Kira Orange Jones is the Chief Executive Officer of Teach Plus. She sets the organization’s vision and impact strategy and leads its work to develop and advance teachers as leaders in education policy and practice, build a more equitable and excellent education for students through change and innovation, and elevate the teacher leadership movement and the profession. Prior to joining Teach Plus, Kira served as a Senior Vice President at Teach for America. In 2019, she founded the TFA Systems Impact Lab, managing ten regions across the Midwest and South while advising TFA regions nationwide on strategy and systems change. Kira spent the decade prior at the helm of Teach for America’s Greater New Orleans region, leading it through one of TFA’s most ambitious growth and impact efforts and expanding the organization’s presence from 100 to over 1,000 alumni. In 2011, Kira was elected to her first term on Louisiana’s Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), and was subsequently re-elected in 2015 and 2019. As a state policymaker, she has helped increase teacher pay, strengthened the state’s public charter schools, expanded quality early childhood education for families, and grown the number of students prepared for post-secondary success. Kira is one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People In The World and last year, was honored by her alma mater, Wesleyan University, as a Distinguished Alumna.
