Malcolm Cawthorne moved to Brookline in 1973 and graduated from the Florida Ruffin Ridley
School, in 1984, and BHS in 1988.  He is the first of five Cawthornes to graduate from BHS. After graduating from Grambling State University, he began teaching in Illinois and Iowa in 1992. He returned home began teaching at Brookline High School in 1998. Most of his career in education has been teaching Social Studies, and he is now the METCO Director for The Public Schools of Brookline.

In 2002, he became the first Black head football coach in the history of Brookline High School’s 108-year football program, and the first ever in the Bay State Conference. After coaching, in 2015, he co-developed a course on Racial Awareness and Identity to help students understand the racial complexities in the United States and in the 21st Century; it had become a cornerstone of Brookline High School’s inclusion and diversity efforts. Malcolm was also a faculty leader of Race Reels, a long-running, documentary film series and that brings together faculty, students, parents and community members for “brave conversations” about many aspects of our diverse society. He also served as a SEED facilitator in the Public Schools of Brookline and still serves nationally. SEED is a peer led equity and diversity program founded by equity pioneer Peggy McIntosh and Wellesley College. In 2024, Malcolm joined the Black Male Educators Steering Committee for the He Is Me Institute to help recruit, hire and retain more Black Educators in the Greater Boston Area.

In 2007, Malcolm shifted some of his energies to service in the Town. He has served on the boards of the Brookline Historical Society, the Brookline MLK Celebration Committee, the Commission for Diversity, Inclusion and Community Relations in Brookline, the Task Force to Reimagine Public Safety in Brookline, Brookline for Racial Justice and Equity (BRJE), and Hidden Brookline, a project devoted to bringing to light the hidden histories of slavery and freedom for African Americans in Brookline.

Malcolm has always seen education as a transformative profession where being a Black man in front of school-aged children would create opportunities and security that he never experienced. Education is often called “The Family Business." Malcolm not only works in Brookline; he
currently lives in town and has raised a family there. He lives with his wife, Lori and his daughter Nia (STEM Paraprofessional in Brookline High School’s Therapeutic Program), and he has a daughter Mariah (K-5 Assistant Principal), son-in law William, and granddaughters Ryan and Ava, who live in Indianapolis.