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Person

Glenn Singleton

Occupation:

Author and Consultant
Residence:

Las Vegas, NV
EIN:

82-1568040
Websites:

www.glennsingletonassociates.com

www.courageousconversation.com

www.ccglobalfoundation.org

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Glenn Singleton is a consultant and author who provides race-focused education, training, and consulting for schools, colleges and universities, government entities, and corporate clients in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Singleton’s work is based on the premise that the gap between Black student performance and white student performance is the result of “white supremacy” and “systemic racism.” 1 2

He has reached more than 500 school districts in the United States, 3 major corporations like Google, Amazon, and Proctor and Gamble; leading foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and government entities. 4 5

Singleton has been involved in multiple controversies surrounding his work with public school districts. 6

Early Life

Singleton was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1964 to a federal employee mother. His early education was taken in Baltimore County, Maryland, Public School and the elite Park School in Baltimore, Maryland after which he entered the University of Pennsylvania. Post-graduation, he worked at an advertising agency, then became an admissions officer at his alma mater. Singleton transferred to the West Coast and after a few years entered Stanford University, where he received a master’s degree in higher education and became enthralled with the cause of the gap between white and Asian children’s education performance versus Black and other minority children. 7

Background

Singleton claims that the relatively poor performance of Black students compared to peer students of other ethnic groups is the result of racism among white people and that white teachers are to blame for minority students’ poorer grades and test performance. His work is intended to address the gap in performance by addressing the systemic racism that he claims exists. 8 9

Singleton claims that “white talk” is “verbal, impersonal, intellectual” and “task oriented” while “color commentary” is more “emotional” and “personal.” 10 Asian students are classified in Singleton’s terms as “majority students” because of their academic success. 11 He has also stated that many experts believe the poor performance of minority students is caused by poverty, language issues, mobility, and lack of family support but in reality are caused by “institutional racism” and “whiteness” and has claimed that curriculum and achievement tests are “Eurocentric.” 12 13 14

Work

Through his multiple organizations, Singleton has reportedly consulted for more than 500 public-school districts 15 as well as major corporations, public schools, and foundations, including the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 16 17

Pacific Educational Group (PEG)

Glenn Singleton founded Pacific Educational Group (PEG) in 1992 as a consulting business. PEG states that its mission is to “transform systems into racially-conscious, socially just environments,” especially for Black, indigenous, and people of color. PEG moved its website and most marketing materials to the “Courageous Conversation (CC)”  label, while still offering the services of training, coaching, and consultation in the pursuit of racially equal outcomes. 18 19

PEG has completed work in at least 18 states and D.C., collecting approximately $3.5 million in fees, according to watchdog group Parents Defending Education. 20

Glenn Singleton and Associates

Glenn Singleton and Associates (GSA) was formed to spread Singleton’s theories on racism into the corporate world. The organization provides coaching, training, and leadership development for executives designed to advance equal outcomes based on race. GSA’s program is intended to align beliefs, practices, and results for equity, diversity, and inclusion (DEI) within the companies for which it provides services. 21

GSA claims to have conducted work for Wieden + Kennedy, Google, Amazon, and Proctor & Gamble (P&G), among others. P&G has created a “Take On Race” initiative that supports CC along with the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund (LDF), the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), and the YWCA’s Stand Against Racism. 22 23

Work Wider

Singleton has become a partner at Work Wider, an employment agency placing diversity, equity, and inclusion candidates with companies in support of their desire to improve the racial diversity of their workplaces. 24

Courageous Conversation Global Foundation

Courageous Conversation Global Foundation (CCGF) was founded in 2017 as an extension of Glenn Singleton’s organization. Located in Las Vegas, Nevada, its avowed purpose is to “elevate racial consciousness through interracial healing.” The CCGF website’s featured projects include: “What If They Were Black?,” “400 Years at Half Staff,” “Not A Crime, and Not A Gun.” 25

“What If They were Black?” is an attempt to change the conversation about the January 6th, 2021, protests in Washington, D.C. to conclude that if there had been more Black protestors in the crowd, their treatment would not have been the same as it was for the mostly white protesters. 26

“400 years at Half Staff” advocates for a federal anti-lynching law, “Not A Crime” is a video that suggests that black people are disproportionately killed by police when stopped for minor or no violations of the law, and “Not A Gun” calls for police training reform to remove supposed bias in law enforcement. 27 28 29

Glenn Singleton is the board chair and its honorary board members include Angela Bassett and Michael Eric Dyson. 30

CCGF has formed a sister organization, Courageous Conversation Aotearoa Foundation (CCAF) in New Zealand. 31

Books

Singleton is the author of Courageous Conversations About Race: A Field Guide for Achieving Equity in Schools, published in late 2005; More Courageous Conversations About Race, published in 2012; and Courageous Conversations About Race: A Field Guide for Achieving Equity in Schools and Beyond, published in 2021. 32

Criticism

Luke Rosiak, in his book Race to the Bottom: Uncovering the Secret Forces Destroying American Public Education, claims that Singleton’s Pacific Education Group has “made millions of dollars implanting radical ideas into K-12 schools through his trademarked ‘Courageous Conversation.’” 33

