Careers At Teach For America
Teach in the Corps
We train equity-driven people from every academic major, occupation, and background to teach in underserved schools for two years as a corps member. If you are looking to join the Teach For America corps as a teacher, the first step is to check your eligibility. Visit the link below to take our quick eligibility quiz, or learn more about our application process.
Join TFA Staff
Whether you’re a seasoned professional or right out of college, chances are Teach For America has a staff role to fit your aspirations and career goals.
Many of our employees are themselves TFA alumni, while others are new to the organization. Staff positions are available across the country. You can find full-time positions, or seasonal positions with our recruiting team and summer training programs. And, as a partner of Employers of National Service, we welcome candidates from AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, City Year, and other volunteer programs.
Check out our full list of staff openings on our job board, or learn more about the staff application process.
Apply for a Pre-Service Role
If you are excited to work with novice teachers on their journey in being anti-racist teacher leaders, take a look at our 2023 Pre-Service Updates to learn more about our staffing structure, job descriptions, and our approach to the Pre-Service program. We are hoping to find strong candidates for the Centralized Pre-Service roles, such as Content Facilitator, DEI Facilitator, and Lesson Prep Specialists. The Coordinator and Dean positions have been filled. You may still share interest in those positions, however, we may direct you to an alternative pool. The application will be open on a rolling basis until all positions are filled. If you have any questions, please reach out to PreServiceStaff@teachforamerica.org.
Join the Recruitment Team
The Recruitment Team (RT) inspires thousands of potential corps members on college campuses and in the professional world to apply for and join Teach For America. Learn more about available roles on the RT.
Staff Application Process
Here at Teach For America, we believe the ideal hiring approach is a two-way exchange that results in a strong match between employer and employee, and ensures new staff members are positioned for success.
That all begins with a smooth application process. From initial online application to reference checks, we follow a thorough process that assesses your unique skills and experiences as they relate to the role you’re applying for. We also determine that your motivations fit with our mission and the core values that make Teach For America a unique workplace.
There are five basic steps in our application process, which combined take about six-to-10 weeks to complete. These steps allow you to take the time to determine if TFA is the right fit for you and your aspirations, as well.
Learn more about each step below.
Our hiring process is highly selective, so we encourage you to complete your online application carefully and accurately. We suggest applying for no more than three positions at a time. Your cover letter should demonstrate an understanding of Teach For America and the position to which you are applying. Your resume should outline your past accomplishments and leadership experiences.
Please also include any supplemental materials (e.g., a writing sample) specified in the job description. Your application will not be considered complete without all materials. Once you submit your application, you’ll receive an email confirming that we received your application. Unless a deadline is specified in the job description, your application will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
Due to candidate volume, we typically only contact candidates moving forward in the interview process. If invited for an interview, you’ll also receive an email with helpful links to learn more about life at TFA, our core values, and our regional and national offices.
First interviews are typically conducted over the phone. You’ll be asked to share more about your past accomplishments and speak to your interest in and fit with the role. Please note that if you’ve applied to multiple positions, we will only consider you for the roles for which you are best suited.
You may be invited to a series of subsequent interviews with the hiring manager and other members of the team after your initial interview. Getting the right fit is important to us, so you could have a single interview or multiple interviews for a given position.
In subsequent interviews, you may be asked to role-play a scenario you might encounter in the position and/or complete a work-related exercise, such as a project plan, an analytical exercise, or a response to a prompt. You should be prepared to dedicate a few hours to subsequent interviews and additional exercises.
Once our hiring managers have identified a finalist, they will talk to the candidate’s references. This is to get another lens on the candidate’s strengths and areas of development.
Working on Staff at Teach For America
Teach For America staff members are passionate people who come to work each day knowing they are changing lives alongside a community of colleagues and friends. It’s our responsibility as an organization to support our staff members in their work by creating an inclusive and rewarding work culture.
That’s why our workplace operations are centered around leadership development, diversity, and employee benefits that provide the flexibility and support that allows our staff members to thrive and achieve their career and life goals.
Curious to learn more? Read about life on staff at Teach For America.
Meet Our Staff Teams
We are all over the map—literally. As a TFA staff member, you can work on one of our 51 regional teams or 15 national teams, from a TFA office or at your home desk.
Regional teams advance TFA’s work at the local level. Learn more about where our regional staff teams work.
Our national staff provides direction and support for TFA’s work all over the country. Team members have expertise in areas such as marketing, finance, recruitment, and teacher preparation. They work in collaboration with regional teams to make a strong, unified organization.
TFA’s work is about passionate people committed to making a difference in communities. Our Admissions team is charged with building—and continuously improving—an equitable, effective admissions process to find those leaders. Admissions decisions are tough, but our Admissions team prides itself on solving complicated problems through thoughtful research and with an eye on what’s best for kids.
The Collective Leadership and Engagement team inspires alumni to fulfill their potential and continue working toward our mission throughout their lives. TFA’s network of diverse, remarkable, powerful, and convicted leaders take on the massive and complex challenges of educational inequity, and the CLE team works to support them along the way.
Teach For America’s Communications & Regional Public Affairs team is the internal and external voice of Teach For America. We amplify and elevate the stories of our students and network to raise awareness and foster individual and collective commitment to end educational inequity. We set TFA’s proactive and responsive communications strategy to advance our mission, goals, and public policy agenda. We also set the national media strategy for TFA, and cultivate relationships with nationally influential members of the press corps; create the strategy and execution of CEO communication, and ensure effective rapid response and crisis communication management. We support and guide communications and public affairs strategy development in regions, lend specialized execution support, and surface storytelling opportunities. Finally, we design and build the communications and public affairs organizational learning agenda and infrastructure to grow brand stewardship and build capacity of communications and public affairs practitioners.
