Kenia Becerra
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Teach For America is working hand-in-hand with Native communities to help Native students achieve their incredible potential.
Our Mission
Native children experience some of the highest levels of poverty in our country, which greatly impacts their academic and life options. To help end this disparity, the Native Alliance develops leaders who are committed to preserving Native culture and expanding opportunities for Native youth across the country.
Our work is centered on deepening relationships with Native leaders and communities across our regions. Corps members and alumni who work in Hawai‘i, Greater Tulsa, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oklahoma City, South Dakota, and Washington may also have the opportunity to serve Native students living on reservations.
We recognize that the vast majority of Native children attend schools across all of our regions, not just in regions that serve students in schools on tribal land. Our alliance aims to grow the number of Native teachers working in schools across the country, and to build support for indigenous education and partnerships in all communities.
The Challenge
- 49% of Native students graduate high school
- 11% of Native students earn a college degree
Watch: Issues Impacting Native Communities
Eliminating Racist Mascots
Panelists representing different tribal nations discuss how Native mascots are rooted in a harmful history of white settler colonialism, and why they have no place in schools and professional sports.
Cultural Appropriation
Native educators discuss different forms of cultural appropriation, and how well-intentioned efforts to preserve Native languages and culture can sometimes further perpetuate the oppression of Indigenous peoples.
Supporting Indigenous Students in the Classroom and Beyond
WaziHanska Cook, senior managing director of Teach for America's Native Alliance discusses the current educational context for Native students in the United States and Indigenous Nations.
What We Do
Providing an Additional Source of Effective Teachers & Leaders
Less than 1 percent of our country’s teachers identify as American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian. Native students benefit from seeing leaders in the classroom who share and affirm their culture, language, and traditions. Since the alliance was first launched in 2009, we have recruited over 340 Native teachers into classrooms across Teach For America’s national network. Simultaneously, we are working to build a sustainable alumni leadership pipeline. Our alumni include school, policy, and community leaders committed to advocating for and building with Native communities and children.
Advancing Student Achievement
In the 2015-16 school year, more than 300 corps members worked relentlessly to expand opportunity for their 10,000 students from Native backgrounds.
Fostering Culturally Responsive Teaching
Students learn best when they can see their own experiences, culture, and language reflected in their curriculum. We’re working to create outstanding examples of culturally responsive teaching and training our teachers in those practices.
Partnering with Native Organizations and Governments
We can go further together. That’s why we’re committed to forming strong partnerships with Native organizations and governments to raise awareness, collaborate on teacher recruitment and training, and accelerate our collective efforts.
““I knew New Mexico was exactly where I wanted to be. Serving my community means teaching kids like me.””
Teach For America's Impact
- 75% of TFA Native alumni work in jobs that impact education
- 50% of TFA Native alumni work in Pre-K-12 classrooms
Timeline & Accomplishments
- Native Achievement Initiative (NAI) Launched in Hawaii, South Dakota, New Mexico, and Tulsa
- July 30, 2010 – NAI Managing Director Position created and hired
- 2011 – NAI Initiative Advisory Council formed
- 2011 – NAI Culturally Responsive Teacher-Coaching Working Group created
- Feb 2011 – First Annual Legislative Summit in Washington, DC
- June 2011 – First Annual NAI Call to Action at Phoenix Institute
- Nov 2011 – TFA National Awareness Campaign, Native Heritage Month
- June 2013 – Native Achievement Initiative changed to Native Alliance Initiative (NAI)
- Aug 2013 – Native identity and tribal affiliation/citizenship implemented in the application process for the corps
- Apr 2014 – First NAI corps member & alumni summit in South Dakota
- 2015 – NAI joins National Indian Education Association as an organization member
- Apr 2015 – Second Annual NAI corps member & alumni summit in South Dakota
- Nov 2015 – Agreement signed with American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES)
- 2016 – Partnership with Sacaton Elem Gila River Reservation for Call to Action at Phoenix summer training institute
- Feb 2016 – Agreements signed with American Indian College Fund and Tribal Education Department National Assembly
- June 2016 – Agreement signed with Gila River Indian Community for summer training institute training
- Oct 2016 – Third annual corps member & alumni summit in Sulphur, OK
- Feb 2017 – 5th Annual NAI Legislative Summit; signed agreement with (AISES)
- April 2017 – TFA Native Alliance Initiative named Best Place to Work in STEM for 4th year in a row by Winds of Change Magazine
- June 2017 – 6th Annual Call to Action at Phoenix institute; second year of partnership with Sacaton Elem Gila River Reservation
- Nov 2017 – 4th Annual NAI corps member & alumni summit in South Dakota
- Mar 2018 – 6th Annual Legislative Summit, 4th Annual Capitol Hill Reception
- Nov 2018 – 5th Annual NAI corps member & alumni summit in Squamish Nation, WA; Held missing & murdered Indigenous women prayer walk
- 2019 – Native Alliance Initiative changed to Native Alliance
- Mar 2019 – TFA named Best Place to Work in STEM in Winds of Change Magazine for 6th Consecutive Year
- Nov 2019 – 6th Annual NAI corps member & alumni summit in Minnesota including 100 Native attendees, Over 40 Native Nations represented
- 2020 – Signed agreement with National Indian Education Association
- June 2020 – Virtual Call to Action implemented during virtual summer teacher training
- September 2020 – TFA supports policy stance to eliminate racist mascots
- November 2020 –TFA honors Indigenous People’s Day; 7th Annual NA Corps Member & Alumni Summit, first time being held virtually
- March 2021 – Launched national partner campaign to eliminate racist mascots (eliminateracistmascots.org); First virtual Legislative Summit in 2021
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David Conner
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About Me
Supporting our veterans, members of the guard and reserve, and military spouses as they put their leadership power and skills to work in our nation’s highest-need classrooms through Teach For America.
