Wendy Kopp

Last updated
Wendy Kopp
Wendy Kopp - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2012.jpg
Kopp in 2012
Born
Wendy Sue Kopp

(1967-06-29) June 29, 1967 (age 56)
Education Princeton University (Bachelors of Art)

Wendy Sue Kopp (born June 29, 1967) is the CEO and co-founder of Teach For All, a global network of independent nonprofit organizations working to expand educational opportunity in their own countries and the Founder of Teach For America (TFA), a national teaching corps.

Contents

Background

Wendy Kopp attended Highland Park High School in Dallas, Texas and later was an undergraduate in the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. She received her Arts Baccalaureate degree from Princeton in 1989 and was a member of Princeton's Business Today and the University Press Club.

Teach For America

In 1989, Kopp proposed the creation of Teach For America in her 177-page long senior thesis titled "An Argument and Plan for the Creation of the Teachers Corps" which she completed under the supervision of Marvin Bressler. [1] [2] She was convinced that many in her generation were searching for a way to assume a significant responsibility that would make a real difference in the world and that top college students would choose teaching over more lucrative opportunities if a prominent teacher corps existed. [3]

Shortly after graduating from Princeton, Kopp founded Teach For America. In 1990, 500 recent college graduates joined Teach For America's charter corps.

In 2007, Kopp founded Teach For All, a global network of independent nonprofit organizations that apply the same model as Teach For America in other countries. [4]

In 2013, Kopp transitioned out of the role of CEO of Teach For America and named Elisa Villanueva Beard and Matt Kramer as co-CEOs of the organization. Villanueva Beard assumed full leadership in September 2015. Today, Kopp remains an active member of Teach For America's board. [5]

Kopp chronicled her experiences at Teach For America in two books, One Day, All Children: The Unlikely Triumph of Teach For America and What I Learned Along the Way and A Chance To Make History: What Works and What Doesn't in Providing an Excellent Education For All .

According to 2012 online records, Kopp makes at least $416,876 per year. [6]

Personal life

Wendy Kopp is married to Richard Barth, president of the KIPP Foundation. They have four children and live in Manhattan. [7]

Awards

Honorary doctorates
Awards

Trivia

On February 5, 2007, Kopp appeared on The Colbert Report . [12]

Published works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toni Morrison</span> American novelist, essayist and academic (1931–2019)

Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison, known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, The Bluest Eye, was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed Song of Solomon (1977) brought her national attention and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 1988, Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize for Beloved (1987); she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Burns</span> American documentarian and filmmaker (born 1953)

Kenneth Lauren Burns is an American filmmaker and historian known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV and/or the National Endowment for the Humanities and distributed by PBS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirley M. Tilghman</span> Canadian molecular biologist and president emerita of Princeton University

Shirley Marie Tilghman, is a Canadian scholar in molecular biology and an academic administrator. She is now a professor of molecular biology and public policy and president emerita of Princeton University. In 2002, Discover magazine recognized her as one of the 50 most important women in science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Waters</span> American chef, restaurateur, and author

Alice Louise Waters is an American chef, restaurateur, and author. In 1971, she opened Chez Panisse, a restaurant in Berkeley, California, famous for its role in creating the farm-to-table movement and for pioneering California cuisine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Randall</span> American theoretical physicist

Lisa Randall is an American theoretical physicist and Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University. Her research includes the fundamental forces of nature and dimensions of space. She studies the Standard Model, supersymmetry, possible solutions to the hierarchy problem concerning the relative weakness of gravity, cosmology of dimensions, baryogenesis, cosmological inflation, and dark matter. She contributed to the Randall–Sundrum model, first published in 1999 with Raman Sundrum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suzan-Lori Parks</span> American playwright

Suzan-Lori Parks is an American playwright, screenwriter, musician and novelist. Her play Topdog/Underdog won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2002; Parks was the first African-American woman to receive the award for drama. She was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2023.

Teach For America (TFA) is a nonprofit organization whose stated mission is to "enlist, develop, and mobilize as many as possible of our nation's most promising future leaders to grow and strengthen the movement for educational equity and excellence."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nannerl O. Keohane</span> American political theorist

Nannerl "Nan" Overholser Keohane is an American political theorist and former president of Wellesley College and Duke University. Until September 2014, Keohane was the Laurance S. Rockefeller Distinguished Visiting Professor of Public Affairs and the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. She is now a professor in social sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, where she is researching the theory and practice of leadership in democratic societies.

Sheldon Sanford Wolin was an American political theorist and writer on contemporary politics. A political theorist for fifty years, Wolin became Professor of Politics, Emeritus, at Princeton University, where he taught from 1973 to 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnnetta Cole</span> American anthropologist

Johnnetta Betsch Cole is an American anthropologist, educator, museum director, and college president. Cole was the first female African-American president of Spelman College, a historically black college, serving from 1987 to 1997. She was president of Bennett College from 2002 to 2007. During 2009–2017 she was Director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art. Cole served as the national chair and 7th president for the National Council of Negro Women from 2018 to 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Geller</span> American astronomer

Margaret J. Geller is an American astrophysicist at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. Her work has included pioneering maps of the nearby universe, studies of the relationship between galaxies and their environment, and the development and application of methods for measuring the distribution of matter in the universe.

