Pratham USA to Award Wendy Kopp of Teach for America

Pratham USA Award for Outstanding Service in Education to be presented to Wendy Kopp, Founder and CEO of Teach for America and Teach for All.

New York, NY, May 14, 2012 — Pratham USA announced today the selection of Wendy Kopp as the recipient of the third annual Pratham USA Award for Outstanding Service in Education.  The Award serves to recognize the remarkable ability of an individual to effect change and dramatically impact the delivery of education to the underprivileged.

Kopp is the chief executive officer and founder of Teach for America. She proposed the creation of Teach for America in her undergraduate senior thesis at Princeton in 1989 and has spent the last 22 years working to grow the organization's impact. Under her leadership, Teach for America’s nearly 33,000 participants have reached more than 3 million children nationwide during their two-year teaching commitments. They have sustained their commitment as alumni, working inside and outside the field of education to ensure educational excellence and equity for all children.

Kopp is also chief executive officer and co-founder of Teach For All, a global network of independent social enterprises which are working to expand educational opportunity in their nations by recruiting and developing their nation's most promising future leaders to commit two years to teach in high-need areas and become lifelong leaders for educational excellence and equity.   Teach For All is working to accelerate the impact of 24 organizations in virtually every region of the world, including Teach For India.

“It is a tremendous honor to receive this award from Pratham, an organization I admire so much for its ability to achieve real scale and its commitment to measurable impact and continuous improvement.  I feel privileged to work together with you towards the day when all children have the opportunity to attain an excellent education," said Kopp.

Prior Pratham USA  award recipients include Nobel Laureate and Harvard Professor, Amartya Sen, Thomas W. Lamont University Professor, and Professor of Economics and Philosophy, at Harvard University, Nandan Nilekani, Chairperson, Unique Identification Authority of India and Chairman Emeritus, Infosys Technologies, Ltd., and Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson, Pratham Books and Chairperson, Arghyam Trust.

“We applaud Wendy for her achievements in the education field both in the US and abroad.  Wendy is an inspirational and accomplished leader and as fellow participants in expanding educational opportunities for the underprivileged and underserved, we at Pratham wish her continued success in her global endeavors,” said Pratham USA Chairman, Arvind Sanger.

The Award will be formally presented to Wendy Kopp on November 2^nd at the Pratham USA Tri-State Gala to be held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.  For more information about the event or to purchase tickets, please contact skarra@prathamusa.org