About the Military Veterans Initiative
Leadership. Integrity. Commitment. These are just a few of the skills that our military veterans develop during their years of service to our country. They’re also the skills that our greatest teachers exemplify in the classroom every day.
The Military Veterans Initiative was formed in 2012 to support veterans and military spouses who want to serve their country yet again by putting their leadership skills to work in the classrooms that need them most. Through partnerships with key veterans support organizations, we train military professionals as teachers in high-need schools, assist them in finding teaching positions, and support them throughout their careers as leaders in the movement for educational equity.
“I retired after 30 years of [military] service to my country, but this commitment is far from over…I want my students to recognize that a life dedicated to caring about and helping others is a life worth choosing.”
Why We Take A Stand
Educational inequity affects not just individual children, but our entire nation—we cannot move ahead when we are leaving so many of our own behind. That’s why we’re tapping into the leadership, perseverance, and dedication to service inherent in our military veterans by recruiting them to become teachers who can play a strong role in putting their students on new life trajectories. Veterans and military spouses who join us are joining a community dedicated to their training, support, and lifelong leadership development.
How We Support Military Vets & Spouses
The Military Veterans Initiative helps to connect our military veterans and military spouse corps members and alumni with professional development opportunities that will help their unique leadership skills. We work to transition these corps members and alumni into career paths that will place them in lead roles that directly affect educational inequity. To learn more about how the Military Veterans Initiative supports corps members and alumni, please email us at veterans@teachforamerica.org.
Our Military Veterans Initiative Council
One of the ways we support the professional and personal growth of our military veterans and military spouse corps members and alumni is through our Military Veterans Initiative council. The council is comprised of veterans and military spouse corps members and alumni who act as consultants to the Managing Director of the initiative.
These council members work to ensure there is substantial support in place for veterans and military spouse corps members and alumni, as well as access to leadership mobility pathways that will sustain military involvement in the fight to end educational inequality.
Get In Touch
The Military Veterans Initiative helps to connect our military veterans and military spouse corps members and alumni with professional development opportunities that will help their unique leadership skills. We work to transition these corps members and alumni into career paths that will place them in lead roles that directly affect educational inequity. To learn more about how the Military Veterans Initiative supports corps members and alumni, please email us at veterans@teachforamerica.org.
Our Partners
These partners work with the Military Veterans Initiative to support the professional development of our military veterans and military spouse corps members and alumni as they continue to lead in the movement for educational equity.
A Word From One Of Our Partners
“The young people who join Teach For America each year are engaging in a form of national service that is focused on eliminating one of the biggest threats to our nation’s future prosperity—educational inequity.”
-- Stanley McChrystal, General (Ret.), Leadership Council Chair, Service Year Alliance
The faces of the military veterans initiative.
Ben Maddox
Rio Grande Valley '07
Deputy Staff Judge Advocate
Staff of the Commandant, Naval District Washington
Stories & Media
John McCain’s Legacy of Service Calls Us to Enter the Arena
Brian Thompson (D.C. Region '09) on the legacy of Senator McCain and the need for continued leadership.
Military and Civilian Service Make for a Powerful Combination
Read about Commander Ellington, who was inspired to pursue a new path upon learning about Teach For America.
Helen McGinnis
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