Inspiring Conversations with Eno Richardson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eno Richardson.

Hi Eno, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
When I was seven, my parents immigrated to the United States from Ghana with nothing but faith in God and the American education system. In their 50s and 40s, my parents felt too old to advance in America themselves. Still, they were adamant in their belief that in America, their children would open doors of opportunity beyond anything possible in Ghana. To do this, my mom worked as a convenience store clerk and my dad as a security guard and pastor to support us in our two-bedroom apartment in southwest Houston. After completing his security shifts, my dad would sleep at the bus stop until the buses started running again to come home to us. I saw their sacrifice and dream, and I was determined to be a great student and make it all worth it. My parents dropped us at the library, where we spent weekends and summer days reading for hours. At first, I remember being motivated by prizes and competitions. But soon, I fell in love with the books, their characters, and the fantasy worlds.

I moved to Nashville in 2006 to attend Vanderbilt. I initially wanted to be a pediatrician, but after shadowing several doctors, I realized I wanted more interaction with children. I entered education through an alternative licensure program called Nashville Teaching Fellows which opened my eyes to deep educational disparities. I taught in MNPS schools such as Overton High School and Apollo Middle. I served as a teacher and leader in a public charter school named Liberty Collegiate Academy, where my students entered school reading two to three years below grade. As an educator who was transformed as a child by a love of reading, I knew these students could grow if they became passionate readers. In my classroom and then schoolwide, I built systems that fostered a reading culture. I filled our libraries with diverse authors; I created a student-to-teacher reading buddy system; I developed schoolwide reading incentives. During the pandemic, I pivoted and created a virtual reading campaign filled with online books, virtual book clubs, and virtual pep rallies to celebrate and promote a love of reading. I saw it pay off. Year after year, our students earned academic growth and achievement data exceeding the district averages. Even stronger than the numbers were the social-emotional impact of our school culture. By filling our classrooms with diverse texts, students found mirrors into their lives and windows of opportunity. I want all schools to have this life-changing impact. I founded Eno Richardson Consulting in 2021 to bring the reading culture work I did at Liberty to Black and Latinx students across the country. As an education consultant, I work with educators, schools, and families to use literacy to close the opportunity gap. I believe that reading is the great equalizer and that regardless of a student’s race or socio-economic status, students who read widely can experience life-transforming academic and personal gains. I live here in Nashville with my incredible husband, an educator.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My journey has been filled with thrilling highs and impactful lows. During my first year as a middle school teacher, my greatest challenge was learning to build relationships with my students. I thought that students would understand that I was spending sleepless nights creating rigorous lessons so that they could excel. I thought they would know I cared about their futures and wanted them to achieve so much that I maintained a no-nonsense classroom environment where they could learn and grow. They saw an uptight and strict teacher who never smiled or got to know them. They needed to know that I cared about them as individuals in a way that they could receive it. I learned to smile more and show them more of my personality. I incorporated my love of Beyonce into lessons, asked them about their weekends, and brought up topics they had shared with me in the past. I fangirled over literature and used my love of theater to bring the text to life. My students enjoyed my class, and the positive classroom culture I created led to my best academic and personal success for my students.

As an entrepreneur, I am constantly learning and growing. I’m taking the skills I’ve learned as a teacher and school leader and creating new opportunities for students, families, and schools. There are lots of experimenting and pivoting involved in entrepreneurship. One of the biggest lessons I’m learning is that what I initially thought I would be doing is different from what I’m doing, and that’s completely ok if I am making my desired impact.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I believe that literacy is everything. It’s opportunity, leadership, and wealth. The importance of reading is often relegated to something that occurs in elementary school, yet the average CEO reads 50-60 books a year. Students’ reading skills are essential for problem-solving, ingenuity, and personal development. These are the skills that lead to vast opportunities. I want every student to be able to tap into this life-transforming power of literacy. Eno Richardson Consulting works with schools and educators to improve student academic and personal outcomes by creating culturally relevant literacy curricula, robust reading initiatives, and leading collaborative professional development.

This summer, I launched the Unlocked Literacy Program. The Unlocked Literacy Program is a literacy and leadership academy for rising 9th and 10th graders this summer at Vanderbilt University. This program will prepare students for the demands of high school literacy and beyond by equipping them with the critical thinking skills necessary for success in their academic classes and on the ACT.

The program is designed in two components and will take place over two weeks. The first component of the program is the experience. Students will expand their literacy skills by analyzing various texts, exploring thematic concepts, and refining their literary analysis. The second component is the application. Students will engage with guest speakers in the community and create a detailed plan to solve a problem they identified in their community using skills they learned in the first week of the program. By the end of the program, each student will have a completed business plan in which they identify a problem in their community and execute a plan of action to solve the problem.

What are your plans for the future?
I am excited about the Unlocked Literacy program. I invite all families of rising 9th and 10th graders to apply. There are scholarships available, so there is no need to worry about the tuition.

I look forward to collaborating with schools and education organizations to support literacy initiatives, implement programing and provide educator coaching to ensure that all students reach intense literacy levels, mainly Black and brown students from underserved communities. I am also excited to continue to offer initiatives and programs to allow students to unlock the opportunities that a healthy reading life brings.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://enorichardsonconsulting.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enorichardsonconsulting
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Eno-Richardson-Consulting-LLC-101120552287580