Virginia Walden Ford is one of America's leading advocates for parent empowerment. As a student, mother, advocate, and grandmother, she has spent her lifetime fighting to create new educational opportunities for children and families. A native of Little Rock, Arkansas and the daughter of two public school educators, Virginia and her twin sister, Harrietta, were among the second wave of students chosen to desegregate Little Rock Central High School in the mid-1960s. While she was raising her three children in Washington, D.C., Virginia created D.C. Parents for School Choice and built an army of parents to successfully advocate for the passage of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. This dramatic seven-year fight, and Virginia's role in it, was the inspiration for the feature film, Miss Virginia, starring Uzo Aduba, Matthew Modine, Amirah Vann, Vanessa Williams and Niles Fitch. Today, Virginia lives, once again, in Little Rock, Arkansas. She travels the country speaking to parents and education groups, encouraging moms and dads and grandparents to discover the value of their voices and the importance of their advocacy. Virginia is the proud mother of Michael Walden (and mother-in-law to Nikki Walden), of Miashia Walden Gaye, and of William Walden; she is the proud grandmother to Yamundow Virginia, Chloe, Jeremiah, and Genesis.
