Elisa Villanueva Beard first joined Teach for America as a corps member, where she taught a second grade bilingual class in Phoenix. Since 2013, she has been co-CEO of TFA, where she’s working to create an America in which every child has “an equal chance in life.” The Walton Family Foundation spoke with Villanueva Beard to learn about what motivates her — and what her 25-year-old organization is working to accomplish.

WFF: What first attracted you to teaching?
Elisa: When I got to college, I quickly realized that I had lacked access to an excellent education. I was one of the top students in my high school, but I was under-prepared for college. I had never learned how to take quality notes, analyze complex literature, or have a debate. My peers at DePauw seemed to have been doing these things their entire lives. I ended up pushing through these difficulties. But I knew there were many folks I’d grown up with who hadn’t had the opportunity to even make it to college, much less succeed there. I wanted to be a part of the change.

WFF: Why did you decide to join Teach for America as a corps member in 1998?
Elisa: During my sophomore year in college, a DePauw alumna, Carla Gasbarra Lane, came to campus to visit. She was in her first year of teaching in Phoenix through TFA. I was mesmerized by her passion, her deep belief in her children, her unrelenting commitment, and her drive to stop at nothing until she delivered on what her children deserved, despite the enormous challenges they faced. I wanted to be part of a team that loved so hard, cared so deeply, and was “all in.”

WFF: What are the top three things you think people don't realize about K-12 education in America?
Elisa: First, people don’t realize that teaching is one of the most challenging and powerful acts of leadership a person can take on. Second, they don't realize that there are no “silver bullets” to delivering an excellent education for children growing up in low-income communities. The issues facing our children are complex, and we will need a multitude of interventions to ensure all children get an excellent and equitable education. Third, to achieve educational equity, we need systemic change. We know what is possible. We just have to learn from it, scale it, and continue to innovate.

WFF: If TFA succeeded in its mission, what would America look like?
Elisa: Succeeding at our mission would mean that every child in our country would have an equal chance in life. The vast majority of students would graduate from high school ready for college and careers. Many more children would be prepared to innovate and solve our nation’s biggest problems, compete in a global economy, and be strong citizens of our country and our world.

WFF: TFA is in its 25th year. What have you learned about what makes a great teacher?
Elisa: Children are the real heroes in education, but teachers can be game-changers. I’d say love is at the core of it. Our best teachers show a fierce and unstoppable love for their students. Because of that love, they go above and beyond to help their children achieve. Great teachers support both academic and personal growth — they have an unrelenting belief in what their kids can accomplish. They feel a sense of urgency and focus, an understanding of collective purpose, and a bold determination to open the doors of opportunity for their students. Our great teachers have a radical vision of success: they believe their kids can achieve incredible things, and they commit their whole selves to helping them get there.

WFF: Is there anything that has surprised you about K-12 education or Americans' attitudes about education?
Elisa: I am perplexed when people think that they don’t have to engage in solving the education issues facing our nation. Educational inequity is an acute issue that jeopardizes the health of our economy and national security. Without major improvement, we deny the promise our nation has made of equal opportunity for all.

WFF: What qualities are you looking for in recruits?
Elisa: We seek to recruit the best talent this country has to offer. Each year, we do research on the teachers who have the most meaningful impact with their students. We determine the qualities and capabilities that distinguish these teachers, and then seek those qualities in future candidates. They include leadership, achievement, critical thinking skills, perseverance in the face of challenges, a deep belief in the potential of kids, a commitment to reaching goals, organizational skills, and interpersonal skills.

WFF: TFA teachers commit to two years of service. Why two years?
Elisa: Though nearly two-thirds of our alumni work in education today, the majority of our prospects haven’t considered education as their career path, so they’re less likely to commit for more than two years up front. Also, we have learned that extending the two-year commitment would lessen the diversity of our corps and decrease the number of science and math majors who join us.

WFF: So it sounds like the strategy is to get superstars through the door and then convince them to stay.
Elisa: We are working to enlist and mobilize these leaders to channel their energies toward the fight for educational equity in our nation. Over 25 years, we’ve seen that a two-year commitment turns into a lifelong one for the majority of our corps members. Nearly 85% of our alumni are still working directly with low-income communities or in education. Our first step is to get them in the door.

WFF: Tell me a little more about what TFA alumni are up to.
Elisa: Two-thirds of our alumni are working in education toward educational equity and excellence in some way. Many are teaching: three of the four 2015 winners of the prestigious Fishman Prize were TFA alumni. More than 900 TFA alumni are school leaders, and about 250 are school system leaders. Other alumni are creating new opportunities for high needs students. Many of the top-performing charter school networks — KIPP, YES Prep, IDEA Public Schools — were founded by TFA alums, and eight TFA alumni were named in Forbes’ “30 Under 30 in Education” list in 2015. Plus, more than 360 alumni are working in policy, politics, organizing, and advocacy, and 90 alums hold elected office.

WFF: How would you describe TFA’s impact on students?
Elisa: Since our founding, we’ve worked with more than 1 million students. Over 500 of our students have gone on to become corps members themselves. The rising number of “second generation corps members” is an indication of TFA’s profound impact.

WFF: What does the research show?
Elisa: Teach For America corps members are as effective — and sometimes more effective — than their non-TFA colleagues. In many comparisons, such as pre-K reading and elementary and secondary math, assignment to a corps member has led to months worth of extra growth per year than would have been expected in our absence. A study by Mathematica Policy Research found that our corps members, with two or fewer years of experience, were performing as effectively as their peers, who, on average, had been teaching for 14 years.