URBANHAM News w/ guest Samantha Williams

Samantha Williams is the executive director of Birmingham Promise, an organization that supports and prepares Birmingham City School students to pursue postsecondary options that will lead to economic security, mobility, and prosperity. She comes to this role having spent nine years at Teach For All, a global network focused on expanding educational opportunity around the world. Most recently, she led Teach For All’s Global Girls’ Education Initiative, and previously, she served in New York as the organization’s chief of staff and in Johannesburg as the head of its operations in Africa. Before joining Teach For All, Samantha worked for Harvard University, where she managed its partnership with the University of Johannesburg Education Leadership Institute to support the professional development of South African educators. She previously worked in South Africa as a residence director and teacher at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, and in Atlanta with Communities In Schools of Georgia. A Daphne, Alabama native, Samantha is a graduate of Georgetown University, and has an MA in Development Studies from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, and an Ed.M. in International Education Policy from Harvard University. SPONSORED BY: Ed Farm + Birmingham City Schools & Sheriff Mark Pettway