After a decade as a special educator and academic dean at Achievement First, Lucy has garnered the right experience and developed the tools necessary to excel in education leadership roles.

Fascinated by technology and innovation, as a teacher Caryn utilized computers to differentiate learning for her students. She now applies what she learned to design technology solutions, platforms, systems, and experiences for education clients.

Suzy Wang started her time with Teach For America by overcoming a tough first day to thriving in front of the classroom.

Katie shares how her Teach For America experience shaped her career as a leader in education in Dallas-Fort Worth.

As a Black woman from rural Georgia and the first person in her immediate family to graduate college, Danitra Wansley was driven to find a field that would allow her to serve the communities that needed her most.

Committed to a life of service, Steven Ward was called to teach even before TFA. Inspired to be a role model and give back to his community, he joined the corps to help bring more black male leaders into the public schools that need them.

Mary Webster (Memphis '11) connects youth with the arts as the school program coordinator at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.

Morgan Weisman, a Product Marketing Manager for Google for Education, shares her work is changing the lives of educators globally.

Leigh Ann's time in the classroom gave her valuable problem-solving skills and business acumen that propelled her career in consulting, strategy, and operations.

John White began serving as CEO of Great Minds in 2025. He joined the Great Minds team as Chief Success Officer in 2022. Under his leadership, the company more than doubled the size of its services business while also building new customer success, research, and public policy functions. John has also spearheaded partnerships with states across the country, including Texas, where Great Minds provides print, digital, and implementation support for Bluebonnet Math, the new state-approved open education curriculum resource.

John previously served as Louisiana State Superintendent of Education. In that role, John led efforts to unify the state’s fragmented early childhood system, modernize curriculum, improve teacher preparation, and overhaul state educational standards. Over the decade spanning John’s tenure, Louisiana ranked in the top 10 states for improvement on every one of the four main Nation’s Report Card (NAEP) tests.

Before that, John led the Louisiana Recovery School District, helping transform New Orleans schools after Hurricane Katrina, and was Deputy Chancellor for the New York City Department of Education. He served as Executive Director of Teach For America Chicago and Teach For America New Jersey. John started his career teaching high school English in Jersey City, N.J.

John is co-founder of Propel America, a non-profit startup connecting recent high school graduates with good first jobs, and Watershed Advisors, a consultancy to governments scaling high-impact education initiatives. He is a director at the Boston-based training company QBS; at Accelerate, which supports education leaders; and at New Schools for New Orleans. John also is an Education Advisory Council member at the global consultancy Alvarez & Marsal.

John earned a bachelor’s degree with distinction from the University of Virginia, a master’s degree in public administration from New York University, and doctorate in education from Johns Hopkins University. He lives in New Orleans with his wife and three children.