Barry Wilkins is a STEM educator at Philadelphia’s Strawberry Mansion High School. Besides teaching traditional secondary math subjects such as Algebra II and Geometry, Mr. Wilkins is also the lead instructor for Personal Finance at the school. In this role Mr. Wilkins has the unique opportunity to combine his passion for community engagement with financial literacy.
Prior to becoming an educator, Mr. Wilkins was a banking professional for more than 15 years with experience across retail banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth management. Most recently, Mr.Wilkins served as a VP/Senior Relationship Strategist at PNC Bank, where he led a team of advisors in the creation and implementation of comprehensive wealth plans tailored to the unique needs of his clients.
Mr. Wilkins’ path towards a career in education was deeply influenced by his time as the City of Philadelphia’s first-ever Director of Industry Partnerships. Being recruited away from banking to lead this poverty reduction initiative for the City of Philadelphia gave Mr. Wilkins the rare opportunity to work with executives across government, philanthropy, and the private sector. Ultimately, his work led to the formation of the City of Philadelphia’s 1st IT/Tech Industry Partnership which launched during June 2018.
While serving as Director of Industry Partnerships, Mr. Wilkins also discovered well-intentioned, but inefficient programs meant to reduce poverty. These remedies were rarely data-driven, human-centered, or impactful on a large enough scale. Mr. Wilkins also discovered that when it comes to poverty, all roads tend to lead back to education. Low educational attainment in the 21st century typically correlates to limited economic mobility.
Recognizing this, and the urgent need for black male educators, particularly in urban school districts like Philadelphia, Mr. Wilkins joined Teach For America in April of 2019, and later that year became an M.S. Ed Candidate at the University of Pennsylvania.
Barry is a native of Philadelphia and attended Central High School (Class of 254). Barry holds a B.S. in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh; Minor in Mathematics. Barry also holds an MBA in Finance from La Salle University, where he is still actively engaged. Barry is married and the father of three little girls. He, his wife Kathy, and their children currently reside in Mount Airy, Philadelphia, PA.
