Speaker bio

Throughout history, social movements—from the U.S. Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and ‘60s, to New Zealand’s Māori Protest Movement in the 1970s, to Perestroika in the USSR in the 1990s—have been driven by the groups most affected by oppression. How do we support this motivation for social change in the communities and countries where we work, where not every student will enjoy equal life opportunities due to race, socio-economic status, and other factors?

Since 2003, Teach First has placed more than 7,000 teachers in 980 schools and reached more than 1 million children in the UK. Teach First’s positive reputation across the education system has enabled CEO Brett Wigdortz to pilot two collaborative approaches to closing the gap throughout the UK: the Fair Education Alliance and AchieveTogether. In this session, Brett will explain why Teach First is embracing collective impact, and offer a behind-the-scenes view of what it takes to launch a successful national or regional partnership.

Founder and former CEO of Enseña Perú Alvaro Henzler is now a fellow at the Harvard Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. This year, Alvaro is supporting the Teach For All network to accelerate collective action (the way our alumni and other community members work together to achieve shared aims) and the growth of social movements. In this session, he will share findings from his research, and host a conversation about how we can ensure more effective and purposeful collaboration amongst our alumni and other community members.