Michelle Johnson has worked to give children the skills and knowledge they need to compete in a changing world. As a third grade teacher in Baltimore, to hosting hundreds of community meetings and creating a Youth Cabinet to bring students’ voices into reforming the DC Public Schools, she has been guided by one core principle: put students first. She began her career as a Teach For America corps member in Baltimore. Through her own trial and error in the classroom, she gained tremendous respect for the hard work that teachers do every day. In 1997, she founded and led The New Teacher Project, which recruits and trains teachers to work in urban schools. From 2007 to 2010, she served as Chancellor of District of Columbia Public Schools. Under her stewardship, D.C. schools experienced increases in student achievement, a rise in high school graduation rates and an upswing in enrollment. Following her tenure at DCPS, Ms. Johnson founded StudentsFirst, a national education reform advocacy organization working to ensure great schools and great teachers for all our students.

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