Wendy Kopp

CEO and Co-founder of Teach For All 

Wendy Kopp is CEO and Co-founder of Teach For All, a global network of independent organizations working to develop collective leadership to ensure all children have the opportunity to fulfill their potential. Prior to launching Teach For All in 2007, Wendy founded and led Teach For America—which has proven to be an unparalleled source of long-term leadership for expanding opportunity for children in the United States—for 24 years. Wendy led the development of Teach For All to be responsive to the initiative of social entrepreneurs around the world who were determined to adapt this approach in their own countries. 

Wendy is the author of A Chance to Make History: What Works and What Doesn’t in Providing an Excellent Education for All (2011) and One Day, All Children: The Unlikely Triumph of Teach For America and What I Learned Along the Way (2000). She holds honorary doctorate degrees from 15 universities and is the recipient of numerous awards including the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship (2008) and the Schwab Foundation’s Outstanding Social Entrepreneur Award (2003).Wendy holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and resides in New York City with her husband and their four children.

"Today’s students will need not only to navigate an uncertain world but to lead it—starting today. I’m looking forward to learning from these incredible finalists about their vision and efforts to shape a better future for themselves and all of us."