Woodson Center: Transforming lives, schools, and troubled neighborhoods, from the inside out — for 45 years and counting!
Washington, DC
Joined February 2010
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In 2026, the Woodson Center stands at an extraordinary convergence of milestones. The organization marks its 45th anniversary — marking four-plus decades of empowering community-based leaders to reduce crime, restore families, and revitalize underserved neighborhoods. Simultaneously, the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of its independence from imperial rule.
For the @WoodsonCenter, this is not a coincidence — it is a calling. The organization was founded on the belief that the promise of liberty belongs to every American, and that the unfinished work of that founding is carried forward not by government programs but by indigenous community leaders on the ground. This anniversary highlights the hope and transformation that has occurred throughout the history of both the Woodson Center and the country through a commitment to the founding values of self-determination and collective resilience.
Read our entire 45th anniversary statement and how we will carry forward @BobWoodson's legacy of resilience and spirit of renewal in every neighborhood across the nation: woodsoncenter.org/8643-2/
An empowered child is given a whole story to learn from - victories achieved through adversity, barriers overcome with grit and determination, agency built from integrity and resilience.
Equipped with our free K-12 Black History and Excellence lessons, watch the youth take charge of their futures as they grow in competence, agency, and resilience.
Empower a child today: woodsoncenter.org/how-we-hel…
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Keep showing up even when your efforts go unnoticed. The quiet choices matter so let character be the measure of your progress. Keep going.
"Having students learn more about Black history and 'untold' stories that may never be shared within a given set of standards can be such a powerful and critical part of the social studies curriculum." - #Fairfax County Schools curriculum head
Another week, another social studies conference! This time we attended VCSS at the College of William and Mary, where our curriculum team member Tina Webb exhibited as well as presented while there. Educators in attendance loved the presentation, and one, a curriculum head for Fairfax County schools, (one of the largest school districts in the country) strongly recommends all social studies teachers use our materials. What a wonderful endorsement!
#VCSS2026 Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Teaching Award recipient Owen Longacre (pictured) also shared that he uses our curriculum resources and has our curriculum poster in his office!
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Character is not formed only in life’s defining moments. It is revealed in the quiet choices, keeping our word, completing the overlooked task, extending kindness, and doing what is right when no one is watching.
As you begin this week, remember: small acts of discipline and integrity prepare us for greater responsibilities. Excellence begins in the ordinary.
We're thrilled that two members of our curriculum team - Stephanie Taylor and Tina Webb - will be sharing about K-12 Black History and Excellence curriculum in Chicago next month! We are grateful to @CUChicago for the invitation and recognizing the need for these stories to be told.
On September 30, the American Enterprise Institute hosted Radical Grace: A Tribute to the Life and Work of Bob Woodson, an afternoon celebrating our founder’s conviction that lasting change begins with the strength and initiative of ordinary people. The program opened with a panel on our Black History and Excellence curriculum, featuring our team historian Stephanie Taylor. Former California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown and political scientist Wilfred Reilly also took part, and the afternoon closed with a fireside chat between President Will Crossley and Board Chairman Gregory L. Snyder on carrying Bob’s vision forward.
We are grateful to all who attended in-person and virtually, and special thanks to @AEI and @IanVRowe for such a wonderful tribute to @BobWoodson.
"This month, we were able to feed the entire Homicide and Crime Scene Unit through the Police and Pastor's Program. The detectives were very moved, almost to tears from the generosity." - Yvonne Pointer, VBMU Ohio Regional Lead
VMBU lead Yvonne Pointer has thoughtfully brought together spiritual leaders and law enforcement officers of all backgrounds to share and encourage one another in how to better serve their communities. This collaboration has proved fruitful, and just highlights one more way that our neighborhood healers like Yvonne have integral insights that are needed in community restoration.
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In Bob's lifetime, he saw numerous ways to fail a community. These failings are what motivated him to start the @WoodsonCenter. He dedicated his life to amplifying the community healers that recognized the brokenness in their communities, and sought to empower, uplift, and transform their neighborhoods from the inside out. This is America's ground game.
