Kira Orange Jones
BESE District 2 Representative

Kira Orange Jones is the Chief Executive Officer of Teach Plus. She sets the organization’s vision and impact strategy and leads its work to develop and advance teachers as leaders in education policy and practice, build a more equitable and excellent education for students through change and innovation, and elevate the teacher leadership movement and the profession. Prior to joining Teach Plus, Kira served as Senior Vice President at Teach for America. In 2019, she founded the TFA Systems Impact Lab, managing ten regions across the Midwest and South while advising TFA regions nationwide on strategy and systems change.

In 2015, Kira was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People In The World. Her other honors include being named Louisianian of the Year by Louisiana Life Magazine and Woman of the Year by the New Orleans City Business Journal. She received the Peter Jennings Award for Civic Leadership presented annually to outstanding Teach For America alumni and, in 2020, was named a Distinguished Alumna of Wesleyan University. Kira is a Moderator for the Pahara Fellowship, a member of the Aspen Global Network, and a founding leadership committee member of Education Leaders of Color (EdLOC). Kira holds a BA in Film Studies and Political Theory from Wesleyan University and a MEd from Harvard University.