Kevin Huffman is the founding CEO of Accelerate, a national nonprofit that seeks to embed high-impact tutoring and personalized learning in public schools. Prior to helping launch Accelerate, Huffman was a partner with City Fund. Huffman is the former Tennessee commissioner of education, where he managed the state depart-ment of education in its effort to advance the academic progress of nearly one million students. During Huffman’s tenure, Tennessee had the largest state gains on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Huffman began his education career as a first- and second-grade bilingual teacher in the Houston Independent School District, teaching students in English and Spanish. After attending law school, Huffman represented school districts, state departments of education and universities, working on policy and litigation matters at the Washington D.C. law firm of Hogan & Hartson. Huffman then joined the senior management of Teach For America in 2000, serving as the general counsel, the senior vice president of growth strategy and development, and the executive vice president of public affairs. Huffman graduated from Swarthmore College with a B.A. in English Literature, and from the New York University School of Law where he was on the Law Review. He serves on the national Board of Directors of Teach For America, and previously has served on the Board of Trustees of the University of Tennessee and the Tennessee Board of Regents, and the Boards of Directors of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and Chiefs for Change. Huffman was honored with Teach For America’s highest honor for alumni, the Peter Jennings Award for Civic Leadership, in 2014.
