John Branam, JD '04
Executive Director at Get Schooled

Part of the Daily Emerald "Alumni Take Flight" Series

From a young age, John Branam always knew he had an interest in the intersection of social change, justice, public policy and education. After earning his law degree at UO, he spent more than a decade in senior leadership roles in national education. He is now the Executive Director at Get Schooled, an educational nonprofit organization that is the nation’s only all-digital college, and career counselor, helping young people across America create successful pathways to their academic and professional future. John also serves on the Board of Directors for the UO Alumni Association.

How is diversity beneficial in the workplace?

There are many benefits to having diversity in the workplace. At the end of the day, young people across America are inherently diverse in every way. Our mission at Get Schooled is to help navigate them into being successful in college, and in securing their first job.

In order for our mission to be successful, we have to be able to resonate with them. If we don’t understand them, and we don’t consider experiences from their perspective, then we’re not going to be effective at communicating with each other. Therefore, the diversity in our staff is a central ingredient because all of us are woven into the fabric that becomes our message to young people, along with needing varying responses in order to connect with our audience digitally every single day.

What skills and key takeaways did you develop at UO that you now implement in your career?

I took away two core things that have been helpful. The first is that I learned how to continue to find ways to be successful in the face of adversity, which is a very important skill to possess. It’s not something like how to remember the answers to a test, but at the end of the day, most of us forget the content of midterms and final exams anyway. What we learn is how to show up and be in the world. The second thing I learned while during my tenure at the law school, was how to be a better thinker and writer—and how to distinguish what’s important from all of the noise. This skill has been essential to becoming an effective leader for organizations that are difference makers for young people of color.

In what ways has diversity played a role in your own career?

Diversity in every form is both a personal value that I hold dearly and also one that Get Schooled celebrates in our work on a daily basis. In terms of what that looks like in leading organizations, I think my leadership style is one of being a service leader. At the end of the day I get to make the final decision, but I genuinely value the perspectives of each one of my teammates. I ask open-ended questions often, and in many cases, I don’t have a specific answer I’m looking for. My decisions and opinions change based on the input of our diverse staff.

What advice do you have for students as they prepare to work in diverse, intercultural environments post-graduation?

I believe there are a lot of changes on the horizon in the workplace across America. I think particularly now—especially in these last couple of weeks—it shows that if you are a white person in America, it is essential for you to ask open-ended questions to people who have different racial backgrounds and life experiences than you. It’s also important to voraciously read authors whose life experiences and perspectives are different than yours. It will help you become a better human being and a better employee who is more aware of perspectives beyond your own. It’s a combination of being both self-aware and humble when it comes to what you bring to the workplace.



Written by Skylar Anderson, Daily Emerald Reporter