Kaya Henderson

Kaya Henderson is Deputy Chancellor for the District of Columbia Public Schools, focuses on organizational strategy, human capital and external relations. As she works to create a more effective Human Resources structure for DCPS, Ms. Henderson draws from her past success in leading similar transformations in urban districts such as Memphis, Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Miami, New York, Oakland, and Philadelphia.

Prior to her appointment as Deputy Chancellor, Ms. Henderson served as the Vice President for Strategic Partnerships at The New Teacher Project (TNTP), where she oversaw the organization's work on improving teacher hiring for school districts from a process, policy and capacity-building perspective. She also launched alternative certification programs - including the DC Teaching Fellows Program - in districts. Her work contributed to the organization's two major reports: "Missed Opportunities: How We Keep High-Quality Teachers Out of Urban Classrooms," and "Unintended Consequences: The Case for Reforming Staffing Rules in Urban Teachers Union Contracts."

Before enacting district-level reforms at The New Teacher Project, Ms. Henderson was impacting teacher hiring and school performance through her work at Teach For America. She served the organization as a Recruiter, National Director of Admissions, and the Executive Director for Teach For America-D.C., where she was responsible for 170 teachers in over 50 D.C. Public Schools.

Ms. Henderson's foundation for education reform came from the classroom. As a Teach-For-America corps member, she taught middle-school Spanish in the South Bronx, spending her summers overseeing the professional development of new teachers at summer institutes. She holds a BS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, where she is also completing a Master's in Leadership at the McDonough School of Business. Ms. Henderson lives in the District and is active in local education organizations.