The National Development team grows and strengthens Teach For America's philanthropic partnerships in ways that maximize financial and broader contributions to the organization's work and long-term sustainability.
The digital product team is responsible for Teach For America’s overall digital ecosystem for our participants, spanning the website and application through supporting tools for teaching corps members and TFA alumni. Product managers, user experience professionals, and digital analytics specialists collaborate to make TFA's digital products as valuable for TFA and our users as possible. To do this, we work in deep partnership with most other Teach For America national teams.
The Finance team ensures that we have the resources and reputation to achieve our vision. The team oversees all financial matters, including accounting operations, planning and analysis, grants and contracts administration, and payroll processes.
The Information Technology team is passionate about technology and collaboration to make a difference for TFA staff and corps members. IT creates tech solutions that allow everyone to work more effectively and efficiently. IT works with some of the biggest names in technology to leverage the latest software, equipment, and expertise.
The Legal Affairs, Risk, and Compliance team provides legal and strategic advice to all TFA regional and national teams. Our team of attorneys practice in a wide range of substantive areas, including employment law, administrative law, nonprofit law, trademark and copyright protection, general compliance, and education law.
Teach For America’s National Marketing team develops and executes against a unified audience engagement strategy and plan to reach new and existing audiences. Our One Day Studio produces authentic, differentiated, and diverse content and creative that sparks curiosity and conversation and moves the next generation of locally-rooted and nationally connected leaders to take action in the fight for educational equity.
The Office of the CEO makes sure TFA’s overall strategy and operations are working effectively and accomplishing goals. From speeches to tweets—and everything in between—the team works alongside our CEO Elisa Villanueva Beard to advance the conversation on educational equity, while ensuring everyone stays focused on the vital work with students, families, and communities.
The Organizational Learning and Strategy team accelerates TFA’s organizational learning and helps ensure that the resulting knowledge drives strategic and tactical decisions at every level. The team accomplishes this by leading internal and external research efforts; ensuring that data, analytics, and reporting are driving impact; and providing expertise and consultative support on effective learning.
Teach for America’s People Team is committed to Teach For America being the greatest place to work by creating an environment where all people experience, take action, and live into our mission to deliver positive impact for the students we serve.
The Public Partnerships team helps build an ever-expanding and increasingly diverse movement of leaders in the private and public sectors committed to educational equity. The team is responsible for accelerating impact by building partnerships with schools, districts, supporters, government, community organizations, and other education institutions; developing and executing corps member placement strategy; and raising financial support to enable growth and operations.
Real Estate & Workplace manages Teach For America's national facilities and oversees real estate strategy to provide an inclusive, productive, and efficient work experience for all staff. The team’s work is everywhere, but it feels most successful when it operates so seamlessly that others never know it’s there—keeping the wheels turning so teams across the country can focus on expanding opportunities in communities.
The Recruitment team works to enlist the country’s most promising future leaders in the movement to eliminate educational inequity. It works to identify and inspire thousands of potential corps members on college campuses and from multiple career sectors to apply to and join TFA. It’s also responsible for meeting our organization’s ambitious goals for the growth and diversity of our corps along racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic lines.
The National Community Impact & Equity and Belonging Office partners with all TFA teams and our regional boards to define a meaningful regional strategy and achieve success against critical health measures related to: program; finances; staff culture and performance; stakeholder engagement; and brand health, as well as lead the way for all of TFA to live up to our DEI commitments and racial equity aspirations.
The Teacher Leadership Development team provides resources and experiences to help corps members, alumni, and school partners amplify their impact. It ensures corps members are set up for success from day one by providing strong training and ongoing development, so students have the leaders they deserve.
Joining TFA Staff Questions
You may have some questions about the staff application process. Below are answers to frequently asked questions:
We’re so glad you’re interested in staff positions at Teach For America. However, due to the number of applications we receive each day, we don’t have the capacity to have individualized conversations with prospective candidates. To be fair to all candidates, we encourage you to browse all positions that fit your interest and background experience and submit an application online.
If you haven’t received confirmation of your application submission, make sure your email address is correct in your application profile. Please also adjust your spam filters so that you receive communication from staffing@teachforamerica.org.
A member of our hiring team will contact you for an interview if your profile corresponds to the requirements of the job to which you applied. If you don't hear from us, we have determined that your profile is not aligned with the role's needs. We will keep your resume on file for consideration for opportunities that become open in the future.
Yes! Teach For America offers paid internships and roles to undergraduates from all college majors and in all parts of the country. Several of our partners also have opportunities for you to get involved. Find out more on Internships and Experiences.
Any applicant who requires an accommodation for a disability—either to apply for a position or to proceed with the job search process—should contact staffing@teachforamerica.org.
After you are hired, you should provide documents that prove your identity and prove you are work-authorized (eligible to work legally in the United States). Acceptable documents are your Employment Authorization Document (EAD), driver’s license and social security number, which you will notate on a Form I-9.
Our Human Assets team will submit the information from your I-9 in an online system called E-Verify which compares your I-9 information to data from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration's records to confirm employment eligibility. Shortly after you are hired, you’ll need to complete a W-4 form to allow Teach For America to determine the amount of taxes to withhold from your paycheck.
Do you have a question we didn’t answer here? Email us at staffing@teachforamerica.org.