HOUSTON, TEXAS ( July 30, 2024) – Teach For America (TFA) Houston today announced that it has received a generous three-year gift from Kinder Foundation, totaling approximately $1 million. This significant contribution will support the incoming Houston corps members by covering 50% of their $3,500 transitional stipends for one year, helping to fuel talent expansion and position the organization to deepen its impact across the community.
“We are immensely grateful to Kinder Foundation for their extraordinary support of our mission of transforming the city’s educational landscape,” said Tiffany Cuellar Needham, executive director of TFA Houston. “The gift is not only an investment in our organization but in the future of Houston’s students. By reducing the financial barriers to entering the teaching profession, we can recruit and retain exceptional educators committed to driving long-lasting systematic change in education.”
The financial gift from Kinder Foundation comes at a pivotal time for TFA Houston, which partners with local school districts and charter schools to expand educational opportunities for all students. Over the last three decades, the organization has experienced significant growth, and the demand for TFA talent is higher than ever, driven by the ongoing teacher shortages and the urgent need to address the learning crisis exacerbated by the pandemic. As TFA Houston looks toward the future, it aims to increase the size of its incoming corps members to 225 by the 2026-2027 academic year, representing a 50% increase from the organization’s current 150 corps members.
Central to this expansion growth is the ability to offer financial support to all incoming corps members, which has proven critical to attracting top talent. Last year, TFA Houston provided financial stipends to 100% of its incoming corps, resulting in the highest admitted acceptance rate in five years. However, sustaining this level of growth requires an ongoing investment from community partners like Kinder Foundation, whose support is instrumental in our mission to provide excellent education to every child in Houston.
“Kinder Foundation shares Teach For America Houston’s goal to provide Houston students’ a high- quality education through effective educators. As such, we are proud to support their efforts to recruit and retain excellent educators in Houston and have been continually impressed by the caliber of talent the organization provides to Houston schools,” said Nancy Kinder, President and CEO of Kinder Foundation.
For more information about TFA Houston, visit www.teachforamerica.org/houston. For more information about the Kinder Foundation, visit https://kinderfoundation.org.