Whether you’re a grad student, a young professional a few years out of college, or a mid-career pro, your management, communication, and problem-solving skills can play a vital role in ensuring that kids in low-income communities receive an equitable education.

Not all corps members come to the classroom directly from college. Many corps members come to Teach For America after having spent several years—even decades—in the workforce or after attending graduate school. If you’re seeking ways to make an impact or exploring other opportunities in education, here are a few reasons why Teach For America is a competitive opportunity that will set you apart, amplify your purpose and impact—and give you a chance to shape the future of our country, no matter what career path you ultimately pursue.

Making an Impact With Your Unique Skills

This is not your average 9-to-5.

Teach For America needs policymakers, doctors, lawyers, nonprofit leaders, social entrepreneurs, and educators to work together in a coalition for systemic change.

As a corps member, you will be at the forefront of tackling educational inequity and increasing opportunity for kids in one of 51 high-need regions across the country. Every day you’ll use your talents and prior experiences to address systemic injustice in the classroom and the broader community. This means that you’ll work closely with different people and groups on a daily basis, including other teachers in your school and district, partner organizations in your community, TFA alumni, and, of course, students and their families and caregivers.

The experience and impact you’ll have as a corps member fosters a sense of drive and ambition. Witnessing issues like inequity up close will motivate you to take action and explore the depths of what you're capable of.

Understanding Your Needs

We are looking for the nation’s most promising leaders to help tackle one of our country’s most deep-seated issues. Because of this, the application process is highly selective. Nevertheless, TFA offers options so that you can bring your best self to the table. 

Professionals like you have the option to participate in a virtual or in-person interview, whichever best fits your needs and schedule. Both are face-to-face and give you an equal chance of admission regardless of the interview format you choose. Applicants are asked to reserve eight hours for the interview day, so it may be a good idea to arrange to miss work or class for the day.

You may already have a place in mind where you’d like to teach or a favorite subject or grade level. You may also be open to going to any of our regions and teaching any age group or subject. No matter where you are after you’ve completed your interview our team can help you determine the regions that best fit your background and interests.

We understand that your mortgage, spouse or partner, or children may make it a challenge for you to relocate. This is why you have an opportunity to specify any restrictions when providing your regional preferences. While we cannot guarantee all corps members will be placed in their top-choice region, we will work to ensure that you receive a placement that makes sense for you and the desired impact you want to make in the corps.

An Exceptional Leadership Opportunity

From the moment you join TFA, you’ll have access to unparalleled support, leadership, training, and networking opportunities. At summer institute, you’ll take part in hands-on training that combines immersive teaching practice and coaching with foundational knowledge, skills, and experiences that will prepare you to lead, grow, and support the success of your students.

As a corps member, you’ll have the chance to attend leadership summits and virtual events. These are a fantastic opportunity to build community, learn, and connect with other corps members and leaders. With TFA’s virtual events, you’ll go inside classrooms across the country and hear stories about the diverse career paths of TFA alumni who are making a difference in areas like education, business, medicine, law, public policy, and entrepreneurship.

After completing their two-year commitment as TFA corps members, many alumni go on to launch nonprofits and socially responsible companies together. They work at starts-up and schools run by other alumni, who share a lifelong commitment to change and educational justice.

Teach For America’s network is vast, made up of nearly 60,000 alumni and corps members. Together they are working to shape the political, economic, and social future of the United States. Being accepted into the corps means you’ll join other leaders, changemakers, and advocates, who go on to achieve their boldest ambitions. Whether they return to their previous career path or begin a new professional journey, they do so with increased confidence, drive, skills, and perspective for what's at stake.

Interested in using your skills to help ensure that kids in low-income communities receive an equitable education?

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Ask any Teach For America alum and she or he could probably tell you a variation of Christina (Jones) Coleman’s and Brooke (Foster) Max’s story—how they formed a lifelong friendship through the crucible experience of teaching in the corps together.

