Ninive Calegari

Ninive Calegari is the co-founder, with Dave Eggers, of 826 National, which she helped grow from a local tutoring program into an influential education phenomenon that partners with schools, families, and community organizations across the country. An emphatic speaker, Calegari explores how scalable social projects can have a profound effect on thousands of young lives.

A former teacher herself, Ninive Calegari is the president of the Teacher Salary Project; the co-author of Teachers Have It Easy; and the co-producer of American Teacher, a documentary by Oscar-winning director Vanessa Roth, with narration by Matt Damon. With McSweeney's founder Dave Eggers, Calegari started 826 Valencia, a student writing program that has spawned 826 National as well as many other local 826 chapters.

Ninive Calegari has dedicated her life to creating supportive and innovative learning environments for both teachers and students, and to raising awareness of the unheralded struggles that many teachers face in simply doing their job. Calegari holds a Master's degree from the Harvard School of Education, and spent ten years as a teacher, at Drake High School in San Anselmo and at San Francisco's first charter school, Leadership High School. She lives in San Francisco, with her husband and two young children.