Educator / Youth Mentor and Empowerment / Earlham 1994-1998, Worker, Board Member
Birth: February 1976, in Gary, Indiana
Earlham Association: Handley attended Earlham College from 1994-1998, with a B.A. in Politics and Legal Studies. While he was still a student, he was the convenor of Black Leadership Action Coalition. He later worked for Earlham. He was in the football team for four years, as a starter and as senior captain.
Education: Handley graduated with a B.A. in Politics and Legal Studies in 1998; earned a M.A. in Educational, Instructional, and Curriculum Supervision at University of Phoenix in 2005; and finished his Ph.D. in Leadership in Educational Administration at Capella University in 2024.
Work and Racial Justice at Earlham: Once he graduated from Earlham, Handley began to work as an Admissions Counselor and Assistant Football Coach. He actively worked to recruit more Black students to the College, including sending chartered buses to Indianapolis, South Bend, Gary, and Chicago to bring prospective high schoolers of color to Earlham. He continued at Earlham for 10 years, and is still a board member for its African American Advisory Board.
Educational Work: Handley began his career at Kenneth A. Christmon STEMM Leadership Academy (formerly Galileo Charter School) in Richmond, Indiana, as a 3rd Grade Teacher and Assistant Principal. He soon became its Chief Academic Officer. The school was designed around providing each student with an individualized educational experience, and offered empowerment workshops for students’ parents focused on “housing development, creating resumes, interviewing process, and managing finances”, etc. The school traced its inspiration to James Baldwin. Later, he went to Richmond Community School as an educator. He also leads the Wayne County Writers, a performing teen poetry group.
The Lending Hand: Since 2013, Handley has been the Managing Principal Consultant at The Lending Hand, an Indiana-wide company which provides payday loans to the underbanked.
Podcast: Handley is the host of “Out of the Mouths of Babes: Our Future Leaders”, where he interviews “young visionaries, activists, innovators, and changemakers from around the world”, but especially Richmond. It is especially concerned with “celebrat[ing] the voices of the youth”. He has featured prominent figures in Richmond civic life, from Mayors Dave Snow and Ron Oler to numerous city council candidates to grassroots activists in Richmond, Indiana.
Board Member: Handley has served as a board member for many of Richmond’s community organizations. He is a board member at Earlham College, the Chairman of the board at Ivy Tech, and he was a board member at JACY House and Townsend Community Center. He has also been a member of the local NAACP for 22 years. He has served multiple terms as the head of Quinn Lodge.
Accomplishments: While he worked at Christmon, the school received repeated exemplary designation; in 2007, it had the second highest improvement percentage among Indiana public schools.
Additional info at: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/out-of-the-mouth-of-babes-our-future-leaders/id1699919879 https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-l-handley-sr-75119436/ and https://www.quinnlodge28.org/officers/