As Co-Founder and Superintendent of IDEA Public Schools, JoAnn served as part of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics and was honored at the Texas Governor’s Volunteer Awards as a “Champion of Education.”

In 2016, Alicia was elected to the board of trustees for Donna Independent School District, her original Teach For America placement district. In this role Alicia helped support the process of hiring a new superintendent and has improved the district to achieve a B rating in the state accountability system. Alicia also serves on Teach For America national staff.

Cydney joined Teach For America Kansas City from Texas, where she attended Southern Methodist University and studied Political Science, Public Policy, and Human Rights. She found a passion for working with students as an orientation leader in college and is excited to continue that passion as a high school english teacher in Kansas City.

While Kayla was working toward her master’s degree at Mississippi State University, she became interested in the K-12 education system and its role in preparing students for higher education. Committed to bringing the skills she learned in graduate school back home to KC, Kayla joined the Kansas City corps in 2018 as a history teacher.

Juan Carlos joined Teach For America Kansas City in 2013 after graduating from the University of California-Davis. He remains in Kansas City and  works as a math and Spanish literacy teacher for his 4th grade class at Carver Dual Language School.

Katie is a Kansas City native who joined Teach For America in 2008 and went on to help found the C.A. Franklin Elementary School middle school team and, Alta Vista Charter Middle School. She then founded LEANLAB Education, an organization that builds communities and launches transformational innovations into K12 schools

Julia Rafal-Baer, Ph.D joined Teach For America in 2004, where she began her career as a special education teacher in the Bronx. Julia went on to become Assistant Commissioner of the New York State Education Department where she was responsible for the strategy, management, and implementation of teacher and leader initiatives under the state’s Race to the Top grant, Teacher Incentive Fund grant, and other state-wide initiatives. Today, Julia lives in Rhode Island and serves as Chief Operating Officer of Chiefs for Change, a nonprofit network of bipartisan state and city education leaders.

Stephanie Downey Toledo joined Teach For America in 2003, where she taught in Los Angeles. During her time in the corps, Stephanie was selected as a Sue Lehman Regional Finalist. Before coming to Rhode Island, Stephanie served as the Deputy Chief Operating Officer for the Division of Students with Disabilities & English Language Leaders at the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE). Stephanie currently serves as the Interim Superintendent of Central Falls School District in Rhode Island.

Teach For America Chicago-Northwest Indiana alum Sharon Pondner is a veteran teacher who joined TFA in her native Chicago after teaching for 13 years.

Teach For America Chicago-Northwest Indiana alum Anthony Zarate was named a finalist for the 2016 Illinois State Board of Education's annual Teach of the Year Award.