The Institute for Citizens & Scholars is a nonpartisan, non-profit based in Princeton, New Jersey that aims to strengthen American democracy by “cultivating the talent, ideas, and networks that develop lifelong, effective citizens.” It administers programs that support civic education and engagement, leadership development, and organizational capacity in education and democracy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John C. Mather</span> American astrophysicist and cosmologist (born 1946)

John Cromwell Mather is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate for his work on the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite (COBE) with George Smoot.

<i>One Day, All Children</i> Book by Wendy Kopp about Teach for America

One Day, All Children: The Unlikely Triumph of Teach For America and What I Learned Along the Way (ISBN 1586481797) is the first book by Wendy Kopp, CEO and Founder of Teach For America. It was published by PublicAffairs in April 2003, thirteen years after the launch of Teach For America. A new edition with a new afterword by the author was issued in early 2011 to coincide with the organization's 20th anniversary. The title is drawn from Teach For America's vision statement: "One day, all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education."

John P. Morgridge is an American businessman who was the CEO and chairman of the board of Cisco Systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morton O. Schapiro</span> American economist

Morton Owen Schapiro is an American economist who served as the 16th president of Northwestern University from 2009 to 2022.

<i>The Princeton Tory</i> Conservative publication by Princeton University students

The Princeton Tory is a magazine of Conservative political thought written and published by Princeton University students. Founded in 1984 by Yoram Hazony, the magazine has played a role in various controversies, including a national debate about white privilege. Notable alumni include United States Senator Ted Cruz and Wendy Kopp, the founder of Teach for America. Four editors have gone on to be Rhodes scholars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynn Pasquerella</span> American academic

Lynn C. Pasquerella is an American academic and the 14th president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities. Before she assumed this position, she was the 18th president of Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, serving from 2010 to 2016. She was a professor of philosophy at the University of Rhode Island for 22 years before becoming URI's Associate Dean of the Graduate School. From 2006 to 2008 she was Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Rhode Island. She was the Provost of the University of Hartford from 2008 to 2010. She also served as the President of the Phi Beta Kappa Society from 2018 to 2021.

Teach For All is a global network of 61 independent, locally led and funded partner organizations whose stated shared mission is to "expand educational opportunity around the world by increasing and accelerating the impact of social enterprises that are cultivating the leadership necessary for change." Each partner aims to recruit and develop diverse graduates and professionals to exert leadership through two-year commitments to teach in their nations' high-need classrooms and lifelong commitments to expand opportunity for children. The organization was founded in 2007 by Wendy Kopp and Brett Wigdortz. Teach For All works to accelerate partners' progress and increase their impact by capturing and sharing knowledge, facilitating network connections, provisioning global resources, and fostering leadership development of staff, teachers, and alumni.

<i>A Chance to Make History</i>

A Chance to Make History: What Works and What Doesn't in Providing an Excellent Education for All is a book by Wendy Kopp, CEO and founder of Teach For America. It was published by PublicAffairs in January 2011.

References

  1. Patel, Ushma, Marvin Bressler, sociologist, education pioneer and mentor, dies Archived 2017-05-09 at the Wayback Machine , News at Princeton, Princeton University, July 9, 2010 12:42 p.m. ET. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  2. Kopp, Wendy S. Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (ed.). "An Argument and Plan for the Creation of the Teachers Corps". Archived from the original on 2021-01-25. Retrieved 2020-05-27.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. "Kopp Named MHC Commencement Speaker". 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-06-02. Retrieved 2007-04-24.
  4. "Our History". Archived from the original on 2015-04-07. Retrieved 2012-11-29.
  5. "Teach For America Founder Voted Chair of the Board". 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-03-27. Retrieved 2013-03-15.
  6. "Compensation of Leaders (FYE 09/2012)". 2012. Archived from the original on 2022-05-02. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
  7. Gootman, Elissa (2011-04-10). "No Breakfast, but Bagels for Lunch". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 2011-04-12. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
  8. "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement. Archived from the original on 2017-12-12. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
  9. "2006 Summit Highlights Photo". Archived from the original on 2020-09-17. Retrieved 2021-01-08. Summit Host George Lucas congratulates Wendy Kopp, founder and President of Teach for America, on receiving the Gold Medal of the Academy of Achievement during the 2006 International Achievement Summit in Los Angeles.
  10. "National - Jefferson Awards Foundation". Jefferson Awards Foundation. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  11. "Wendy Kopp, 1991 Echoing Green Fellow". 2012. Archived from the original on 2017-11-16. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  12. "Wendy Kopp Pays a Visit to the Colbert Nation". Archived from the original on 2007-03-29. Retrieved 2007-04-19.

Biographies:

Interviews and speeches: