A native of Starkville, MS, Rachel received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Upon graduation, Rachel spent two years teaching in Greenville, Mississippi, with Teach For America. She then completed her master’s degree in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. In 2008, Rachel co-founded Mississippi First with her childhood friend and fellow education advocate, Sanford Johnson. Mississippi First has passed two pieces of watershed education legislation–the Early Learning Collaborative Act of 2013 and the Mississippi Charter Schools Act of 2013. Mississippi First also helped Mississippi school districts with the highest teen birth rates adopt evidence-based sex education programs. In 2013, Mississippi First was named Game Changer of the Year for the PIE Network for their work.
Rachel Canter
