Elaine DeLott Baker
Elaine DeLott Baker’s experiences with civil rights activism led to a career helping workers learn reading and computer skills to qualify for better jobs. Baker took part in Freedom Summer while a student at Radcliffe, doing community organizing, teaching, and election monitoring in Mississippi, as well as helping local farmers organize a collective to market their produce. She then moved to New York to teach children of color before settling in Colorado, where she studied for a doctorate in Educational Leadership and Innovation at the University of Colorado. As of 2014, she is the acceleration specialist for the Colorado Community College System’s Trade Adjustment Act and serves on their Developmental Education Task Force, directing workplace learning and skill development programs to help adults learn the skills they need to qualify for higher-skill jobs. She is also project director for the Colorado Community College System’s “Ready for College” program and a board member for the National College Transition Network, helping nontraditional students prepare for and navigate the hurdles of higher education.