A Newport educator and community leader is being recognized for breaking barriers in public education.
The Rhode Island Foundation presented Jo Eva Gaines with its 2026 Black History Month Award, honoring her decades of work as a trailblazer for Black educators and students across the state.
“Jo Eva Gaines is a pioneering figure in the world of public education,” said Foundation President and CEO David N. Cicilline. “At a time when there were few Black educators, she was a role model who opened doors for generations to come.”
Gaines built a career spanning the classroom, the counseling office and the boardroom. She served as a teacher and Director of Guidance for Middletown Public Schools, sat on the Newport School Committee and the R.I. Association of School Committees, and serves on the R.I. Board of Education.
Her community involvement runs equally deep — from Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and Links Inc. to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center and the R.I. Commission on Women.
Gaines, characteristically, deflected credit.
“I have always been a promoter of collaboration,” she said. “No one can accomplish anything worthwhile alone. I have done nothing alone.”
Her honors include the NAACP Outstanding Educator Award and the R.I. School Superintendents’ Association’s Paul Crowley Award. She holds degrees from Salve Regina University, Providence College and Bridgewater State College.
Gaines has four children, two grandsons, and was married 63 years to the late Paul L. Gaines Sr.
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