Dr. Eric Tremayne Mayes
Executive Director, Michigan Expansion

Dr. Eric Tremayne Mayes is the Executive Director of the Children’s Defense Fund, Michigan Expansion.  Prior to this role he served as the National Deputy Director for the CDF Freedom Schools program in Washington, DC.  He holds a post-doctorate Master’s Degree in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  While at Harvard University, Dr. Mayes worked with the Harvard Achievement Gap Initiative and served as the Co-President of the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Black Student Union.  Prior, Dr. Mayes worked at Wayne State University as the associate director of the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute, inaugural faculty fellow in the Eugene Applebaum Chair for Community Engagement, and adjunct professor in the College of Education. Additionally, Dr. Mayes served as a founding faculty advisor for Wayne State University’s Student African American Brotherhood.  He served as an adjunct professor at Howard University and Dean of Students at an elementary and middle school in Washington, DC. and a High school technology teacher in Detroit early in his professional career.  Dr. Mayes has studied and taught internationally in Africa and Latin America. 

He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Howard University.  During his tenure at Howard University he held several positions, including president of the Educational Psychology Student Association; graduate assistant in the Office of Retention, Mentoring and Support Programs; research assistant in the School of Education’s Office of the Dean; and technology assistant in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.  He has participated in national and international conferences, seminars and symposiums and is a recipient of Howard University’s prestigious Trustee scholarship. 

Dr. Mayes received both a Bachelor's and Master's degree from the University of Michigan.  A former college student athlete, he was Co-Captain of the 1997 University of Michigan National Championship Football Team and a recipient of the highly selective Bob Ufer Memorial post graduate scholarship. In the area of community service, he has volunteered for the Special Olympics as a team captain; University of Michigan’s Motts Children’s Hospital; City of Hope Cancer Center; the Police Athletic League football program in Detroit and created the 1998 Eric Mayes College Challenge Football Camp in his hometown of Kalamazoo, MI.  Dr. Mayes has been honored for his leadership by the Governor of Michigan and the City of Portage, Michigan where he has been inducted into the Portage Northern High School Athletic Hall of Fame.  He has been featured in national publications, including Sports Illustrated, Detroit News and Free Press, Los Angeles Times, Diverse Issues in Higher Education and invited to speak at the White House in recognition of his achievements as a leader and scholar-athlete.

Dr. Mayes is the author of Teaching Black Children: A Pocket Guide of Teaching Essentials for Cultivating the Natural Greatness of Black Children and Seven Keys to Success You Already Know, But Still Haven’t Followed. In addition to his work with CDF Dr. Mayes is an Assistant Professor and travels throughout the country as a professional speaker and lecturer.

Dr. Eric Tremayne Mayes
Executive Director, Michigan Expansion
Children’s Defense Fund
Detroit, MI
p (313) 309 -1300 ext 1320
e emayes@childrensdefense.org