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Inspiration June 27, 2018
She is a boss with a cause.
Wendy Kopp is a true member of the #Womenthatdo club.
Kopp is the CEO and founder of Teach for All, a company that got its start in the US and has since spread throughout the world. She is wise and brave, boldly taking on the severe global education inequity. When you hear her speak, you can’t help but feel her passion bubbling up inside you, so that you, too, want to change the world as she is doing, one classroom at a time.
It is easy to feel intimidated when you begin to read up on Kopp’s journey to success. However, her drive is humbling and her beginnings are relatable.
According to Achievement.org, Wendy Kopp was born in Austin, Texas, and spent her pre-college years in various cities throughout the Lone Star State. She was born to a middle class family that owned a small business. She was dedicated to her schooling and participated in several extra-curricular activities. It all sounds like quite a pleasant after-school special, doesn’t it?
Like many of us, Kopp went into college not really knowing what her career would be, according to a talk she gave at Columbia Business School. She went into college as a public policy major at Princeton University. The fact that she ended up a leader in education is reassuring evidence that you really can do almost anything with any degree.
According to Achievement.org, Kopp became aware of the injustice of education in the US while at Princeton. As she met and was influenced by a diverse set of classmates, Kopp noticed how the neighborhoods the students came from affected their ability to be prepared for higher education. When you hear her talk on this subject now, you can see her frustration. You can feel how much it means to her to provide more equal opportunities as far as her program can reach.
Also in her talk at Columbia, Kopp speaks about her procrastination when it came to declaring her thesis in her senior year. Been there, Wendy! When it finally came time for Kopp to settle on a thesis, she clung to her desires for education reform. Thus, the idea of Teach for America was born.
On the Teach for All website, the program is broken down into five steps: “Recruit & Place Participants,” “Support and Develop Teachers,” “Cultivate Collective Leadership,” “Innovate and Share Solutions,” and “Communities Supporting Children to Thrive.” Basically, the company finds the best, most passionate leaders in the midst of their education and puts them into teaching positions in under-privileged communities for two years. Its recruitments are diverse in background but share a similar drive and intelligence.
When you think about this structure, it makes a lot of sense. In my own public education experience, I had a multitude of tired and passive teachers. They seemed to have lost their passion for education. Many were completely out of touch with some of the struggles students face. This was in a relatively suburban neighborhood. I can only imagine what the situation may be like in classrooms in neighborhoods with deeper struggles. Putting students in a class with teachers who are passionate about the future might inspire them to pursue their own passions. Why shouldn’t we put our students’ education in the hands of real leaders with big ideas?
Furthermore, it’s important for any and all future leaders to be aware of the hardships communities face. In her talk at Columbia, Kopp touches on the importance of consciousness. Too often, people at the top very willingly ignore the experiences of those below them. A major critique of Teach for All is its inability to retain the leaders they recruit as teachers. However, these leaders will carry the knowledge of what they have seen with them into any endeavor. From this, they are then able to address the issues many of our students face not just in the classroom, but also in the corporate and legal worlds, making changes from the outside in.
Another awesome thing about Teach for All is their ability to put teachers in front of students who look like them. They value the importance of recruiting leaders from under-represented groups. When students see leaders who look like them, they become inspired. They see that it is possible for under-represented groups to find success, despite all the hurdles society throws at them.
Wendy Kopp turned her idea into a reality. She is a true example of a boss woman. She saw the problems facing education and took matters into her own hands. Kopp is now CEO of a company that is vast in its effects and geography. She shows us all the strength and power of a woman on a mission.
Like a true boss, Kopp will eat her humble pie. In her talk at Columbia, she says she understands that the severity of the education problem may be too big for just her company. She willingly invites questioning and notes from critics. In a separate talk at Stanford, Kopp responds calmly and cooly to critique, meeting her opponents halfway but still remaining strong in her beliefs.
Kopp is an inspiration not just to the people in her program, but to women everywhere with dreams of seeing real change.
