Wendy Kopp

Biography

Wendy Kopp is CEO and co-founder of Teach For All, which is fueling a global movement for ensuring educational excellence and equity by accelerating the impact of national organizations that are enlisting their nations' most promising future leaders in the effort.

Wendy founded Teach For America in 1989 to marshal the energy of her generation against educational inequity in the United States. Today, 11,000 Teach For America corps members--top recent college graduates of all academic disciplines--are in the midst of two-year teaching commitments in the nation's highest-need urban and rural regions, and Teach For America has proven to be an unparalleled source of long-term leadership for educational change. After leading Teach For America's growth and development for 24 years, she moved into the role of chair of the board in 2013.

Just six years into its development, Teach For All is a growing network of 30 independent organizations around the world, including its founding partners Teach For America and the U.K.'s Teach First.

Wendy has been recognized as one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People and is the recipient of numerous honorary degrees and awards for public service. She is the author of A Chance to Make History: What Works and What Doesn't in Providing an Excellent Education for All (2011) and One Day, All Children: The Unlikely Triumph of Teach For America and What I Learned Along the Way (2000). She holds a bachelor's degree from Princeton University, where she participated in the undergraduate program of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. She resides in New York City with her husband Richard Barth and their four children.