Team Leader

Rory T. Edwards
For more than two decades, Rory T. Edwards has partnered with educational institutions, business professionals and community leaders to introduce and implement proven strategies and action plans that promote the academic and social advancement of students.

Mr. Edwards is President of Edwards Educational Consulting LLC, a full service training and educational entity that specializes in forming alliances in Communities, Families and Academic environments globally. Through the development of innovative programs and interactive workshops, Edwards Educational Consulting provides both schools and communities with 21st century applications that address the academic and socio-economic issues attributed to low student achievement.

Edwards is a prolific educator, activist, and community leader who possesses an uncanny ability to quickly earn the respect, trust, and commitment of people from all strata of society. A multifarious speaker, teacher and presenter, he is known to deliver captivating and inspirational messages of empowerment, thereby evoking paradigm shifts in the mindsets of people. He has conducted numerous workshops, lectures and keynote addresses in schools and communities in New Haven, New Britain and Hartford, Connecticut; Dearborn, MI; Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Georgia, Boston, Massachusetts, and abroad.

Mr. Edwards was the President of the New Britain, Connecticut, branch of the NAACP from 1996 until 2005, and served on the National N.A.A.C.P. Education Committee in 2000. During his tenure, Edwards was very instrumental in addressing and resolving the social complexities of communities.

Edwards holds a B.S. in Human Services from Springfield College, an M. Ed in Urban Teaching Preparation and Leadership from Cambridge College, and is currently pursuing his Ed. D in Urban Education Policy Development. He was a primary and secondary school teacher prior to becoming an educational consultant, and was the Dean of Students for the nationally-acclaimed Amistad Academy in New Haven, Connecticut, which was the first of the Achievement First Schools.

He is the National Director and Founder of “The Once a Man, Twice a Child” Academy in New Britain, Connecticut, an academy committed to the educational and social empowerment of young African-American and Latino males. Mr. Edwards’ passion to bridge the achievement gap for inner-city youth runs deep. He states: “The devastation of an empire begins in the heart of the young, the astuteness of the adults, in the eyes of the old, but essentially in the language of its citizens.”

In addition to Edwards work as a community advocate, his greatest honor is his role of father to his beloved three adult children, Rick, Sharde and Aja, and his two grandchildren, Ricky Jr. and Saniah.