As Teach For America marks its 25th year, we are celebrating their quarter century of cultivating talented education leaders and preparing students for lifetimes of opportunity. These eight diverse voices — TFA corps members, leaders, and students — represent why the Walton Family Foundation has supported TFA for more than two decades. TFA:
1. Levels the playing field:
“I liked the idea that one day all children would have equal access to a quality education. Education had opened so many doors to me.” - Roshun Austin, former TFA corps member and President/CEO of The Works
2. Closes the achievement gap:
“My hope is that my students are able to receive a quality education that prepares them for life beyond the Parish lines. I want my kids to have options.” – Ronicka Briscoe, former TFA corps member and principal of Dwight D. Eisenhower Academy of Global Studies
3. Recruits the best:
“[TFA corps member] Ms. Genao was the first adult who stopped and listened to me, asked me questions about my life and what I wanted to do with my education. She gave me opportunities to showcase what I could do academically. She’s a Harvard alum, so one day some friends and I worked up the nerve to ask her, point blank, ‘You’re from Harvard. Why are you teaching us here?’ I’ll never forget what she said: ‘Why don’t you deserve a teacher from Harvard?’” – Pedro Carillo, college access program director and student of TFA corps member
4. Inspires leaders:
“[TFA alumni] believe in kids. We believe in the country. We believe in the future. We have hope and optimism. We feel obligation and calling.” – Kevin Huffman, former Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Education
5. Channels talent:
“Teach for America gave me purpose. I knew I wanted to work in education. I didn't know how, and TFA illuminated the path.” – Damion LeeNatali, former TFA corps member and TFA executive director for Colorado
6. Delivers results:
“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.” – Elisa Villanueva Beard, co-CEO, TFA
7. Changes lives:
“TFA cemented in my mind in a very concrete, tangible way that while these issues have persisted for decades, we can make a meaningful difference. Public education can provide all children with what they need to lead lives of purpose and destiny.” – Timothy Ware, former TFA corps member and executive director of the Achievement School District
8. Pays it forward:
“These extraordinary leaders show us what’s possible. As kids, their teachers empowered them to defy expectations and discover their passions. Now, they’ll get the chance to do the same for their own students.” – Elissa Kim, EVP Recruitment, TFA
