HDFS alum uses her gifts and experience to improve the lives of Black girls
Plashan “Cocoa” Waits McCune is a force of nature. She’s visionary, passionate, and fiercely dedicated to improving the lives of Black youth. After a career in public schools as a principal, administrator, and mental health counselor, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alum is now the founder and executive director of Higher Learning U, a non-profit organization that hosts events and activities aimed at supporting and empowering Black girls and their families.
That work grew out of her experiences serving in the Denver Public School system. Data from social emotional assessments showed that Black girls were struggling.
“Black girls had the highest incidence of being pushed out of school into the criminal justice system, more disciplinary reports, and increasing rates of suicide. I questioned why it was happening and why no one was talking about it. How does a whole group of people become irrelevant?” she said.
McCune found that a major reason was the lack of representation available to them. Coming from Chicago, she was used to Black teachers, doctors, lawyers, and politicians, but the situation was different in Denver. “Most of them did not have a Black teacher, and they only saw what the media was showing them, which was rarely good. What would they aspire to and pattern themselves after?”
She decided to host a career day, bringing in Black women to speak about their careers. Some colleagues told her the girls wouldn’t be interested, but more than 160 youths showed up. McCune started the event by asking the girls what they needed and what the schools could do better. At first, no one responded — the girls had never been asked those questions before – but as they split up into groups with volunteers, the conversations began.
McCune collected the girls’ responses but still wasn’t sure what to do with the information. Then, out of the blue, she got a call from a foundation offering her a grant, and she decided to start a non-profit.
Higher Learning U is home to a range of programs designed to create opportunities for youth, families, and communities. A signature program is the African American Young Ladies Summit (AAYLS), which on Nov. 20 will celebrate a major milestone with Summit X, its 10th summit for girls from 3rd grade to college age. The organization’s broader work also includes the Black Homeownership Project and B1st STEAM FUTURES, two areas of focus that aim to include people in an ecosystem that works for them, McCune explained.
From pre-law to HDFS
McCune grew up in Chicago and started out at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as a pre-law political science major. “I wanted to be Perry Mason. I saw so much injustice in systems and organizations, and I wanted to be that person who can help,” she said.
But she found herself falling asleep in every class, no matter what strategies she employed to stay awake. At the time, she was also raising her younger brother, whom their mother sent to live with her because he was getting into trouble. Her interactions with the Juvenile Detention Center on his behalf led to a job as a juvenile detention officer in Champaign.
She joined the Minority Association for Future Attorneys at the U. of I., and at a career session, she met an attorney who advised her that being a lawyer might not be a good fit for her.
“He said, ‘You’re so heart-driven and passionate about justice, but law isn’t about justice; it’s about who can make the best argument.’ That resonated with me, because the youth I worked with in the Juvenile Detention system said I was ‘too nice’ — I didn’t see them as criminals but as young people who had made some mistakes,” she said.
McCune spoke with her academic advisor, who suggested she transfer to Human Development and Family Studies in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. Already in her junior year, the change of major added an extra year to her undergraduate studies, but HDFS turned out to be a much better fit for her.
“I saw more options and broader choices than in political science. It spoke to my gifts around being in the healing educational space. I got to experience a lot of cool things and people, and I didn't fall asleep in class anymore,” she said.
During her time at HDFS, she had the opportunity to work in the Child Development Laboratory on the U. of I. campus.
“I enjoyed working with the kids, exploring how to speak to their heart, hear and see them, and connect learning through the whole body using movement and music,” she said. That experience led her to create an early childhood center in Chicago that specialized in young children who were exhibiting troubled behavior.
Adding graduate degrees and work experience
After completing her bachelor’s degree, McCune went on to get a master's degree from National Louis University in Chicago.
She collaborated with the Northwestern University School of Law on youth-police forums, restorative practice mediation, and community panels for youth. She also worked with the mayor, the police, and state attorneys to conduct diversion programs, which are alternatives to traditional criminal prosecution. Eventually, she decided to pursue a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from National Louis University.
