Our organization
Corps and Alumni
Career development
Teach For America provides valuable career development opportunities to all staff members, who can take advantage of ongoing professional development opportunities to build their skills and stretch themselves. Additionally, Teach For America has implemented an innovative internal talent management system, the Leadership Development System, designed to help staff members determine and manage their skill development and career progression.
Through a number of professional development initiatives, including role-and-skill specific training and robust performance evaluations, the Leadership Development System allows Teach For America to attract, retain, engage, and develop individuals who are ready to excel in our great diversity of roles, and to advance their careers over time within and across the organization.
Senior Managing Director, Program |
Chief of Staff, Office of the CEO |
Director, Talent Recruitment |
Vice President, Operations |
| Vice President, Regional Development |
Managing Director, District Strategy |
Vice President, Communications |
Executive Director |
Samantha Cohen
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Living in West Philadelphia, I saw firsthand the extreme disparity between the educational opportunities granted to students with and without access to abundant educational resources, as well as the direct correlation of those opportunities-or lack thereof-to the students’ socioeconomic status. Instead of combating this issue from a think tank or policy arena, I chose to join Teach For America’s staff because I wanted to be on the front-line of the movement to erase the achievement gap.
Working at Teach For America has allowed me to grow my problem solving skills, connected me with a wealth of knowledge and talented people, and enabled me to more clearly define my career path. In my current role as a senior managing director of program, I’ve been allowed to develop explicit skills in building relationships, investing staff members, and creating a common vision to motivate a team.
Ronni Gaillard
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I was a successful associate at a company rated as one of Fortune Magazine’s ‘Top 100 Employers to Work For’, so I wasn’t particularly looking for a career change. At the same time, I found it difficult to quantify the impact I was having at work, and found myself getting restless in my cubicle. I was motivated to join Teach For America’s staff because the organization runs like a successful business in many ways, and I knew I would continue to learn and grow here. But even more, I joined Teach For America because the work we do has a dramatic impact on an issue I care deeply about – educational inequity.
Phillip Garza
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I joined Teach For America’s staff for the exact same reason I joined the corps - I fundamentally believe that access to an excellent education is a basic human right, not a privilege, and that we, as a citizenry, have the obligation and the agency to eliminate the current inequity. As a staff member, I can continue to impact students in low-income communities, while at the same time develop my leadership skills and work toward my individual career goals.
Every organization, corporation, enterprise or school is only as effective as the individuals it recruits, selects, develops, and retains. Working as a director of talent recruitment at Teach For America allows me to impact virtually every aspect of our work by ensuring that we are staffed with the right talent in the right roles, increasing our organization’s strength and impact.
Thomas Licciardello
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I have found so many things rewarding as a Teach For America staff member. From the technical aspect, it has been rewarding to use technology to work across teams and solve problems to help the organization, including being involved in determining how to best use a generous donation from Cisco that will enable us to solidify our network infrastructure. From a personal and managerial perspective, it has been rewarding to manage, mentor, and develop my staff.
I joined Teach For America with a goal to streamline the organization’s technology infrastructure and build a solid foundation through new ideas and best practices. When I became a managing director, I began building Teach For America’s long-term and strategic infrastructure. Now as a vice president of technology operations, I’m part of the senior IT leadership team and help set direction and align Teach For America’s technology with our business objectives. This is such an exciting time in my career; Teach For America acknowledges my hard work and dedication to the mission, which is such a huge lift, personally and professionally.
Stephanie Morimoto
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Teach For America is like no other place I’ve worked. I’m continually impressed by our dedication to our mission to eliminate educational inequity, our organizational core values, the caliber of staff, and our focus on data-driven, continuous improvement.
As a vice president of regional development, I’ve had the opportunity to build and lead a team charged with designing and delivering training and support to executive directors and Regional Development staff, resulting in a continued increase in regional funding for the organization. I am fortunate to be able to do what I love– build new programs and initiatives, turn concepts into reality, and ensure that we invest more champions in our work – all in service of a mission in which I deeply believe.
Dan Park
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After attending graduate school and having worked in other work environments, I’m more convinced than ever that the caliber of people that Teach For America attracts, both to the corps and staff, is among the highest anywhere. Our overall drive to continually set and meet more ambitious goals and the potential for our future impact makes this a very exciting place to be.
As a managing director of district strategy, I have the opportunity to lead a team of seven staff members who ensure our 1,000 New York City corps members have a transformative impact on their 60,000 students each year. This position also allows me to further support corps members by investing school principals in our goals and building relationships with university partners to ensure that corps members are able to work toward certification.
Amy Rabinowitz
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I knew very little about Teach For America when I first began to explore opportunities on staff. I was motivated to work toward educational equity for all children, but didn’t fully grasp how Teach For America aimed to achieve that vision. When I learned that corps members not only make a significant impact on the students they teach during their two-year commitment, but then go on to apply their experience and insights as alumni to work toward systemic change in our education system, I was compelled. The opportunity to join such a force of leaders working to solve one of our nation’s greatest challenges is what ultimately convinced me that Teach For America was an organization I wanted to be part of.
In each of my roles at Teach For America, I’ve been charged with a great deal of responsibility, which has allowed me to develop my decision-making abilities and take on challenging projects. My varied experiences here have helped me to figure out that I thrive best in an entrepreneurial, mission-driven environment that is focused on results. Having worked in several other organizations, I’ve learned that this is the culture best suited for me professionally.
Omari Todd
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I joined Teach For America’s staff because I was sincerely excited and inspired by the organization’s growth and goals. From my time as a corps member to when I joined staff, Teach For America’s increased impact, from the classroom to our alumni working in all fields, had been truly remarkable. And, I wanted to continue being a part of that change and the effort to eliminate the achievement gap.
As an executive director, I have been given the opportunity to develop the vision for an entire region while building and managing a team that is driving us towards our regional and national goals. This position has allowed me to work with and invest others – staff members, community leaders, district officials, and more – in our vision and goals, while managing an entire region to make it a reality.
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