Jennifer Albinson

Authentic Leadership: Wendy Kopp

• Born in 1967 in Austin, TX• Attended Princeton University, focused senior thesis on the creation

of a national teachers corps• Founded Teach For America in 1989. First TFA corps in 1990 consisted

of 500 teachers, today there are ~6,000 corps members/year• CEO of TFA for 24 years• Left TFA in 2013, became CEO of Teach For All

Biography

• Lives in Manhattan with her husband, Richard Barth (CEO of KIPP) and their four children (aged 4-12)• Wakes up at 3 a.m. on

weekdays. “Sleeps in” until 5 or 6 on weekends• Runs daily• Family rituals include

church/bagels, “Value of the Month,” and Sunday night dinners out

Personal Life

“I reflect an hour a week on the overall strategic plan for myself — what do I need to do to move my priorities forward? And then there are the 10 minutes a day that I spend thinking about, “O.K., so based on the priorities for the week, how am I going to prioritize my day tomorrow?” I don’t know how I could do what I do without spending that time. I am obsessive about that system because the world seems to be moving faster and faster, so you have to figure out how to still drive things proactively instead of just becoming completely reactive.”

Wendy’s secrets

• Wendy is totally boring (“charisma is overrated”)• Lives the TFA values: relentlessness, humility,

and spirit of possibility• Learnings for my career:• Deliberate approach to setting priorities

(“your life is a system that you can change”)• Daily time dedicated to the self domain• Same Wendy Kopp, whether in front of

donors, teachers, or family

Why I love Wendy Kopp

Thanks, Wendy