The two became inseparable from the moment they met at their summer teacher training in Houston in 2003, and they’ve continued to support each other over the past 15 years as they moved to different cities, developed their careers, and started families. Brooke encouraged Christina to join a nonprofit board focused on civics and reading, which led her to start tutoring. Christina urged Brooke to pursue a doctorate in math education and Brooke now works as a mathematics teacher educator. The two were even roommates at TFA’s 25th Anniversary Summit in 2016.

“We decided we needed each other,” Brooke says. Christina agrees: “I had spent so much time with Brooke during Teach For America and she knew so much about me that when something really big was happening, she was one of the few people I could call who would understand my perspective.”

Corps members have built on the relationships they forged during their TFA experience to launch schools, nonprofits, socially conscious businesses, and civic initiatives that have profoundly affected communities all across the country. And it’s not just your immediate colleagues and friends who will become your lifelong brain trust, support system, and professional network. By joining TFA, you will join a network of 56,000 leaders who share your values, convictions, and determination, and are eager to join you and support you in collectively working toward the day when all kids have access to an excellent education.

The TFA network offers you endless benefits—formal and informal, professional and personal. 

Being part of the TFA network means you’ll have access to great leaders who are always searching for talent, and to talent who will staff your future ventures. You can develop yourself as a professional through regional TFA events and fellowships and through national opportunities, including TFA’s Capitol Hill Fellows Program, Rural School Leadership Academy, and the Social Innovation Award. You’ll even have your own exclusive platform, TFA Connect BETA, where you can connect with other corps members and alumni, learn together, and find high-impact job opportunities around the country.

Emily Masengale (St. Louis ’06) found the right mix of formal and informal opportunities within the TFA Indianapolis network, including alumni mentors and professional development like the TFA Indianapolis Principal Fellows program. These helped her to found Christel House DORS, an innovative school that gives adult students the opportunity to return to school and earn their high school diploma. 

This atmosphere of support and innovation within the network has had a tremendous impact on the Indianapolis educational landscape.

“We have learned how to capitalize on each others’ strengths, helping each other grow,” said Lindsey Roache, a 2008 Indianapolis alum and assistant principal at Christel House DORS. “We have created a network that provides support, mentoring opportunities, thought partners, job opportunities, and countless other things. Collectively, we have created a space where innovation and growth are welcomed and encouraged.”

And then there are the personal—and often unexpected—benefits of joining the TFA network, which sometimes includes finding your soul mate. Miguel (Dallas–Fort Worth ’11) and Brenda Ortega (Dallas–Fort Worth ’14), met by chance at a party thrown by a mutual friend who was also a DFW corps member. Miguel proposed to Brenda near the Trinity river in Fort Worth, while a mariachi band played in the background. More than 30 Teach For America alumni friends joined Brenda and Miguel on their wedding day.

The passion that brought them to the corps also brings them together as a couple. “Teaching kids is what keeps us moving forward,” Brenda said. “It helps to know I have someone who continues to guide and support that.”

This network wants to help you succeed—and sets you up to make an impact.

The TFA network offers a system of nets and ladders—a community that will support you with ongoing mentorship and coaching and help accelerate your career path inside and outside of the classroom.

“They show that you can survive your first and second year of teaching,” Jonathan Tiongco, founding Principal of the Alliance Marine-Innovation & Technology school in the greater Los Angeles area, said about the TFA network. “Not only can you survive, you can thrive in the profession, move up the career ladder, and do exceptional work. They show what’s possible.” 

In many regions, such as Los Angeles, corps members are intentionally placed in schools where alumni are working, because of the close mentorship and peer-to-peer support that alumni offer. This strategy of “clustering” corps members together with alumni and veteran teachers not only helps new corps members succeed in the classroom, it also creates a unit of change that can help a school accelerate its impact on student achievement.

When it comes to the effort to end educational inequity, Jharrett Bryantt (Houston ’11), Vanessa Luna (Los Angeles ’14), and Stephanie Sharp (Baltimore ’12) focus on different areas of need: Jharrett on college readiness, Vanessa on the needs of undocumented students, and Stephanie on early childhood education. But even as their careers have taken them in different directions since the corps—including, for Jharrett and Vanessa, time on TFA’s staff—all have maintained their focus on the students they are serving.

