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Elizabeth Bleier is Named Teach For America St. Louis Executive Director

Bleier Will Lead TFA St. Louis to Accelerate Educational Outcomes through Investing in Leadership Talent

October 7, 2021

Teach For America (TFA) St. Louis today announced Elizabeth Bleier as its next Executive Director. In this role, Bleier will lead the region as it drives towards its new goal of doubling the number of St. Louis students reaching key educational milestones by 2030.

TFA St. Louis has been a community partner since 2002 and supports a diverse network of more than 600 local leaders through career support and leadership development, with particular investment in fostering the leadership of professionals of color and supporting them in classrooms, school and system leadership, and social innovation. TFA’s local network includes teachers, school and district administrators, policymakers, and leaders of community-based organizations dedicated to the pursuit of excellent and equitable education for St. Louis children.

“I’m honored to serve as the next executive director of TFA St. Louis,” said Bleier. “St. Louis is home to a dynamic education system that’s ripe for collaboration and innovation. Our priorities over the next several years are to support the leadership and conditions that empower all St. Louis students to access opportunities for success.”

Bleier began her career in St. Louis, where she taught high school special education for five years in St. Louis Public Schools. She then managed recruitment, hiring, and talent for KIPP St. Louis for six years, supporting the region’s growth from one to six schools. Bleier has served on the TFA St. Louis staff since 2018, when she joined as Chief of Staff and managed talent, strategy, and operations before leading the region as its Interim Executive Director for the last 16 months.

In her new role, Bleier will oversee the organization’s regional strategic shift from recruiting and developing early-career teacher talent to supporting the leadership and learning of its 600 leaders currently in St. Louis. In working towards its 2030 goal to put twice the number of St. Louis students on a path to economic mobility, the organization will be investing in local initiatives including:

  • Running its successful Aspiring School Leaders Fellowship, a school leadership development program that has graduated nearly 80 fellows over the last seven years, a majority of whom are leading in schools across St. Louis today and contributing to meaningful student outcomes
  • Expanding Lead in The Lou, an annual career event that focuses on recruitment and retention of top leadership talent, attracting a dozen employers and more than 100 attendees every year
  • Accelerating efforts to support teacher retention, instructional excellence, and broad community engagement to support youth needs and aspirations within and beyond the school system

To learn more about TFA St. Louis, visit https://www.teachforamerica.org/where-we-work/st-louis or follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

About Teach For America

Teach For America works in partnership with 350 urban and rural communities across the country to expand educational opportunity for children. Founded in 1990, Teach For America recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding leaders who make an initial two-year commitment to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the effort to end educational inequity. Today, Teach For America is a force of over 64,000 alumni and corps members working in over 9,000 schools nationwide in pursuit of profound systemic change. From classrooms to districts to state houses across America, they are reimagining education to realize the day when every child has an equal opportunity to learn, lead, thrive, and co-create a future filled with possibility. Teach For America is a proud member of the AmeriCorps national service network. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

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