Dr. Donald (Donnie) Garner earned his bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Florida State University in 2005. During his time in our program, he worked with Dr. John Reynolds to conduct an extensive literature review on the factors related to Black children’s academic learning loss during the summer months. This unique opportunity deepened his interest in issues related to the sociology of education. In particular, he developed a passion for studying pernicious school-related barriers that block Black students, particularly Black males, from experiencing educational success. While thinking back on the importance of his time at FSU, Dr. Garner states: “My sociology background gave me the language to talk about many of the social inequities I witnessed during my K-12 years, such as the under-representation of Black and Brown kids in gifted programs and their overrepresentation in special education. Some of the early works that most impacted my thinking include Bordieu’s scholarship on social capital and the ‘hidden curriculum’, MacLeod’s ‘Aint No Makin’ It,’ with its focus on how the environment affects aspiration formation, and Ferguson’s ‘Bad Boys,’ which examines how Black boys are ‘adultified’ by their adult counterparts and subsequently are more likely to be removed from their school community.”
After earning his Sociology degree, Dr. Garner remained in Tallahassee and worked as an Educational Consultant with the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) in the Bureau of Family and Community Outreach. In this role, he used his sociological background frequently as he provided program and policy support to the state’s dropout prevention program and produced research briefs on best practices for advancing achievement among young men of color in K-12 schools. These briefs were used by the FLDOE representative serving on the legislatively appointed Florida Commission on the Social Status of African American Men and Boys. While working at FLDOE, Garner also pursued and obtained a double master’s degree in Public Administration and Social Work at FSU.
In 2010, Dr. Garner relocated to New York City to pursue a Ph.D. in Social Work at the Fordham Graduate School of Social Service. During his doctoral program, he served as a Research Assistant for the Beck Institute for Religion and Poverty, providing capacity-building and program evaluation services to organizations whose mission was to improve the plight of marginalized populations. He also taught master’s-level courses on Human Rights and Social Justice and Social Welfare Policy. Nearly a year after beginning his doctoral program, he also began working with the New York City Department of Education as a Teacher Recruitment & Staffing Manager. In this role, Dr. Garner expanded his knowledge of the education sector by recruiting and staffing teachers throughout the NYC public school system and within NYC maximum-security facilities. In 2016, Dr. Garner left the NYCDOE to launch Clark & Garner, a comprehensive educational consultant firm where he develops educational curriculum, builds capacity in leadership and staffing development, and conducts research and evaluation activities. In August 2020, Dr. Garner successfully defended his dissertation, “Chasing Connections: A Phenomenological Study of How Returning Citizens Develop Close Relationships in a Restorative Community Program,” and earned his Ph.D.
Today, Dr. Garner continues his consulting work and serves as an Adjunct Lecturer with the Fordham Graduate School of Education, bringing together his sociology, criminal justice, and education interests as he seeks to ameliorate the educational trauma experienced by Black and Latino boys in K-12 schools. In addition, he is a national keynote speaker, consultant, philanthropist, and author of a forthcoming book, A Black Squirrel in Harlem: An Ode to New York City, which is set to release in Fall 2022.
In closing, Dr. Garner encourages current sociology students to consider career opportunities in the educational sector. His experience has taught him that people with a sociological background are particularly well-equipped to illuminate systemic barriers in education and to help educational institutions break down those barriers and promote equity and justice for marginalized students.