For their commitment and achievements, Jharrett, Vanessa, and Stephanie have been named to the Forbes 2019 30 Under 30 list in the education category, honored for “bringing access and opportunity to the classroom and beyond.”

Jharrett Bryantt (Houston ’11)

Assistant Superintendent, Office of Strategy & Innovation, Houston Independent School District

As the youngest executive in one of the country’s largest public school systems, Jharrett is spearheading efforts to close the college access gap in Houston.

Jharrett began his work fighting educational inequity in 2011 when he joined Teach For America as a high school geometry teacher in Houston, Texas. He went on to join Teach For America’s staff as director of data management for Houston Institute. In this role he helped to run one of Teach For America's largest summer teacher training sites, as well as trained and supported a team of 10 School Operation Managers.

Following his time at Teach For America, Jharrett joined the Houston Independent School District, where he began as a founding program manager for the school’s EMERGE program, which prepares Houston students from low-income communities to apply to and graduate from college. Jharrett worked his way up to become the district’s assistant superintendent in the Office of Strategy & Innovation, where he continues to develop and lead initiatives that prepare high-achieving, low-income students for success at competitive universities.

Jharrett regularly presents on topics concerning access to Advanced Placement courses and college at the College Board Forum. He earned a B.S. from Yale University, an M.A. in education administration from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D in educational policy and leadership from the University of Texas at Austin.

Vanessa Luna (Los Angeles ’14) 

Co-founder, ImmSchools

Vanessa is intimately familiar with the struggles undocumented immigrants face every day in this country: At the age of 10, Vanessa immigrated to the United States from Lima, Peru. Despite her fears of being rejected by her peers and even deported, Vanessa went on to become the first person in her family to graduate college. 

After receiving her DACA status in 2013, Vanessa was driven by her desire to help other students like her. So, in 2014, Vanessa joined Teach For America as an educator in Los Angeles. Vanessa eventually joined the Teach For America staff, where she was a founding member of Teach For America’s DACA National Board, which recruits and supports DACA recipients for the corps. 

Vanessa’s early childhood experiences continued to inform her work fighting for education equity for immigrant students long after her time in the corps. In 2017, Vanessa co-founded ImmSchools, an organization that partners with K-12 educators to provide the training necessary to support the needs of 30,000 undocumented students and their families across the nation. ImmSchool’s mission is to ensure that all students have access to an excellent education regardless of their immigration status. 

Vanessa is currently co-founder and chief program officer at ImmSchools and a 2018 fellow at the VC firm Camelback Ventures. She earned a B.A. from Binghamton University and a M.A. in urban education and leadership from Loyola Marymount University.

Stephanie (Linka) Sharp (Baltimore ’12)

Program Analyst, Overdeck Family Foundation

Stephanie has a proven track record of combining her passion for education with her entrepreneurial skills. While in the midst of teaching pre-K in Baltimore as a 2012 corps member, she also co-founded Syllabyte, an ed-tech support community for educators.

After the corps, Stephanie's interest in ed-tech led to her to join Kaymbu as the director of educational partnerships. The company's app allows early childhood educators to easily share photos, video, and progress reports with parents and school directors, keeping families and educators connected.

Stephanie continued building partnerships with K-12 schools at Flocabulary, a Brooklyn-based company that makes learning fun by creating educational hip hop songs, videos, and materials. As the K-12 partnerships manager, Stephanie worked with large school systems like Atlanta Public Schools to implement Flocabulary’s resources, bringing joy back to the classroom and helping students make huge academic gains. 

Stephanie now brings her classroom and entrepreneurial experience to her current role at the Overdeck Family Foundation, an education-focused nonprofit that works to improve each stage of childhood learning, from birth to graduation. As program analyst, Stephanie oversees the foundation’s Early Impact Portfolio, which funds early childhood research. She is responsible for sourcing and supporting grantee organizations focused on improving early childhood education, whose work supports 370,000 families.

Stephanie earned her B.A. in journalism and mass communications from George Washington University and an M.S. in early childhood education from Johns Hopkins University.

More than 50 Teach for America alumni have been honored on Forbes 30 Under 30 lists since 2012.