Dr. Monyka S. Price offers motivating words to Y.O.U. participants at our 2019 Youth Career Olympics.

Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) has named City of Cleveland Chief of Education Dr. Monyka S. Price as its National Network Leadership Awardee. Y.O.U. nominated Dr. Price for the honor, which is bestowed upon an extraordinary leader who has contributed and supported JAG’s mission of helping at-risk and disadvantaged young people succeed in school as well as in pursuit of a career or postsecondary education. She will accept the award in Washington, D.C. Wednesday, December 4, at the National JAG convention.

Dr. Price demonstrates her devotion to students and education each day in her current role. Her responsibilities include advancing the mayor’s vision of a regional approach to education and serving as the liaison between the City of Cleveland and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD).

Dr. Price was key to creating and implementing the Cleveland Plan, a partnership between the Ohio State Legislature and the Governor of Ohio to reinvent public education by finding creative ways to fund it and navigating challenging regulations around public education. Under Dr. Price’s leadership, Cleveland has transitioned from a traditional, single-source school district to a new system of district and charter schools that are held to the highest standards and work in partnership to create dramatic student achievement gains for every child.

Cleveland is now seeing the positive results of this transformation with higher graduation rates, better state report cards, and greater achievement scores. Through the Cleveland Plan several CMSD schools serve as sites for Y.O.U.’s Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates (JOG) program.

Dr. Price has consistently worked to integrate the JOG program into the CMSD schools and assisted Y.O.U. in securing funding from CMSD to support it. She attended the Youth Career Olympics, showcasing JOG students in career development competitions, where she networked with students and served as its keynote speaker. She has used her position to connect Y.O.U. to members of the Mayor’s cabinet and influential people in the wider community.

Dr. Price was a key community leader in making Cleveland one of only four Say Yes to Education communities in the country. She has been an advocate for aligning Y.O.U. and the JOG program with Say Yes to Education goals and serving as an important partner in this groundbreaking initiative.

Dr. Price is a leader locally and statewide. She is a staunch advocate for education and serves as a mentor and supporter for many. Her work ethic and commitment to Cleveland’s students deserves this national recognition.