At City Teaching Alliance, we believe that transformative education begins with transformative leadership. It is with great excitement and pride that we announce the newest additions to our Board of Directors: Donald Conyers and Mimi (Woldeyohannes) McKee. These two extraordinary individuals bring decades of combined experience, deep community roots, and an unwavering commitment to educational equity, values that sit at the very heart of everything we do.
As our organization continues to grow and deepen its impact across communities, the composition of our Board plays a critical role in shaping our strategic direction, strengthening our partnerships, and ensuring we remain grounded in the lived realities of the educators and students we serve. Donald and Mimi each bring something invaluable to this work, and together, they represent a powerful reinforcement of our mission to prepare outstanding educators.
Meet Donald Conyers: A Life Dedicated to New York City’s Public Schools
It is rare for someone to understand the inner workings of New York City’s public education system as deeply and personally as Donald Conyers. With thirty-eight years of experience in the NYC Department of Education, Donald has traversed virtually every level of the educational landscape. He began as a classroom teacher and rose through the ranks to serve as First Deputy Chancellor during the 2020–2021 school year.
But what makes Donald’s story particularly powerful is where it began: as a kindergartner at PS 31 in the South Bronx. He is someone who has worked in New York City’s public schools, but he is also a product of them. That lived experience, growing up in one of the country’s most dynamic and underserved urban communities, has shaped his entire approach to educational leadership. He knows what it means for a child to walk through those school doors every morning, and he has spent nearly four decades working to ensure every child who does receives an education worthy of their potential.
Throughout his career, Donald held leadership roles at multiple levels: from the classroom to the superintendent’s office, giving him a comprehensive, systems-level understanding of what it takes to build schools and districts that truly serve students. Today, he leads Conyers Solutions LLC, where he supports educational professionals in fostering organizational coherence and effective leadership. His work is a testament to the belief that the quality of leadership within schools directly shapes the quality of learning that happens inside them.
For City Teaching Alliance, Donald’s arrival on our Board represents an extraordinary opportunity. His knowledge of large-scale urban education systems, his relationships across the NYC education community, and his focus on coherent, sustainable organizational leadership will help us strengthen our programs, refine our approach, and expand our reach in ways that are deeply informed by the realities educators face every day.
Meet Mimi (Woldeyohannes) McKee: Champion for Black Educators and Systemic Change
Mimi (Woldeyohannes) McKee is a force for educational justice. As the Managing Director of External Affairs at the Center for Black Educator Development, Mimi leads strategic partnerships, communications, and the nationally recognized #WeNeedBlackTeachers campaign. This initiative speaks directly to one of the most urgent challenges in American education: ensuring that Black students have access to Black teachers who reflect their identities, understand their experiences, and can serve as powerful role models and mentors.
Mimi’s path to this work is rooted in the classroom. With over a decade of experience spanning from direct instruction to national education advocacy, she has seen firsthand both the incredible impact that teachers can have on students’ lives and the systemic barriers that prevent too many gifted educators — particularly educators of color — from entering and remaining in the profession. That dual perspective — grounded in practice, elevated to policy — is exactly the kind of thinking our Board needs.
Her passion for community-led social change and her commitment to transforming educational systems to be more just and equitable for all students resonates deeply with City Teaching Alliance’s own values. We are not simply in the business of preparing teachers; we are in the business of preparing teachers who will champion every student in their care, who will work tirelessly to close opportunity gaps, and who will bring both excellence and equity into their classrooms every single day.
Mimi’s expertise in strategic communications and external partnerships will also be instrumental as we work to amplify our voice, tell our story more compellingly, and build the kinds of coalitions that allow us to create change at scale. Her national network and her experience driving campaigns that shift public narrative will strengthen City Teaching Alliance’s visibility and influence in important ways.
What This Means for City Teaching Alliance’s Mission and Impact
The addition of Donald Conyers and Mimi McKee to our Board is a signal of where City Teaching Alliance is headed. As we continue expanding our impact across communities, we need leaders around the table who bring diverse perspectives, deep expertise, and genuine commitment to the communities we serve. Donald and Mimi embody all of that and more.
Together, they strengthen our Board’s capacity to guide the organization through its next chapter of growth. Their combined expertise spans urban school systems, teacher development, equity-centered advocacy, national partnerships, and organizational leadership,a remarkable breadth of knowledge that will enrich every strategic conversation we have.
We are also energized by the values they bring. Both Donald and Mimi have demonstrated throughout their careers that educational excellence and educational equity are not competing priorities; they are inseparable. That belief aligns perfectly with our own, and it gives us confidence that their guidance will help us remain true to our mission even as we scale.
City Teaching Alliance exists to prepare outstanding educators who will make a real difference in the lives of children, particularly in communities that have historically been underserved by educational systems. Every decision we make — about our training programs, our partnerships, our organizational priorities — should be measured against that mission. With Donald and Mimi on our Board, we are better equipped than ever to hold ourselves to that standard.
Looking Ahead
We are energized by what lies ahead. The work of preparing outstanding educators is never finished. It evolves with the needs of students, the changing landscape of schools, and the growing understanding of what it truly takes to support every learner. Our new board members bring the wisdom, experience, and vision to help us meet that work with the urgency and intentionality it demands. We are honored to have them with us, and we cannot wait to see the impact we will create together.
To learn more about City Teaching Alliance’s mission, our programs, and how to get involved, visit cityteachingalliance.org or reach out to us at marketing@cityteachingalliance.org.
