Our People
Corps Members, Alumni, and Supporters
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Kenneth RobinsonD.C. Region Corps 1993“My goal is to bring change, one student at a time. ”
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Natasha AlfordD.C. Region Corps 2010“Teach For America is not shying away from the complexity of the issue.”
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Jason KamrasD.C. Region Corps 1996“Every child deserves to have an excellent education.”
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Susan SchaefflerBaltimore Corps 1992“I learned what endurance looks like by teaching my fourth graders.”
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Jason UngerLos Angeles Corps 1998“The corps will be the most significant career experience I think I’ll have.”
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Kelley CalvinSouth Louisiana Corps 2005“The only way our country can be everything we have the potential to be is if every single one of our citizens is well-educated.”
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Samir PaulD.C. Region Corps 2010“I deeply appreciated the support of Teach For America and the Amgen Foundation.”
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Kaya HendersonNew York Corps 1992“We are making history right here in the nation’s capital.”
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Abby MarshallD.C. Region Corps 2010“I want to continue offering myself as a resource to support others.”
Message from the Team
Ahnna K. Smith
The achievement gap in D.C. begins early and widens over time – by fourth grade, the gap is clearly visible along racial and economic lines. According to the 2011 National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP), 74% of white fourth graders are proficient in reading compared to 12% and 19% of their black and Hispanic peers. But there’s hope. Washington D.C. has become one of the nation’s leaders in providing quality pre-K to children and families. In fact, in the 2010-2011 school year, 75% of the city’s 3 and 4-year olds attended charter and public school pre-k programs. Teach For America is helping fuel the talent pipeline to ensure access to a quality education from preschool through high school.
As I begin my first year as the executive director of Teach For America – D.C. Region, I feel an overwhelming sense of responsibility to a region I'm proud to call home. Growing up just outside of D.C. and having had the privilege of attending the University of Maryland, College Park, I know all too well the stark lines that divide our communities. While we have seen dramatic improvement in recent years, there is still much work to be done to close the persisting achievement gap.
To that end, I can't imagine a better place to be part of this incredibly important work: our educational and political leaders are galvanized and committed to ensuring all children receive a high-quality education; we have a strong and growing base of friends, supporters and partners in the community; and we have a significant concentration of alumni -over 1,600 - working in and beyond education to improve the lives and educational prospects of children in the D.C. area.
Ahnna K. Smith began her career in education as a 2004 corps member teaching elementary school in Miami-Dade. After being named Teacher of the Year by her colleagues and principal in 2006, Ahnna joined Teach For America’s staff as a recruitment director and then as a senior graduate recruitment manager with Teach First, a U.K. based non-profit that addresses educational inequality across schools in England and Northern Ireland. Ahnna formerly served as an elected member of her advisory neighborhood commission and as the senior advisor to the Deputy Mayor for Education in the District of Columbia, where she oversaw policies related to school facilities, public charter schools, and inter-agency collaboration. A D.C. Region native, Ahnna earned a degree in government and politics, magna cum laude from the University of Maryland, College Park, and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.
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Teach For America • D.C. Region
1411 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
p: 202-465-7800, f: 202-465-7801
Ahnna K. Smith, Team















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