This is a portion of the weekly Superintendent’s Update by Cliff Chuang mailed to Bedford Public School community on Friday, Feb. 9. Please find this week’s full issue of Superintendent’s Update and back issues at bedfordps.org.
Note: This is part of an ongoing series of features sharing the stories of BPS alums, taking us into and out of Black History Month in February, highlighted on this BPS Black Excellence Site put together by Lisa Morrison, JGMS STEM teacher.
Dr. Nicholas Vance – Class of 2009
My name is Dr. Nicholas Vance, a 2009 alumni of the Bedford METCO program. I was born and raised in Mattapan and I am a proud member of the Cape Verdean community. After my time at Bedford, I went on to an HBCU to further my education in political studies. During that time, I served as President of NAACP on campus and did work for U.S. Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina.
After graduation, I worked for The Yawkey Boys and Girls Club and then for City Year before I moved on to corporate recruitment and DEI work. I have been a part of the creation of Encore Boston Harbor, leading DEI hiring initiatives to now leading a team on DEI recruitment and retention at National Grid.
I have also worked in politics. I worked for Hillary Clinton in Florida as a key strategist in Lakeland, FL for her presidential run in 2016. During this time, I also served as a Governor Charlie Baker appointee on the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee and served as a youth advisory/ board of trustee member on the Huntington & Dorchester YMCA boards.
I also served as the Boston NAACP Political Action Co-Chair where we successfully enforced the use of body cameras for the Boston Police Department to create more transparency in law enforcement. During this time, I also continued my education at Northeastern University and received a Masters degree and a Doctoral degree.
I hope to leave you with the idea that anything is possible in life. I wasn’t the greatest student while in high school, but I fought through adversity and kept my eyes on my goals and dreams.
Never allow others to limit your potential! Also, take risks and try new things and find what you are passionate about!
I am a husband to my wife Monee and the father of a beautiful daughter named Myra.
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