About
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Layla Avila leads The New Teacher Project’s (TNTP) efforts to broaden impact through strategic partnerships. Layla also serves as chief of staff for Chief Executive Officer, Dan Weisberg, and oversees TNTP’s new business development, and external research and evaluation.
Previously, as an executive vice president, Layla oversaw all of TNTP’s work to recruit and train new teachers. Under her leadership, TNTP’s Teaching Fellows Programs pioneered new ways of preparing teachers to be effective in the classroom. Before that, as vice president and partner for TNTP’s Teaching Fellows programs, Layla managed the design and implementation of projects across the Southwest.
Layla started her career with Teach For America in 1997, working as a bilingual and ESL teacher at August A. Mayo Elementary School in Compton, CA, and serving on the school’s Leadership Team. She also served as an analyst for the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, an interagency working group to increase educational opportunities for Hispanic Americans.
Layla holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Columbia University and a Masters in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Layla was elected to the South Whittier School District Board of Trustees in 2005. In 2008, she was one of 10 women honored by Maybelline and People en Español magazine with the “Beauty of Education” award, for outstanding individuals having a significant, positive impact on education in America.
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