Wendy Kopp (courtesy Wendy Kopp)
Doctor of Humane LettersFounder and chief executive officer, Teach For America and Teach For All
Wendy Kopp founded Teach For America in 1989 to marshal the energy of her generation against educational inequity in the United States. Today, 9,000 Teach For America corps members—top recent college graduates in all academic disciplines—are in the midst of two-year teaching commitments in the nation’s highest-need urban and rural regions. Teach For America has proven to be an unparalleled source of long-term leadership for educational change.
Kopp is also CEO and co-founder of Teach For All, which is fueling a global movement to ensure educational excellence and equity by accelerating the impact of national organizations that are enlisting their nations’ most promising future leaders in the effort. Four years into its development, Teach For All is a growing network of 23 independent organizations around the world, including its co-founders Teach For America and the United Kingdom’s Teach First. Kopp is the author of the recent book A Chance to Make History: What Works and What Doesn’t in Providing an Excellent Education for All.