal and formerly principal; today he co-leads KIPP NYC’s Regional Team as the Director of Mathematics which oversees the math curriculum development as well as on ground execution across 18 K- 8 schools. Marvin applauds the efforts of his team at KIPP because of their energy, intentionality and positivity behind the scenes. After Marvin graduated Daniel Hand in 2005 he moved on to Tufts University outside of Boston where he ran Track & Field and studied Sociology & Economics. Since graduating Tufts in 2009, Marvin has continued his studies in academia where he received his Masters in Secondary Education at Brooklyn College (2011) and then his most recent Masters of Organizational Development & School Design at Columbia University, Teachers College (2014).

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When Marvin is not collaborating in the office or on the ground in schools with his team across the KIPP NYC region, he can be found doing one of many things in or around his Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford Stuyvesant. He is an avid cyclist who loves road biking, he loves to take his 3-year-old boxer, Apollo, to the park to play fetch and loves to go dining out with his partner, Manny, of 8+ years. Marvin’s favorite MLK quote is as follows: “Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” For him the message is simple: love is an overwhelming force of nature that can leave an indelible impact on people despite their circumstances, whether external or internal.

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If you would like to attend the brunch, please RSVP here by Tuesday, January 9, or contact the church office at office@northmadisoncc.org. Indicate your name and how many will be attending. We will gratefully accept good-will offerings that day. 

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