From classroom teacher to founder of a cradle to career movement, Dominique Lee built the BRICK Education Network in Newark to do what schools alone never could: support a child and their family from before birth all the way through a career.
In this episode of The Stronger Podcast, Mike Montoya sits down with Dominique Lee, founder and CEO of BRICK Education Network, to talk about what it actually takes to change outcomes for Black and brown children when the system was never built for them in the first place.
Dominique traces the path from a Teach For America placement in Newark's South Ward to the moment he decided he was done. After watching his district treat a school full of Black children as the place to dump teachers nobody else wanted, he asked a simple question about what to do next, and BRICK was the answer. Fifteen years later, what started as five young teachers with an amorphous plan is now a two generation model spanning maternal health, schools, housing, and workforce development.
Mike and Dominique get into why trust is built by listening and then executing, not by running another focus group. They dig into the equity argument at the center of his work: communities should not have to fight for the basics that wealthier neighborhoods simply expect, and systems, not exhausted families, should carry the load.
Tune in to hear why Dominique believes the way forward starts with denying yourself and picking up something bigger than your own mission.
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00:50 Want a podcast just like this one? Check out
www.podcastsmatter.com🧱
01:11 Meet Dominique Lee and the BRICK Education Network
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02:13 Growing up between Pontiac and Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
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06:12 The faith that still guides every decision he makes
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12:54 From Teach For America to the day he walked away from the classroom
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17:55 One question at Riverside Church, and five teachers with an amorphous plan
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19:51 Building a cradle to career model, from maternal health to workforce
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24:51 How trust gets built: listen, then execute, skip the focus group
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28:34 The wellness center the community told him not to build
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33:29 Why systems, not exhausted families, should carry the load
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37:25 The real problem is that people don't trust people
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44:25 Abundance over zero sum, and the case against scarcity thinking
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49:00 Deny yourself and pick up something bigger than your own mission
Reach out to Dominique Lee to learn more about the cradle to career model BRICK is building in Newark's South Ward and beyond.
Connect with Mike: www.linkedin.com/in/mmsc
Stay strong.
Episode 31