Tia Morris doesn’t just work in education — she re-engineers the system from the inside out.
Executive Director of Teach For America New York and a ’98 corps alum, Tia has spent more than two decades doing what most people only tweet about: fighting for every child’s right to an excellent education and a real shot at economic mobility.
She’s the leader who refuses to play the “education reform” game as usual. Instead, she drags the conversation where it actually belongs — onto community transformation. Tia knows students don’t live in silos, so the solutions can’t either. If we want kids to thrive, we need to take a hard look at every intersecting system shaping their lives.
Her approach is simple and radical at the same time:
Listen to the people closest to the challenge.
Parents. Young people. The educators in the room doing the work every day.
If their voices aren’t centered, nothing changes — and Tia doesn’t do performative change.
Before returning to NYC, she broke ground in Chief-level roles across TEAM Charter Schools, Newark Public Schools, and Camden City School District — building conditions where families could actually feel their power.
For the past seven years, she’s been growing the next wave of classroom, system, and cross-sector leaders who are ready to pick up the torch and push equity forward with real momentum.
In short:
Tia Morris builds leaders, empowers families, and turns “equity” from a buzzword into a blueprint.
And she’s bringing that fire to AmpED to 11.
