Joyce Marie Grant

Joyce was born on August 9, 1938, in Boston, Massachusetts, the only child of Clarence and Edna Grant. She described her early years as going from school, to church, to camp. She was greatly inspired by the character of her parents. Until the end of her life, she talked of her sadness of losing her mother at the age of 14, and, throughout her adulthood, the care and guidance of her father.

The early influence of church, school, and camp inspired the rest of her life. She was a vivacious learner who loved school and loved helping others learn. Her religious faith and the teachings of those around her compelled her to work for justice, so that all children might have high-quality, equal educational opportunities.

After earning her undergraduate degree at Boston State College, she left Boston upon learning that women of color were not eligible for full-time employment in the Boston Public Schools. Instead, she began her teaching career at an Episcopal school in Ohio. Three years later, she returned to the Boston area, where she taught French and Spanish to middle-school students.

As much as she enjoyed the classroom, she saw an opportunity to influence opportunities for students in a broader way. She became an assistant to the Reverend James Breeden, as part of the Mass Freedom Movement. She described this time as one of the most hopeful but despairing times of her life, as the movement worked toward equality in education and the desegregation of schools. As part of the Civil Rights movement in Boston, she helped organize the Liberation Schools and parent-run community schools. One parent-run community school provided Joyce with her first administrative experience, which she learned was her real love. She enjoyed working on "big ideas" that she believed would begin to influence the systems that were grounded in institutional racism and inequality.

Her work with the Mass Freedom Movement opened the door for her to work at Harvard University. When Harvard committed to work with the public schools to facilitate the federal school desegregation order, Joyce coordinated the work between Harvard and the public schools. She began to see the potential of the University/public school partnership. It was during this time that she earned her doctoral degree from Harvard.

Joyce went on to become a Deputy Superintendent in the troubled Boston Public Schools. She dealt with the intense challenges of desegregation in the community and within the institutional structure of the school system. She saw and experienced the violence associated with that change. She remembered vividly being barricaded in a school building with the Black children who had been bused there, angry protesters outside, as the police considered how to evacuate them safely. Abandoning the idea of a helicopter rescue, they instead organized decoy buses and safely extracted children and Joyce out a back entrance.

In the early 1990's Joyce was recruited to Michigan State University, to a leadership role in the new Michigan Partnership for Public Education. Its appeal to Joyce was the work for institutional change through the reform of public education, to create an entirely new system.

Joyce remembered flying into the Lansing airport and looking out the airplane window, trying to identify something that looked like a city, and wondering whether these were actual cornfields.

Her time at MSU allowed her to return to the classroom, this time with college students. But it also allowed her to lead the development of what she hoped would be sustained relationships between businesses, the University, and the public schools. She was convinced that change came through the building of real community, of holding one another accountable, and in building commitment to a greater good.

During her time at MSU, she had at least two other experiences that reinforced that philosophy. The first was her engagement with some schools outside Lagos, Nigeria, where she provided enhanced training for teachers. She came home overwhelmed by the scarcity of resources in the schools, but also by the abundance of curiosity and ambition of the students and teachers. She returned to East Lansing determined to help provide financial support for a better learning environment for children.

In the summer of 2006, Joyce organized a summer school in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, only a months after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. She was deeply affected by the living and learning conditions she witnessed, just as she had been in Nigeria. She spoke often of the bravery of the MSU students and faculty who spent that summer living in a difficult and risky environment, to reach students. She believed it had not only touched the lives of young New Orleans students, but also the lives of the MSU students who were part of the effort.

Joyce said that when you observed the effects of poverty, inequality, or lack of opportunity, it "set you on fire", and that you "just had to do something". Her life was spent doing something for students, for teachers, and for friends. She was a mentor and encourager to those who knew her; some described her as their hero. She never stopped believing that we must continue to do the right things and care for one another, no matter the circumstances.

She managed to do right and well, while having fun and helping others all around her have fun. She built a large extended family of cherished friends, from the communities of nuns she loved, to colleagues, to her dear neighbors. She maintained lifelong friendships with school mates. She loved to travel, loved France, loved her dogs (dear Belle), music, flowers, good food and drink. She loved her New Hampshire home and her beautiful extended family on the East Coast.

She loved to play and dance and sing at the top of her lungs. She enjoyed an afternoon at the casino. She always had time to listen, and always had some advice to give - whether asked for or not! Joyce was never afraid to have the hard conversations, whether about politics, race, or religion. She was happiest when surrounded by friends and family, and she loved to host anytype of gathering. She was busy planning a 2024 Christmas party. Those who spent time with Joyce left feeling uplifted.

In the last years of her life, Joyce made plans to continue her work of encouragement and support. She was creating a foundation that will provide financial support to Black women in midlife who want a second educational opportunity. Joyce realized that, unlike her, many women did not have the opportunity to follow their dreams or their calling. Due to finances, family, or other circumstances, they have had to do unsatisfying work, not aligned with their gifts or talents. Her goal was to provide financial support for re-training or schooling to support their aspirations.

Joyce was preceded in death by Edna, Clarence and Mary Grant and brother Daniel Ridley and Cynthia Joyce Ridley, also her closest friend Hester Lewis. She is survived by family Muriel Ridley (Frederic Ward, Rebecca Ridley, Daniel Ridley, III) and Rebecca’s sons Maxwell and Mitchell. Other extended family include Johanna Breeden, goddaughter, and Margaret Breeden (Johanna Breeden-Stevens), Frederick Breeden (Noel and Silas Anderson) Paul Breeden. Joyce was blessed with a large group of friends and colleagues who were also her “family” including Hilda, who brought her great joy.

The Joyce Grant Fund has not yet been fully established as a 501(c)3 (non-profit) organization, but the process is underway. Those wishing to support the Fund in her memory can send a note of interest or intention to 955 Lantern Hill Drive, East Lansing, Michigan 48823. Individuals will be notified when and how to forward gifts in her memory, so that her work of encouragement, mentoring, and caring can continue.