Rosiak alleged that “of the thirteen thousand school districts in the United States, Singleton has been hired by more than five hundred. At least fifteen of the nation’s largest 100 school districts have retained him in recent years. […] Between 2017 and 2020, New York City paid him nearly $900,000. Baltimore County [Maryland] paid him nearly half a million dollars from 2014 to 2017, and the city of Baltimore […] paid him as well.” 34 35 36

Singleton’s work with Seattle School District No. 1 that resulted in class assignments based on race was challenged in a lawsuit filed by Parents Involved in Community Schools (PICS) and was rebuked in a 2007 Supreme Court of the United States opinion issued by Chief Justice Roberts. Roberts noted the fact that Seattle schools on their website claimed that “emphasizing individualism as opposed to a more collective ideology” constitutes “cultural racism,” that only whites can be racist, that it is racist to expect minorities to plan-ahead the way white people allegedly do, and that colorblindness is bad. Justice Clarence Thomas concurred stating “racial theories endorsed by the Seattle school board should cause the dissenters to question whether local school boards should be entrusted with the power to make decisions on the basis of race.” 37

Parents Defending Education reported that PEG was awarded a 5-year $1,379,250 contract by the Fort Worth, Texas, school district to implement a districtwide racial-equity training and to provide other program services. 38 39

Singleton was hired by California’s then-Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell to provide diversity instruction. O’Connell received criticism after he repeated a position credited to Singleton summarized by conservative education writer Hans Bader as that “blacks, as a people, are loud, and need to have their loudness accommodated in the schools.” 40

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a lawsuit against the Albemarle County, Virginia, school board seeking declaratory injunctive relief for discriminating against children and indoctrinating them in radical, racist ideology. The suit claims that Singleton was paid $15,000 for a 45-minute talk that “promote[d] racial stereotypes and advocate[d] differential treatment based on race.” The case was dismissed for lack of proof of harm. ADF indicated that it would appeal the decision in early 2023. 41 42

