Rachel Willis, Founder of Elevating Equity

Rachel Willis is the CEO & founder of Elevating Equity. Launched in 2016, Elevating Equity is an organization that supports leaders in creating anti-racist environments. In this capacity, Rachel designs and facilitates racial equity workshops and coaches leaders on how to embed anti-racism into the center of everything they do.

Prior to launching Elevating Equity, Rachel redesigned Teach For America’s professional development program in Washington, D.C. and Maryland to center around culturally responsive teaching. She also designed and led a master’s pilot program at Columbia University's Teachers College focused on preparing aspiring principals to lead racially equitable schools.

An award-winning educator, Rachel has over a decade of experience teaching and leading in K-12 and graduate settings. Named the 2009 Atlanta Public Schools Elementary Teacher of the Year and 2010 Milken Educator Award recipient, Rachel previously served on Governor Nathan Deal’s (R-GA) Education Advisory Board and was appointed as a trustee to the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia. In 2019, she joined the board of FoodCorps, a national organization focused on creating a future in which all of our nation’s children – regardless of race, place, or class – know what healthy food is, care where it comes from, and eat it every day. She is the chair of FoodCorps’ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee.

Rachel is a former fellow with the Center for Civic Innovation and received capital from the SPANX by Sara Blakely Foundation and Invest Atlanta to answer the question, “How can Elevating Equity create a generation of racial justice leaders?” A few of Elevating Equity’s current clients include Girls Who Code, DonorsChoose, & Teach For America. Rachel received her B.A. in Government from Smith College and a M.Ed. in Organization and Leadership from Columbia University. She currently resides in Atlanta.