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@WoodsonCenter’s Julia Nelson probes the similarities—and more important, the differences—between Woodson and Olasky in their approaches to poverty and the capacity of the poor to address their own problems.
thegivingreview.com/tragedy-…!
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Where can you exercise Radical Grace in Action?
Learn more about the Golden 13, the first black officers commissioned by the @USNavy, and Robert Smalls, who commandeered a Confederate gunship as he led his family to freedom, in the @WoodsonCenter's Black History and Excellence curriculum. woodsoncenter.org/how-we-hel… #radicalgraceinaction
Via a 2020 interview with Hillsdale College.
A room in his honor💙
With our president Will Crossley and @BobWoodson's wife Ellen in attendance, our wonderful CAN affiliate, The Master's Apprentice [Denver, CO], dedicated a space to our late founder: the Robert Woodson Community Room. Not only a profoundly kind gesture, but also a testament to the enduring legacy Mr. Woodson has left all of us.
The Master's Apprentice offers pre-apprenticeship programs in the trades, created to help motivated individuals from low-income backgrounds.
Learn more: themastersapprentice.org/
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“Every life in every community has within it the capacity to improve itself.” —Bob Woodson
Dr. Keli Christopher brings this principle to life through STEM Greenhouse. As a member of the Woodson Center’s Community Affiliate Network, she equips children from underrepresented communities with the confidence, skills, and opportunities to excel in STEM. With support from a Woodson Center mini-grant, Dr. Christopher has expanded her Kids Count Program, helping young people recognize their potential and build brighter futures.
Mobile | STEM Greenhouse
@thestemgreenhouse
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thegivingreview.com/seeing-t…
In @GivingReview co-editor @WilliamSchambra’s remembrance of a remarkable man at @AEI last week, he says @BobWoodson saw a world of grassroots leaders—“otherwise unnoticed, unfunded, and unappreciated”—quietly restoring their communities, one person and one block at a time. Woodson spent his life trying to get the rest of us to see that world, too, including through the @WoodsonCenter.
“And now it’s up to us to try to bring Bob Woodson’s vision to those with eyes to see,” according to Schambra.
"They just don't know black history. This is great even for my college students." - professor from ASALH
Exhibiting our K-12 Black History and Excellence curriculum in new spaces -like at the 111th ASALH: Association for the Study of African American Life and History conference, in honor of Black History Month founder Carter G. Woodson- allows us to hear on-the ground perspectives and insights into the world of education. It was wonderful interacting with so many thoughtful, enthusiastic participants! Thank you @ASALH for having us!
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Join us for a tribute to the life and work of Mr. Woodson today, September 30, 2026 from 2:00 PM to 6:15 PM ET. Watch it live online here: aei.org/events/radical-grace…
@AEI
Quantitative results are important, but many of our affiliates are doing meaningful community work that is qualitative--and therefore cannot be measured solely with numbers. In our spaces of influence, we mustn't overlook an individual, organization, or program simply because the yielded results don't show up in an off-the-charts graph. If lives are being transformed in untraditional ways, it's up to us to find ways to capture and promote these testimonies.
Learn more about our work: woodsoncenter.org/
DEADLINE REMINDER: Submit your application(s) by OCTOBER 9TH.
The Woodson Center is awarding up to $5,000 in individual grants to organizations and that are doing transformative, mission-aligned work in their neighborhoods and communities.
We are also providing our Rising Leaders grant for individuals who do not have their 501c3 but have made invaluable contributions to their communities.
REQUIREMENTS>>>
Rising Leader: $1,000 grant available to those who join our CAN network but do not have a 501c3
Mini-Grant: Up to $5,000 available to those with specific project proposals and are 1) in our CAN network and 2) have their 501c3
Join our Community Affiliate Network here to apply and PLEASE SHARE: woodsoncenter.org/.../commun…
The values that are the moral backbone of the communities and "mediating structures" we inhabit will shape - for better or worse- how we view history, and the "moral of the story" we attribute to what we're teaching.
[Will Crossley, President of the #WoodsonCenter speaking at workshop session for @NCSSNetwork Conference 2025 in #WashingtonDC.]