Bill Milliken is one of the nation’s foremost pioneers in the movement to give young people the help they need to graduate from high school and succeed in life.
Mr. Milliken’s activism began in 1960 when he joined Young Life, an ecumenical youth organization. He helped initiate “street academies” for young people who had dropped out of school and wanted a chance to resume their education, as well as live-in programs for substance abusers and youth in need of shelter and support. This work culminated in the ‘70s with the development of a program that repositioned existing community resources into schools: the Communities In Schools network, which Mr. Milliken led as President until May 2004.
Currently, Communities In Schools directly serves more than 1.61 million students and their families each year in more than 2,900 schools in 26 states and DC.
Milliken serves on the boards of Leadership Foundations, PathNorth, and CIS Virginia. He’s authored four books: So Long, Sweet Jesus; Tough Love; The Last Dropout: Stop the Epidemic!; and From the Rearview Mirror: Reflecting on Connecting the Dots.
Recently Bill Milliken joined Angie Jerabek, BARR’s Executive Director, as a guest on BARR’s Most Likely to Change the World podcast. Check out the conversation below.