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Vice President of National Community Alliances, Teach For America

Brittany Packnett is the vice president of national community alliances at Teach for America (TFA). She is an activist, educator and public thinker from St. Louis, raised in a tradition of social justice. Brittany leads nationally on issues of educational equity, youth leadership development, service and equity in marginalized communities. She is a former Washington, D.C. elementary school teacher, a policy advocate and expert, and capitol hill staffer. She is responsible for managing alliances with constituents of color and crafting the first civil rights agenda for TFA. Brittany has committed her life and career to justice. In Ferguson and beyond, she is an active protester, activist, and organizer. Since the death of Michael Brown in 2014, Brittany has helped organize for change and worked on the planning teams of the Ferguson Protester Newsletter, We The Protestors, and co-founded Campaign Zero, a comprehensive policy platform to end police violence in America. Brittany served as a stalwart community voice and appointee to the Ferguson Commission and President Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing. She continues to advocate for urgent systemic change at critical decision making tables and through national and international media. A sought after speaker, she has addressed crowds from Detroit to New Zealand, and she was recently featured at the historic Oxford Union, the world's oldest debating society. She has been named one of 12 New Faces of Black Leadership in TIME and one of LinkedIn's 2016 Next Wave. She has been featured in The Root and The Ebony 100, and shares the 2015 Peter Jennings Award for Civic Leadership and the number 3 spot on Politico's 2016 50 most influential list with fellow activist, Deray McKesson. She is a Fellow of the 17th class of the Pahara - Aspen Education Fellowship and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.