Leadership, Opportunity and Community | Aneesh Sohoni

On this Learning Can’t Wait podcast episode, host Hayley Spira-Bauer speaks with Teach For America CEO Aneesh Sohoni about how his parents’ immigrant journey shaped his belief in educational opportunity and how teaching revealed both his students’ potential and the systemic barriers they faced. Aneesh explains that Teach For America’s impact extends far beyond two years in the classroom, creating a 72,000-member, multigenerational leadership network working throughout education and related fields. As schools confront teacher shortages, artificial intelligence, economic uncertainty, and declining student well-being, he argues that the central challenge is leadership—and calls on new and experienced leaders to transform purpose into collective action so every student can learn, lead, thrive, and see a place for themselves in the future.