Our regional staff are committed to fostering collective leadership for educational equity, excellence, and systems change in our Indianapolis community – in our students, in our corps members, and in our alumni throughout their lives:
- Our Program Continuum team leads and supports our programmatic strategy across Talent, Corps Member Development, Network Impact, and Communications teams.
- Our Talent team recruits incoming corps members and partners with hiring managers to place them in schools across Indianapolis, and also provides career and professional support to in-region and new-to-region alumni.
- Our Corps Member Development team provides coaching and development to corps members for them to reach ambitious goals with their students and also supports the individual and collective leadership of corps members to pursue equitable change.
- Our Network Impact team fosters a thriving network among our corps members and alumni through commitments to local engagement and direct contribution to accelerating progress towards our vision in partnership with our community.
- Our Communications team augments our regional impact with members and external partners by stewarding our brand and advancing understanding of our strategy across communications channels.
- Our Development team raises the funds and resources to execute against our regional goals and priorities through developing a diverse coalition of civic and community leaders who will advocate and support our work.
- Our Strategy, People Development, and Operations team supports a staff experience that enables our team members to master their roles, learn and grow as developing system leaders, and foster a cohesive and powerful team culture and operations experience.
Learn more about, and find contact information for, our staff members below. Not sure who to contact? Send an email to indy@teachforamerica.org.
Amar Patel
Chicago-Northwest Indiana '07
Executive Director
Teach For America Indianapolis
A native Hoosier, Amar started his career in education as a Teach For America Chicago-Northwest Indiana corps member in 2007. He taught high school chemistry and biology and coached baseball at Wells Academy High School in Chicago. As Executive Director of TFA Indianapolis, Amar sets organizational vision and direction, supporting the impact of over 700 TFA program members on thousands of Indianapolis students and our city more broadly. Prior to assuming the role of Executive Director, he served as a member of the TFA Chicago-Northwest Indiana team, including as Head of Development for five years.
Program Continuum
Chief Program Officer
Taylor Brown
St. Louis
08
Taylor sets our programmatic vision and strategy and manages the Program Continuum (Talent, Corps Member Development, Network Impact, and Communications) team. Contact Taylor
Associate, Program Continuum
Monica Skipwith
Monica leads program coordination, provides strategic scheduling support for executive leadership, and manages corps member certification and AmeriCorps compliance. Contact Monica
Talent
Managing Director, Talent
Casey Parks
New Mexico
03
Casey sets vision and strategy to ensure that we continue to increase the scale, diversity and impact of our network through strategic recruitment and career acceleration. Contact Casey
Manager, Talent
Ryan Calvin
Indianapolis
16
Ryan manages the recruitment and matriculation of incoming corps members and supports with alumni recruitment. Contact Ryan
Corps Member Development
Managing Director, Corps Member Development
JuDonne Hemingway
Indianapolis
11
JuDonne sets the vision and strategy for the development and support of corps members, including managing coaches. Contact JuDonne
Manager, Corps Member Development
Richard Morris
South Carolina
14
Richard provides coaching to corps members through coordinating supports and building a strong culture within a cohort, the corps community, and our larger network. Contact Richard
Manager, Corps Member Development
Jacob Peters
Oklahoma
14
Jacob provides coaching to corps members through coordinating supports and building a strong culture within a cohort, the corps community, and our larger network. Contact Jacob
Manager, Corps Member Development
Brea Porter
Indianapolis
17
Brea provides coaching to corps members through coordinating supports and building a strong culture within a cohort, the corps community, and our larger network. Contact Brea
Network Impact
Managing Director, Network Impact
Anna Watson
Charlotte
06
Anna sets the vision and direction for our network impact, including alumni leadership, engagement, and collective action. Contact Anna
Manager, Network Building
Emily Morphew
Indianapolis
12
Emily drives event planning and execution, pilot programming, and data management for our network. Contact Emily
Manager, Network Development
Randy Pease
Indianapolis
11
Randy helps foster a connected network through facilitating digital platforms and transition of corps members to alumnihood. Contact Randy
Communications
Director, Communications
Cece Zhou
Cece develops and executes our strategic communications work to steward our brand and advance understanding of our regional strategy. Contact Cece
Development
Managing Director, Development
Myke Spencer
Indianapolis
13
Myke sets and oversees the long-term and annual vision and strategy for fundraising and community partnerships. Contact Myke
Manager, Corporate and Foundation Relations
Lauren Hall
Indianapolis
12
Lauren manages relationships with our corporate and foundation partners and writes grants to raise the necessary funding for our work. Contact Lauren
Manager, Events and Stewardship
Claire Jagla
Dallas-Fort Worth
12
Claire leads and manage all donor-facing events, including major fundraising galas, school visits, and cultivation opportunities. Contact Claire
Strategy, People Development, and Operations
Chief of Staff
Dr. Vanessa de Guía
Chicago
02
Vanessa sets the vision and strategy for staff culture and development and manages work streams across the leadership team and program model alignment. Contact Vanessa
Manager, Finance and Operations
Lakisha Crawford
Lakisha designs and maintains sustainable office systems, leads on financial management, and supports with new staff onboarding. Contact Lakisha