Ernestine M. Pierce

As the recipient of the Bill & Melinda Gates’ Award, Mrs. Pierce (Jones High School-HISD and Texas Southern University Collaborative) initiated comprehensive school reform measures with a $1 million dollar grant through the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

Mrs. Pierce, along with her husband (Judge Frank P. Pierce), established a Young Father’s Mentor Program at Hall High School (Aldine ISD). The purpose if the program is to assist young father’s by proving support on fathering and parenting skills, network for employment opportunities, and learn about health issues confronting them.

Mrs. Pierce also facilitated Lone Star College’s (North Harris) BROTHER-4-BROTHER Mentor Program at Hall High School in Aldine ISD. This mentor organization was created for the specific purpose of mentoring boys in the years of adolescence through their passage into manhood. The Mentors believe that it is the responsibility of the men in the community to guide high school students into integrity, accountability, emotional literacy, truth and mission.

Ernestine was a gubernatorial appointee (appointed by the late Governor Mark White) and served a five-year term on the Texas Rehabilitation Commission Board. She and her husband founded the Martin Luther King, JR Memorial Foundation (San Antonio, TX) which raised money for scholarships for deserving students.

She is also a member of Spring Wood United Methodist Church.