Accelerator Cities

Guest blogging today is Sam O’Bryant , an EP Alum who currently serves as the Senior Director for Equity & Partnerships at SchoolSeed Foundation in Memphis. Sam is a graduate of Alcorn State University and an advocate of historically Black colleges and universities. Sam is a husband, a dad, and a graduate student. When I began working in Memphis in 2012 at Memphis City Schools Foundation, I arrived during the halfway point of a major investment in teacher effectiveness. The work was worthy and victories were won, and the long-term focus was on making teachers the absolute best they could...

Bakari Ukuu moved to Kansas City as a Teach For America corps member in 2012. He is originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma (and is very excited to hear EP is expanding there in 2018 ), but found his place in Kansas City and decided to put down roots. While an instructional coach, Ukuu joined Education Pioneers and worked in the Kansas City Public Schools in the Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Development department where he helped embed social justice standards and develop culturally-responsive curriculum, while also delivering districtwide professional development. We talked to Bakari, now...

Stephen Fedore was a 2012 EP Fellow and now, he’s the Chief Analytics Officer at Tulsa Public Schools —an on-the-rise district serving approximately 42,000 students in 86 schools with roughly 7,000 employees. EP is expanding to Tulsa in 2018 where EP Alums Martin Green, Director of Academic Services and Impact (2014 Fellow); Quentin Liggins, Director of Talent Initiatives (2016 Fellow); and Stephen are already working at Tulsa Public Schools. Stephen was born in Oklahoma, but grew up in California. He never thought he would return to Oklahoma to make a life and career in Tulsa, but he’s...

MEMPHIS is a great place to live and work, not to mention it’s a music lover’s dream. The city is known as the “Home of the Blues” and the “Birthplace of Rock and Roll.” Walk the 1.8 miles of Beale Street in downtown Memphis and you will understand the soul of soul music. Elvis Presley got his start here (you can visit his home of Graceland ), as did Aretha Franklin, Johnny Cash, Al Green, BB King, and so many more. Memphis is serious about attracting and retaining passionate, committed professionals to address the challenges that prevent many students from receiving an equitable education...

In the EP Blog post “ Four Places to Support Equity and Boost Your Career Like Nowhere Else ,” we discussed the importance of the network’s “accelerator cities” — some of our smaller locations that are high priority because they have a particularly high demand for talented leaders, as well as offer unique opportunities to impact education and advance careers rapidly. New Orleans is on that list, along with Memphis, Kansas City, and Tulsa. 2014 EP Fellow Meladee Evans began her career in education during her placement at Algiers Charter School Association in New Orleans. Although she was a...

If you want to create equity and effect meaningful change in public education, take civil rights leader Bryan Stevenson’s advice : Get proximate . Get close to people and communities – and stay close. There are four particularly important and unique cities to get proximate and make your mark: New Orleans , Memphis , Kansas City , and Tulsa . At EP, we call them “accelerator cities.” NEW ORLEANS MEMPHIS KANSAS CITY TULSA Accelerator cities are high priority sites that have a particularly high demand for talented leaders. Th ey hold unique opportunities to impact education and advance your...