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Indianapolis Teach For America Indianapolis Alumni Boards Adds Leaders across K-12, Government, Nonprofit

Seven new community leaders join alumni board to help mobilize the organization’s 600-member alumni network in pursuit of educational equity.

INDIANAPOLIS – Teach For America Indianapolis (TFA Indy) announced today the addition of seven new members to its Alumni Board, an advisory board that fosters community and learning among the organization’s local alumni movement. The board supports TFA Indy’s mission of advancing educational equity through strategic input on alumni engagement and programming.

“We seek to retain a racially and professionally diverse board, representative of the roles and vantage points into education access and equity across our ecosystem,” said Anna Watson, TFA Indy’s managing director of network impact. “This upcoming year, we are committed to accelerating collective efforts alongside our community to address the racial inequity that systemically disadvantages our students of color.”

TFA Indy currently has more than 600 alumni living and working in the greater Indianapolis area. Approximately 70% of alumni work directly in education, and 90% are in roles that impact low-income communities. 

Over the past several years, the Alumni Board has supported with:

  • A community learning series covering topics including post-secondary access, school autonomy and accountability, and policy 
  • The Lisa M. Sablosky Alumni Award for Excellence in Education, an award that recognizes outstanding teaching
  • Alumni networking, community outreach, and career programming

The seven new board members include:

  • Ryan Gall, Executive Director, Victory College Prep
  • Shivani Goyal, Education Specialist, La Plaza
  • Adriana Huerta, Fourth Grade Teacher and Teacher Lead, Christel House Academy West
  • Aerionna Martin, Governance Performance Analyst, Indianapolis Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation
  • Amreen Vora, Charter School Federal Grant Specialist, Indiana Department of Education 
  • Cody Whitesell, Managing Director of Academics, Neighborhood Charter Network
  • Adriana “AD” Williams, Teacher, IPS 51 James Russell Lowell

“Since leaving the corps and entering alumnihood, I have come to a greater understanding of the need to have a collective of individuals committed to working towards a better and more equitable reality for students in Indianapolis,” shared new member Aerionna Martin. “I view the opportunity to serve on the TFA Indy Alumni Board as a chance to become a more informed key player. My commitment to improving the options in this city for families becomes truer everyday.”

They join 11 returning board members:

  • Josie Achenbach, Teacher, Anna Brochhausen Elementary School
  • Mark Branigan, Co-Founder, One Million Readers
  • Sarah Robinson Chin, Director of Transformation, Indianapolis Public Schools
  • Daniel Harting, Associate, Barnes & Thornburg, LLP
  • Mackenzie Higgins, Policy Advisor, Office of the Mayor Joe Hogsett
  • Peter Jenkins, Trauma Surgeon, IU Health
  • Jordan Johnson, English Teacher, Ben Davis High School
  • Luke Lennon, Assistant School Leader, KIPP Legacy High School
  • Kimberly Neal, Founder & Executive Director, BELIEVE Circle City High School
  • Sarah TeKolste, Spanish Teacher, Shortridge High School

To learn more about the TFA Indy alumni network, visit https://www.teachforamerica.org/where-we-work/indianapolis/our-communit….

 

About Teach For America

Teach For America works in partnership with urban and rural communities in more than 50 regions across the country to expand educational opportunity for children. Founded in 1990, Teach For America recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding leaders to 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 nearly 60,000 alumni and corps members committed to profound systemic change. From classrooms to districts to state houses across America, they’re reimagining education to realize the day when every child has an equal opportunity to learn, to grow, to influence, and to lead. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Contact

Cece Zhou

248-854-0630

cece.zhou@teachforamerica.org