Teach For All is a global network launched in 2007 by Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach For America, and Brett Wigdortz, founder of Teach First in the UK. The organization aims to address educational inequality by supporting national organizations modeled after Teach For America. By 2011, Teach For All had expanded to 23 partner organizations worldwide, each committed to fostering educational improvement through recruiting top graduates to teach in underperforming schools.
In 2011, Teach For All faced numerous dilemmas during its annual conference in Mumbai. A primary challenge was balancing the need for a cohesive strategic framework with the diverse legal, cultural, and economic landscapes of its partner countries. The organization questioned how much local adaptation of the framework was permissible without losing the core mission. Additionally, there were concerns about how Partner Engagement Directors would handle alignment issues between partners and the strategic framework, and how to measure the impact of these adaptations.
Another dilemma was related to the support structure as national organizations matured. Teach For All needed to decide on maintaining its two-year on-the-ground support model versus evolving to other guidance forms. The organization also contemplated establishing centralized services, potentially charging for them, and ensuring partners contributed to knowledge-sharing despite time constraints.