“The doctorate came about because I got tired of people mistaking my passion for ignorance. Everyone who knows me knows I'm passionate. And sometimes people think you're passionate because you lack information and education. I wanted to show that I'm speaking about this thing because I know about it and now I’ve got the letters to prove it,” she said.
And she certainly does — her professional title is Dr. Plashan McCune, Ed.D., NBCC, LPC.
Florida retreat center
Among McCune’s many initiatives is Chalet D’Espoir — The House of Hope, a retreat center she has established in Florida. Each January, she brings together volunteers from across the country to help advance the renovation and vision for the property. In February, Chalet D’Espoir hosts the five-day Global Leadership Retreat for Black girls, who use the experience to plan Sista 2 Sista, their annual Black Girls Conference held in March. The girls select the sessions and lead the planning, with guidance and support from AAYLS’s committed community of adults.
“They do all that amazing work, and we try to give them a fun experience. Oftentimes, Black girls don't get to have fun because they're adultified very early, and they are often the caregiver of their siblings, and sometimes parents and grandparents, so we make sure to incorporate fun into it," she said.
She hopes to expand activities at the Florida center to include sustainable agriculture and renewable energy learning and projects.
Trauma-informed practices
One of McCune’s specialties across her body of work is trauma-informed practices in the educational system. She’s a National Board Certified mental health therapist, and she authored a book called, “Trauma and Postsecondary Success: A Framework for Systemic Change,” which grew out of her work in the public school system.
“When I worked in Oakland, California, as a school leader, I saw a lot of traumas, from extreme to less complex ones. Many of the kids were homeless, living in cars, living with friends, going from couch to couch, and it was impacting their learning,” she said.
McCune began looking beyond individual behaviors to the systems surrounding them. Working with staff and school resource officers, she first focused on attendance and tardiness, a significant challenge on the campus. Together, they created schoolwide systems, established shared expectations and accountability, and made improving attendance everyone’s responsibility. Those systems included celebration of successes that gave the kids something to look forward to, as well as clear expectations and consequences for transgressions.
Within three months, the number of students late to class daily dropped from approximately 1,400 to 45. As the systems took hold, the impact extended beyond attendance — student behavior improved, the school climate began to shift, and test scores improved as well.
She also began a tradition of having breakfast on Monday morning with the most problematic students, and she hired a specialist in gang intervention work to help her. Providing breakfast helped meet a basic need, McCune said. She and her team set goals with the students and checked on progress. Perhaps more importantly, she made sure to encourage the kids, hug them, and listen to them.
When she moved back to Denver’s public school system, she found they were doing plenty of trauma-informed work, but it was mostly theoretical and had little impact on students.
“I knew change was possible because I had done the work and seen the results. That’s when I decided to write the book. I wanted to move people beyond talking about trauma-informed practices and give them a framework for putting those practices into action and creating real change,” she said.
McCune also serves as a coach with LifeBound, a company that provides training and consulting for educational institutions.
Guided by purpose
A thread that runs through everything McCune does is her strong faith, which informs her choices and decisions.
“I pray every day for God to guide me to align my life with His purpose for me. My name means God's gift, and I take that literally. I am here to be purposeful, and to bring blessings and transformation to people's lives. I'm the person who comes in and clears out all the cobwebs so things can be seen clearly. That's how God intended me to be,” she said.
“I’ve also been blessed with a wonderful family. My husband, Bernard, and our two daughters, Faith and Imani, have supported, encouraged, and walked alongside me through so much of this journey.”
McCune’s advice for students starting out on their career path?
“Be open to what God is saying to you. It was my openness that led me away from law into something else. Take advantage of what is presented to you that feeds and speaks to your heart and your spirit. I took bowling, ice skating, and martial arts at the U. of I. because it was a safe space to explore different things. I was also Miss Black Central Illinois, which was a shock because I considered myself the smart girl rather than the cute girl,” she said.
“Explore things that you've never done before and meet new people. Listen for learning and understanding, not to fit it in your context, but to expand your context to new possibilities. My 18-year-old self could not have imagined where I am now. And I'm so grateful for my big, beautiful life.”