Online: A Conversation with Erica Green: Voice, Agency, and Untold Stories

The Dean’s Office at the Yale School of Management, in conjunction with The Broad Center at Yale SOM, is pleased to welcome Erica Green, New York Times correspondent, for our R. Peter Straus ’44 Lecture Series. Join us as she discusses her journey to her current bold approach to journalism, and how she pushes herself and her newsroom colleagues to tell the stories that would otherwise go untold, no matter how much blowback it may cause, and find the meaning behind the story for children and families.

Green joined the New York Times in 2017 and covers education, with a focus on civil rights and equity in our nation’s schools. Previously, she covered education for the Baltimore Sun, where she won more than one dozen local and national awards for her education coverage, and was a part of the Sun team named a 2016 Pulitzer Prize finalist for breaking news coverage of the death of Freddie Gray and the protests that followed.

The virtual conversation will be moderated by Hanseul Kang, assistant dean and executive director of The Broad Center at Yale SOM, with opening remarks from Kerwin K. Charles, Indra K. Nooyi Dean and Frederic D. Wolfe Professor of Economics, Policy, and Management.

Named for R. Peter Straus YC ’44, a pioneer in public-service radio, the R. Peter Straus Lecture Series presents talks by prominent individuals on topics that relate to the press and public responsibility.

The crisis in education is “the most important topic of our generation,” New York Times reporter Erica Green told students at a virtual event on April 13. Green discussed her journey growing up in inner-city Baltimore and becoming a journalist who chronicles strife and inequity in urban schools.

Green’s virtual talk was part of the R. Peter Straus ’44 Lecture Series, which presents discussions by prominent individuals on topics related to the press and public responsibility. Assistant Dean Hanseul Kang, executive director for The Broad Center at Yale SOM, moderated the discussion.

“We need to do better,” Green said. One of the biggest lessons her recent work has yielded, she said, is that society and educators must do a better job reaching out to students in disadvantaged schools.

Reporting a national story about those students, she said, she learned that “what connected them all was something very ordinary, and that was potential.” For that story, she interviewed many students and heard their frustrations and hopes in their own words. The experience illustrated for Green that education can give young people “an opportunity to recognize and reach their potential.”

Kerwin Charles, the Indra K. Nooyi Dean and Frederic D. Wolfe Professor of Economics, Policy, and Management, delivered opening remarks. “[Green’s] bold journalism seeks to tell stories about our schools that might otherwise go untold,” Charles said.

Green joined the New York Times in 2017, where she covers education with a focus on civil rights and equity. Previously, she covered education for the Baltimore Sun, where she won more than one dozen local and national awards and was part of the Sun team named a 2016 Pulitzer Prize finalist for breaking news coverage of the death of Freddie Gray and the protests that followed. 

On her decision to enter a career in journalism, Green said, “I wanted to present people’s stories with some humanity and dignity, and some empathy.”