Richland One’s Clyburn: The Making of a Public Servant
In a quiet stretch of north Columbia stands a neighborhood that has shaped leaders, nurtured families and defined what it means to serve others. Greenview is a community born from the postwar promise of the GI Bill — a place built by veterans and visionaries, educators and public servants — where the American ideal of opportunity was not just imagined but lived.
Since its founding in the late 1940s, Greenview has been more than a neighborhood; it has been a blueprint for collective care. Families didn’t just move there — they belonged there. Among its early residents were people whose impact would echo far beyond their streets. There was a University of South Carolina alumna who earned a master’s degree in library science and spent nearly 40 years directing instructional technology for Richland One. There was a martial arts legend who opened his karate school and after-school care center to give back to the community that raised him. There was a civil rights attorney who moved back to care for her mother, who still lived in Greenview. And there were James and Emily Clyburn, who raised their children — including future leaders Mignon, Jennifer and Angela — in a home anchored by faith, education and service.
“I grew up in Greenview surrounded by people who cared deeply for one another,” said Angela Clyburn, now a second-term board member for Richland School District One and senior adviser for Care in Action. “My parents raised me and my siblings with a deep commitment to service, education and justice. Even as a child, I saw firsthand what it meant to care for your neighbors, to show up when it matters and to work for something larger than yourself.”
For Angela, Greenview was a living classroom.
“It wasn’t just our neighborhood — it was our extended family,” she said. “Whether it was volunteering at local events, checking in on elderly neighbors or cleaning up the park, my parents taught us that leadership starts with showing up and giving back.”
Her father often reminded her that real strength comes from serving others quietly and consistently, while her mother, Dr. Emily Clyburn, modeled compassion through action — the first to lend a hand, the last to seek credit.
When Dr. Emily Clyburn died in 2019, Angela found herself called to honor her mother’s legacy in a deeper way.
“Her passing pushed me to act,” Angela said. “In 2020, I ran for the Richland One school board, a role that allowed me to give back to the same schools and neighborhoods that shaped me.”
Her mother’s influence — a blend of compassion and conviction — became the foundation of Angela’s leadership philosophy. In 2022, she expanded her reach nationally as senior adviser with the National Domestic Workers Alliance, where she advocates for domestic workers and caregivers — most of whom are women of color doing essential, yet too often invisible, labor.
“That work is personal,” Angela said. “It reflects the values instilled in me from Greenview — dignity, equity and lifting up those whose voices are often left out.”
As the daughter of U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn, Angela grew up observing leadership not as authority but as responsibility.
“What stands out most about my father is how he handles disagreement — by listening first, understanding where others are coming from and then responding thoughtfully to find common ground,” she said. “That approach shapes how I see civic responsibility. It’s not about representing people who agree with you; it’s about serving everyone.”
Angela carries this philosophy into every space she enters — from boardrooms to classrooms to community centers. Her previous work with Wateree Community Actions Inc., which helps low-income families, directly connects to her belief that equity in education begins with meeting families’ basic needs.
“If a child lives in a home without water or electricity, that’s not just a home issue — it’s a classroom issue,” she said. “Strong families build strong students, and strong students build strong communities.”
Today, Angela is raising her own children in the same schools she attended.
“I want them to know they come from a community that believes in them,” she said. “By staying rooted here, I’m showing that I believe in Richland One, in our teachers and in our future.”
Her message to other parents is simple but powerful: Schools thrive when communities engage.
“When we participate — by volunteering, attending events and supporting one another — we don’t just lift our own children; we strengthen the entire community.”
Asked what legacy she hopes to leave, Angela said she wants to be remembered as someone who led with empathy, listened with intention and made decisions rooted in equity and care.
“I want people to say I showed up for students, for families, for the community — and that I never lost sight of who I was serving,” she said.
Her journey from the tree-lined streets of Greenview to the halls of leadership is living proof that community creates likeness born not of position but of purpose — not of proximity but of shared values — which don’t just shape lives but shape leaders.