Cami Anderson

Abstract

Cami Anderson grew up one of 12 children in a multiracial household. Her parents, both activists, adopted nine children, many of whom had special needs and faced significant academic and cultural challenges. Growing up, Anderson was struck by the inequities she saw her siblings facing in the school system, and it was this experience that led her to a degree in education.

Anderson has made a career out of taking what worked in her childhood living room and using it to create highly-effective classrooms where even the most disadvantaged children can thrive. Her success as the superintendent of New York City’s challenging 79th District, as well as the Executive Director of Teach for America, quickly established her as a leader in the school reform movement, a position that was firmly cemented when she became the face of One Newark, a highly-visible school reform project championed by then New Jersey mayor Cory Booker and governor Chris Christie and funded, in part, by a sizeable donation from Mark Zuckerberg.

Unfortunately, One Newark was not the school reform success story anyone had hoped it would be, and Anderson left only 4 years in to what was supposed to be a ten-year project. After One Newark, she founded ThirdWay Solutions, a nonprofit dedicated to correcting equity issues in a variety of industries and aspects of education. ThirdWay Solutions is currently working on several significant initiatives, including the Discipline Revolution Project, the 20% Project, and Operation ABAR. Much of her current work centers on ending the school-to-prison pipeline.