Head Start Shaped Her Path to PhD and Helping Students

Dr. Iris Cumberbatch still remembers the green walls and plentiful books in her first Head Start classroom in 1965 Washington, D.C. That safe learning space launched a lifetime of achievement that now circles back to help thousands of students reach their dreams.

Her mother Eula Mae heard about the new program from a relative and immediately enrolled her daughter. Eula Mae believed so deeply in Head Start that she went door to door convincing neighbors to sign up their children too.

The program was part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society initiatives, designed to give young learners from low-income families a strong foundation. For Iris, it worked beyond measure.

Head Start's holistic approach sparked a hunger for knowledge that never stopped growing. She earned a doctorate in leadership and change, built a career in journalism, and led communications teams at major financial institutions.

Today, Dr. Cumberbatch works with an organization focused on postsecondary education access for historically underserved students. She specifically helps low-income, first-generation, and BIPOC learners navigate paths to college and career success.

Her family's story makes this work deeply personal. Her mother was raised by her great-grandfather Hughes, whose parents had been enslaved. Hughes learned to read as an adult and passed that love of learning down through generations.

The Ripple Effect

Head Start served nearly one million children in its first year. Nearly 60 years later, the program has reached more than 40 million young learners across America.

Research shows Head Start participants are more likely to graduate high school, attend college, and earn higher incomes as adults. They're also healthier and more likely to give back to their communities.

Dr. Cumberbatch embodies these outcomes. Her journey from that green-walled basement classroom to helping shape education policy demonstrates how investing in early childhood education creates leaders who lift others.

She describes her current role as building bridges that prepare students and families to achieve their wildest dreams. It's the same bridge someone built for her mother, who built one for her.

The grassroots movement that started in 1965 continues growing through people like Dr. Cumberbatch, who received opportunity and now creates it for others.