References

  1. “Home.” Speakers Bureau. Accessed January 30, 2023. https://www.allamericanspeakers.com/celebritytalentbios/Glenn+Singleton/447876.
  2. Let the Courageous Conversation Aotearoa Foundation Help You Drive Systemic Change in Your Community.” Courageous Conversation Aotearoa Foundation. Accessed January 30, 2023. https://ccaotearoafoundation.org.nz/.
  3. Rosiak, Luke. “Riots.” Essay. In Race to the Bottom: Uncovering the Secret Forces Destroying American Public Education, 68. New York: Broadside Books, 2022.
  4. “Glenn Singleton.” Northwest Public Employees Diversity Conference. Accessed January 30, 2023. https://www.nwpedc.org/glenn-singleton.
  5. Rosiak, Luke. “Riots.” Essay. In Race to the Bottom: Uncovering the Secret Forces Destroying American Public Education, 68–68. New York: Broadside Books, 2022.
  6. “Matthew S. Haas – Alliance Defending Freedom.” Accessed January 30, 2023. https://adflegal.org/sites/default/files/2021-12/CI-v-Albemarle-County-School-Board-2021-12-22-Complaint.pdf.
  7. Rosiak, Luke. “Singleton.” Essay. In Race to the Bottom: Uncovering the Secret Forces Destroying American Public Education, 64–69. New York: Broadside Books, 2022.
  8. Asimov, Nanette. “Summit Called to Address Racial Disparities in Academic Performance.” SFGATE. San Francisco Chronicle, February 11, 2012. https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Summit-called-to-address-racial-disparities-in-3301070.php.
  9. Hans Bader • 12/12/2007, and Hans Bader. “Glenn Singleton’s Racism and the Arlington Public Schools.” Competitive Enterprise Institute. Accessed March 10, 2023. https://cei.org/blog/glenn-singletons-racism-and-the-arlington-public-schools/
  10. Vincent Carroll, “On Point: The Whiteness Trap,” Rocky Mountain News, May 10, 2006, at page 34A.
  11. Bader, Hans. “Glenn Singleton’s Racism and the Arlington Public Schools.” Competitive Enterprise Institute, December 12, 2007. https://cei.org/blog/glenn-singletons-racism-and-the-arlington-public-schools/.
  12. Hans Bader • 12/03/2007, and Hans Bader. “Exporting Racism to Canada.” Competitive Enterprise Institute. Accessed January 30, 2023. https://cei.org/blog/exporting-racism-to-canada/.
  13. Altha-Admin. “Controversial Theories of District 113’s ‘Diversity’ Consultant Glenn Singleton.” Illinois Family Institute, January 7, 2017. https://illinoisfamily.org/education/controversial-theories-of-district-113s-diversity-consultant/.
  14. Asimov, Nanette. “Summit Called to Address Racial Disparities in Academic Performance.” SFGATE. San Francisco Chronicle, February 11, 2012. https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Summit-called-to-address-racial-disparities-in-3301070.php.
  15. Rosiak, Luke. “Riots.” Essay. In Race to the Bottom: Uncovering the Secret Forces Destroying American Public Education, 68. New York: Broadside Books, 2022.
  16. “Glenn Singleton.” Northwest Public Employees Diversity Conference. Accessed January 30, 2023. https://www.nwpedc.org/glenn-singleton.
  17. Miller, Lisa. “Can Racism Be Stopped in the Third Grade?” The Cut, May 19, 2015. https://www.thecut.com/2015/05/can-fieldston-un-teach-racism.html.
  18. “Providing Training, Coaching and Consulting for Millions of Racial Equity Leaders around the World.” Courageous Conversation, January 26, 2023. https://courageousconversation.com/.
  19. “Pacific Educational Group – Tesd.net.” Accessed March 12, 2023. https://www.tesd.net/cms/lib/PA01001259/Centricity/Domain/1882/PEG_FAQs.pdf.
  20. “Pacific Educational Group Inc..” Parents Defending Education, April 25, 2022. https://defendinged.org/report/pacific-educational-group-inc/.
  21. “About.” Glenn Singleton & Associates. Accessed March 15, 2023. https://glennsingletonassociates.com/.
  22. Procter & Gamble. “Equality. Justice. Action.” Procter & Gamble. Procter & Gamble, June 3, 2020. https://us.pg.com/blogs/take-on-race/.
  23. “About.” Glenn Singleton & Associates. Accessed March 15, 2023. https://glennsingletonassociates.com/.
  24. “About.” Work Wider, April 4, 2022. https://workwider.com/about/#pledge.
  25. “Achieving Racial Justice through Strategic Philanthropy and Interracial Healing.” Courageous Conversation Global Foundation, September 22, 2022. https://ccglobalfoundation.org/#/.
  26. “What If They Were Black?” Courageous Conversation Global Foundation, January 5, 2022. https://ccglobalfoundation.org/what-if-they-were-black/.
  27. “400 Years at Half Staff.” Courageous Conversation Global Foundation, November 30, 2021. https://ccglobalfoundation.org/400-years-half-staff/.
  28. gspagency. “Being Black Is Not a Crime.” YouTube. YouTube, April 13, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB3JIA8eIU4.
  29. “Help Everyone Get Home Safe.” Not a Gun. Accessed January 30, 2023. https://notagun.org/.
  30. “About.” Courageous Conversation Global Foundation, November 16, 2022. https://ccglobalfoundation.org/about/.
  31. “Let the Courageous Conversation Aotearoa Foundation Help You Drive Systemic Change in Your Community.” Courageous Conversation Aotearoa Foundation. Accessed January 30, 2023. https://ccaotearoafoundation.org.nz/.
  32. “Amazon.com: Glenn Singleton.” Accessed January 30, 2023. https://www.amazon.com/glenn-singleton/s?k=glenn+singleton.
  33. Rosiak, Luke. “Riots.” Essay. In Race to the Bottom: Uncovering the Secret Forces Destroying American Public Education, 63–63. New York: Broadside Books, 2022.
  34. Olson, Kyle. “After Critique, ‘White Privilege’ Training Company Hides School District Client List from Public.” EAGnews.org, June 2, 2020. https://www.eagnews.org/2015/06/after-critique-white-privilege-training-company-hides-school-district-client-list-from-public/.
  35. Rosiak, Luke. “Race to the Bottom.” Essay. In Race to the Bottom: Uncovering the Secret Forces Destroying American Public Education, 113–13. New York: Broadside Books, 2022.
  36. Rosiak, Luke. “Riots.” Essay. In Race to the Bottom: Uncovering the Secret Forces Destroying American Public Education, 68–68. New York: Broadside Books, 2022.
  37. Bader, Hans. “Will Virginia Teach Critical Race Theory to Kindergartners?” Minding The Campus, September 14, 2020. https://www.mindingthecampus.org/2020/09/14/will-virginia-teach-critical-race-theory-to-kindergartners/
  38. “Pacific Educational Group Inc..” Parents Defending Education, April 25, 2022. https://defendinged.org/report/pacific-educational-group-inc/.
  39. Bunyan, Rachael. “Texas School Board’s ‘Equity’ Co-Chair Resigns after Releasing White Parents’ Personal Information.” Daily Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, December 9, 2021. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10292453/Texas-school-boards-equity-chair-resigns-releasing-white-parents-personal-information.html.
  40. Bader, Hans. “Will Virginia Teach Critical Race Theory to Kindergartners?” Minding The Campus, September 14, 2020. https://www.mindingthecampus.org/2020/09/14/will-virginia-teach-critical-race-theory-to-kindergartners/.
  41. “Matthew S. Haas – Alliance Defending Freedom.” Accessed January 30, 2023. https://adflegal.org/sites/default/files/2021-12/CI-v-Albemarle-County-School-Board-2021-12-22-Complaint.pdf.
  42. “Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Accusing Virginia School District of Imposing Discriminatory Anti-Racism Policy.” Yahoo! News. Yahoo! Accessed January 30, 2023. https://news.yahoo.com/judge-dismisses-lawsuit-accusing-virginia-195754470.html.
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