Dr. Meredith Beckford-Smart, left, with TSTT Founder Dr. Bettye Perkins
Following a nearly year-long extensive search, Today’s Students Tomorrow’s Teachers (TSTT), one of the nation’s leading teacher diversity mentoring programs, announced that Dr. Meredith Beckford-Smart, a Brooklyn native of Irvington, N.Y, has been appointed by the Board of Directors as its first Executive Director.
With more than 20 years’ experience of guiding leading non-profit organizations in the education sector, Dr. Beckford-Smart officially assumed her TSTT duties on
September 9. Most recently, she served as Executive Director for GenSpace, the world’s first community laboratory and REACH (Raising Educational Achievement of Harlem) at Columbia University Teachers College.
As TSTT’s Executive Director, she will focus on the organization’s mission of closing the teacher diversity gap in the nation’s schools by recruiting culturally diverse and economically challenged high school students, mentoring and training them throughout college and helping to place them as effective teachers in schools in their communities.
That mission began nearly 30 years when Dr. Bettye Perkins founded TSTT for which she has served as President and CEO. Under Dr. Perkins’ leadership, TSTT developed a proven and viable mentoring model that has created a pipeline comprising more than 800 qualified high school and college students of color and more than 300 alumni who are changing the lives of students in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Virginia.
Dr. Perkins, who will play a primary role in helping Dr. Beckford -Smart and the TSTT White Plains and regional staff make the transition to the new Executive Director. She will also begin to focus her efforts as a renowned educator to address a related but equally critical issue facing American’s public schools: the diversity gap among school superintendents and other senior-level administrators.
“In general, the pandemic led to a high turnover in superintendent positions which, to begin with, have been underrepresented with educators of color, ”noted Dr. Perkins, adding: “At a time when more than 50% of students in the classrooms reflect the ever-increasing diversity of the general public but only 18% of instructors are teachers of color, the need to increase the diversity ranks of top administrators who are tasked with fostering teacher diversity in their school districts is more urgent than ever more.”
As part of her efforts in helping to close the diversity gap among top-tier administrators, Dr. Perkins will leverage the extensive network of senior-level educators throughout the U.S. that she has cultivated during her 30-year tenure leading TSTT’s growth, as well as TSTT’s cadre of alumni who have achieved successful careers as high-ranking administrators.
Under the leadership of TSTT board chair, Clarence Williams, the search for TSTT’s first Executive Director began more than a year ago when a Search Selection Committee was established comprising of: Keith Johnson, TSTT district mentor and retired associate superintendent for human resources, Prince William County Schools, Va.; Brian Ruder, TSTT supporter, former corporate executive and professor Business School, NYU; Dianne Young, retired IBM Executive, and former TSTT board member and board president, and Dr. Letitia Payne assistant principal, Putnam Valley High School., and a TSTT alum.
The prestigious national and international search firm of Phillips Oppenheim was engaged. It was founded in 1991 to diversify and strengthen the leadership of mission- driven nonprofits.
Dr. Perkins and the Board of Directors lauded the hard work, diligence and commitment of the selection committee members who volunteered their time and expertise in finding Dr. Beckford-Smart following the review of several top-level candidates. She noted that Dr. Beckford-Smart’s background and expertise mirror TSTT’s mission. “She is a transformational leader, forward-thinking visionary and equity -centered strategist who has a highly commendable track record in leading the staffs and devising and executing highly effective programs within the community to improve education, personal development and support systems.”
Previously, Dr. Beckford-Smart, a first-generation college graduate, held leadership positions at New York Edge where she was Community School Director, Deputy Director of College Access/Supervisor and Director of Learning Labs/College Access. She also served as Teacher Development Manager for New York City Teaching Fellows and Assistant Director for Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai. At Columbia University Teachers College, for more than 20 years she was an Executive Director, Senior Researcher and a Pre-Service Teacher Supervisor.
Dr. Beckford-Smart holds a Ph.D. in Science Education from Columbia University; a Master’s in teaching and Learning of Biology for 7 to 12 grades from New York University and a B.S. in Biology from Long Island University. (Note: The attached resume provides more details about Dr. Beckford-Smart)
In a strategic plan she created outlining the goals she has set during the first six months as TSTT’s Executive Director, Dr. Beckford-Smart shared her personal mission statement. It reads:
“As a Not-for-Profit Executive Leader, I aim to empower the next generation of educators and learners by fostering an inclusive, innovative and collaborative educational environment.
I am dedicated to enhancing the quality of teacher preparation through strategic leadership, community engagement and the development of cutting-edge initiatives that inspire lifelong learning and professional growth.
With a commitment to integrity, excellence, and equity, I strive to create transformative learning experiences that equip students and teachers with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in a dynamic and ever evolving world.”
For more information visit: www.tstt.org.
