Rodney Robinson has over 20 years experience as an educator with Richmond Public Schools. He graduated from King William High School in rural Virginia in 1996. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from Virginia State University in 2000 and a master’s in educational administration and Supervision from VCU in 2011. He taught secondary social studies in middle and high school for 20 years. He spent 5 years of that time at Virgie Binford Education Center, a school inside the Richmond Juvenile Jail.

His accomplishments in education vary from his professional growth to his students’ personal growth. He has received numerous awards for his accomplishments in and out of the classroom, notably the R.E.B. Award for Teaching Excellence. He has worked with Pulitzer winning author James Foreman to develop curriculum units on Race, Class, and Punishment as a part of the Yale Teachers Institute. He was named 2019 HBCU male alumnus of the year by HBCUdigest.com. He was named #8 on the Root magazine’s Top 100 influential African Americans of 2019. He was also named 2019 Richmonder of the Year by Richmond Magazine and the Richmond Times Dispatch. He was named the 2019 National Teacher of the Year by the Council of Chief States Schools’ Officers. He used his time as national teacher of the year to advocate for economic equity and cultural equity to make sure students have teachers and administrators who look like them and value their culture.

He has been a member of the Google Edu Equity Board since 2020 and is a member of the US Chamber of Commerce Future of Data Education Committee. He is currently a Senior Advisor with Richmond Public Schools in charge of Teacher and Leader Pathways. He has started the RVA Men Teach Program to recruit and retain male minority teachers in Richmond Public Schools. In 2022, he partnered RVA Men Teach with the Virginia State University School of Education to launch the first Paid HBCU Teacher residency in America. His passion is helping the underprivileged and underrepresented populations in America.

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