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Teach For America Receives $25 Million Investment from Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott

The substantial gift affirms the importance of Teach For America’s work to attract, train, and support more great leaders in education who are committed to ensuring every child has an equal chance in life.

November 14, 2022

Today, Teach For America (TFA) announced a $25,000,000 gift from MacKenzie Scott, which is part of her commitment to support nonprofit organizations making a meaningful difference in the world. Teach For America recruits accomplished individuals, matches their talent with the greatest need and greatest opportunity for impact in education, and develops them into lifelong leaders for educational equity and excellence. 

“Teach For America is grateful and honored to receive this gift from MacKenzie Scott. This generous investment comes at a critical moment for education in our country and helps ensure we can meet this moment with our students and build for the future. Her support will help us attract more exceptional talent committed to excellence and equity in education, achieve remarkable outcomes with students, and work alongside partners to spark systemic change and innovation in our country’s public schools,” said Elisa Villanueva Beard, Teach For America’s chief executive officer and an alumna of the 1998 Teach For America corps. “This gift is an affirmation of the dedication and leadership of our network of nearly 70,000 Teach For America corps members, alumni, and staff who fiercely believe in the brilliance of all children and will stop at nothing to ensure every child has an equal chance in life.”

Bold leadership and innovation inside and outside the classroom have never been more important. Two decades of student growth in reading and math dissolved under pandemic-related disruptions, young people are experiencing a mental health crisis, and educators are under enormous pressure while schools across the country are challenged by persistent staffing shortages. Teach For America will leverage the donation to continue to recruit more great leaders to work in education; to develop the leadership of its network of corps members and alumni; and to work collectively with these leaders and their students to achieve positive outcomes for students and systemic change in our country's public schools.  

About Teach For America

Teach For America works in partnership with 300 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 nearly 70,000 alumni and corps members working in more than 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.

News Contact

Rachel Tennenbaum | Managing Director, Communications and Public Affairs

rachel.tennenbaum@teachforamerica.org