The Peter Jennings Award for Civic Leadership

Cami Anderson (Los Angeles '93), 2008 Honoree
As a 1993 Los Angeles corps member, Cami Anderson taught sixth grade at Longfellow Elementary School. She served as executive director of Teach For America’s New York region for five years before becoming chief program officer at New Leaders for New Schools. Since her appointment in 2006 as superintendent of District 79 in New York City, Anderson has worked relentlessly to create a culture of achievement and accountability in a chronically low-performing school district. Of the district’s 90,000 students, 60,000 are over the age of 21, and many of them face extraordinary challenges, from pregnancy to incarceration to family trauma. Working with the United Federation of Teachers, Anderson negotiated a precedent-setting labor agreement with the union that facilitated a dramatic improvement in the quality of teachers. Anderson also made it her personal mission to document accurate administrative records by visiting every single district site herself and reviewing employee and student records. As a result, 1,000 students from GED and one-year transitional programs transitioned into diploma-granting high schools, and the number of students enrolled in adult education tripled. She also opened five high school alternative referral centers that have assisted 4,000 students since launching. “These students will either be the greatest leaders in our generation, or they will cost us dearly as a society,” Anderson says. “We have the power to make that difference.”