Donnell Butler

Dr. Donnell Butler is the founder and president of Prelude, a nonprofit organization that accelerates economic mobility through career-connected education and work-based learning opportunities for youth from under-resourced communities. You can learn more about Prelude at their website (https://www.joinprelude.org/). Dr. Butler is a proud first-generation and maximum-Pell-grant college graduate from the South Bronx who earned his B.A. in business administration and sociology from Franklin & Marshall College and his Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton University. For more than 20 years, he has worked to implement and promote evidence-based practices that improve college and career outcomes. From 2012 to 2019, he returned to Franklin & Marshall College as a dean, where he co-led research, partnerships, and interventions aimed at improving student access and success. His past clients and employers include the U.S. Department of Education, Educational Testing Service and Princeton University. He serves on the board of Relay Graduate School of Education and is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.