Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach For America and co-founder and CEO of Teach For All, has been named the 2026 Class Day speaker. Kopp, a Class of 1989 graduate, will speak to Princeton seniors at the ceremony scheduled for May 25 on Cannon Green.
Wendy Kopp
Class Day, which takes place the day before Commencement, is organized by members of the senior class, who choose the speaker. The ceremony also includes speeches by graduating seniors, the recognition of class members for their contributions and the induction of honorary class members.
In a message to their peers, Class Day student leaders said, “Kopp’s address to the class is sure to remind us that our Princeton education carries with it a responsibility to serve something larger than ourselves.”
Kopp first conceived of Teach For America as part of her undergraduate thesis while majoring in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. Since its founding in 1990, Teach For America has inspired more than 70,000 college graduates to help expand educational opportunities for children in under-resourced K-12 schools across the country. Teach For America also supports its network of alumni who continue to work in education as teachers, school leaders, policymakers and innovators.
After 17 years leading Teach For America, Kopp co-founded Teach For All in 2007. The global network fosters the development of locally led organizations, now in more than 60 countries, that leverage Teach For America’s approach “to develop collective leadership to ensure all children fulfill their potential," according to the organization.
“In line with Princeton’s unofficial motto ‘In the Nation’s Service and the Service of Humanity,’ we wanted to choose a Class Day speaker who took her thesis, the defining aspect of our Princeton academic experience, and used it to transform countless lives for the better,” said the message from Class Day committee members Minna Abdella, Cole Crosby, Luke Miller and Jaden Stewart.
In honor of a career dedicated to education, service and innovation, Kopp has been recognized with the 2021 WISE Prize for Education, the 2008 Presidential Citizens Medal Award and the 2006 McGraw Prize in Education, as well as the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and the Schwab Foundation’s Outstanding Social Entrepreneur Award.
She has been named by Time magazine as one of the World’s 100 Most Influential People and by U.S. News and World Report as one of America’s Best Leaders. Forbes magazine recently named her to its 50 Over 50 list in the “impact” category.
Kopp previously served as a Princeton Baccalaureate speaker, addressing seniors in the Class of 2022 during the traditional interfaith ceremony that is also part of annual graduation activities. She holds honorary doctorates from 15 universities, including Princeton, and is a recipient of the University’s highest honor for undergraduate alumni, the Woodrow Wilson Award.
In addition, she is the author of two books, “A Chance to Make History: What Works and What Doesn’t in Providing an Excellent Education for All” (2011) and “One Day, All Children: The Unlikely Triumph of Teach For America and What I Learned Along the Way” (2000).
