Marcus L. Strother

Marcus Strother is the President and CEO of MENTOR California, the California affiliate of MENTOR: The National Partnership. With more than two decades of experience in public education, Strother spent eight years in the classroom and nine as a high school administrator, most recently as Director of Youth Development at Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD). At SCUSD he oversaw the district’s Expanded Learning Programs, Summer Programming and Boys and Girls of Color initiatives, which included the coordination of the Men’s Leadership Academy (MLA) and Women’s Leadership Academy (WLA). He provides professional teacher training in the Freedom Writers Methodology as a Freedom Writer Teacher and is building a movement in education, mentoring and youth development around the ideology he describes as “Life Data.” He teaches a creative writing class at Folsom State Prison, and has supported the building of three schools in the Dominican Republic and a medical clinic in Peru. 

A graduate of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Strother has earned two Graduate Degrees in Education from Olivet Nazarene University. Marcus is an award-winning educator and has been named Illinois Public Citizen of the Year, Illinois 40 Under 40, Sacramento Kings/Wal-Mart Community Playmaker and the Golden State Warriors 2023 Impact Warrior.