City Teaching Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to preparing culturally responsive and effective educators for their careers, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Rahesha S. Amon as its new Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Amon is an award-winning educator and executive with over 25 years of leadership experience. She joins City Teaching Alliance from the New York City Department of Education, where she most recently served as the Senior Executive Director of School Support and Operations.
“I’m honored and excited to lead City Teaching Alliance into its next chapter,” said Dr. Amon. “City Teaching Alliance has set an incredible benchmark for teacher development and certification. Hundreds of thousands of students have already benefited from the talented career educators carefully nurtured by our program. However, with our nation facing a widespread teacher recruitment and retention crisis, our work is more critical than ever. It’s time to push for a new standard of excellence for teacher preparation in the United States, with City Teaching Alliance the standard bearers.”
The City Teaching Alliance offers teacher development and certification programs in Baltimore, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and Dallas. The programs include a residency year in a live classroom setting followed by three additional years of teaching. This approach provides practical in-class experience, ongoing coaching, and a Master of Arts in Teaching degree. The goal is to produce dedicated career educators who are committed to making a positive and lasting impact in urban classrooms.
City Teaching Alliance Board Chair Sekou Biddle said: “Dr. Amon embodies our mission and values. That, coupled with her deep professional experience and expertise across the public and nonprofit sectors, makes her the perfect fit for City Teaching Alliance. With uncertified and inexperienced teacher numbers rising nationally due to critical classroom shortages, we need to collectively challenge the status quo of how we prepare our educators for the unique challenges and opportunities of classroom teaching. I’m thrilled Dr. Amon will be leading this critical work for City Teaching Alliance.”
Dr. Amon started her career as an award-winning classroom teacher and then took on various roles such as Educational Coach, Assistant Director of Early Childhood, and Assistant Principal. She later became the founding Principal of Frederick Douglass Academy III in the Bronx, New York. She then moved on to become the Deputy Superintendent and Superintendent of Community School District 16 in Brooklyn. Dr. Amon has received numerous awards and accolades. She holds a doctoral degree from New York University, a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Fordham University, and a Bachelor of Arts from North Carolina Central University.
Dr. Amon is taking over the CEO position that was vacant since Peter Shulman left in February 2024, after holding the role for six years.
