 |
Teach for America North Carolina (TFA NC) announced a new executive director on Sept. 1, Robyn Fehrman. Fehrman, a lifelong North Carolinian who lives in Durham with her husband and two children, has spent the last 15 years working at the intersection of education and innovation locally, nationally, and globally.
Fehrman previously led TFA – Eastern North Carolina from 2011 to 2015 before the organization’s statewide merger in 2021. She will take the helm following a national search after the departure of Dr. Monique Perry-Graves in May to lead Charlotte-based nonprofit Road to Hire.
“Because of my own family’s story, I deeply know the potential that access to an excellent education has for generational transformation,” Fehrman said. “After working nationally and globally at the intersection of education and innovation for the last 10 years, I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to again work in my own backyard. As a lifelong North Carolinian, I’m looking forward to partnering with communities across our state and boldly imagining a future of learning that creates a life of choices for every young person.”
Sign up for the EdWeekly, a Friday roundup of the most important education news of the week.
Fehrman starts her tenure as the region welcomes corps members, fellows, alumni, and students to the start of a new school year. Prior to this role, Fehrman was the principal at Mindful Social Impact, where she provided “strategic consulting and leadership support to organizations across the social impact ecosystem.”
She served as founding partner at LearnerStudio, which she describes as a “nonprofit intermediary & venture studio working to accelerate progress toward a future of learning where young people thrive in the age of artificial intelligence — as individuals, in careers, and as contributors to a flourishing democracy.”
LearnerStudio’s website says it is focused on the question: “What do young people need to be inspired and prepared to thrive in the Age of AI — as individuals, in careers, and in our diverse democracy?”
Previous roles also include president and CEO of Enactus, a global network educating “young people around the world how to use innovation and entrepreneurship to solve the world’s most pressing problems,” and managing director of the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.
Fehrman earned her Master of Public Administration and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
David Farris, TFA – Eastern North Carolina Advisory Board chair, said, “I am always impressed by the thoughtfulness and thoroughness TFA approaches talent work with, including the search for our next statewide executive director. As a business owner and lifelong North Carolinian, I know Robyn has the leadership chops and local context necessary to take TFA to the next level. I am excited to partner with her as the TFA Eastern North Carolina Advisory Board Chair.”
Don Upton, TFA Charlotte-Piedmont Triad Advisory Board chair, added, “I am deeply impressed and personally motivated by Robyn’s perspective on education and the leadership experience she will be bringing back to TFA. I am excited to partner with her as the TFA Charlotte-Piedmont Triad Advisory Board Chair. As a CEO, I know she has the organizational, policy, and systemic competencies to do this job well from day one.”
Looking forward
As executive director of TFA – Eastern North Carolina, Fehrman expanded the organization’s reach to 25,000 students daily while securing a 675% increase in recurring public funding.
Now, 10 years later, Fehrman returns to a statewide organization that impacts more than 95,000 students every day through Ignite fellows, corps members, alumni teachers, and school leaders and that recently celebrated its 35th anniversary.
With a mission of transforming education and expanding opportunities for all children, TFA NC is part of the national Teach for America organization led by new CEO, Aneesh Sohoni.
Teach for America describes itself as a “leadership development organization for those who want to co-create a more just world alongside young people in their communities” and has grown to a network of more than 70,000 leaders.
In a recent address to incoming 2025 TFA NC corps members, Burroughs Wellcome Fund N.C. Teacher of the Year and TFA – Eastern North Carolina alumna Rachel Candaso shared, “TFA embraces a two-part theory of change. TFA is a leadership development organization, NOT a teacher placement organization. Leaders like us do begin this work with a commitment of at least two years of teaching in an under-resourced urban or rural public school. Informed and inspired by our students, TFA alumni like me then continue to advocate for children from classrooms, schools, and every sector and field that shapes the broader systems in which schools operate for the rest of our lives.”
In the past four years, TFA NC has introduced new programs, including the Reinvesting in Student Excellence (RISE) Fellowship and the Ignite Fellowship.
The RISE Fellowship supports participating fellows and school leaders to “develop and retain high-quality teachers and leaders by focusing on professional development, data-driven instruction, and shared commitment to drive measurable outcomes.”
TFA NC was one of the first regions to sign on to the Ignite Fellowship, a tutoring initiative from the national Teach for America organization for current undergraduate and graduate students and TFA alumni.
Last spring, TFA NC honored Fehrman with a Legacy of Excellence in Educational Leader award. On receiving the award, Fehrman shared, “As the mother of a child with learning differences, I also know that simple access to education is too often not enough. Teach For America’s vision is personal to me — and has never been more important. I’m deeply honored to have had the opportunity to contribute to the organization’s deep and enduring work toward educational equity in my home state.”
Editor’s note: Dr. Monique Perry-Graves serves on EdNC’s board of directors. Molly Urquhart serves on the TFA Eastern NC Advisory Board.
Recommended reading
