Fuel Your Career of Impact: Networking with Purpose in the TFA Alumni Community

Published on November 13, 2025

About the Event:

This event was presented on November 5th, by TFA alumni and network partners and provided participants with practical strategies to build energized, connected and authentic relationships across the TFA alumni community now and ahead of the 35th Anniversary Summit. This session simplified how effective networking can be, clarified how to identify mentors, strategic connectors, and key partners that can support and help you plan your next career move.

Session Resources (and recommendations from presenters):

Presenters


Libby Bain | Executive Director of Teacher Pipelines, New Schools for New Orleans 

Libby Bain (St. Louis ‘04) is the Executive Director of Teacher Pipelines at New Schools for New Orleans. Previously, she served as the Director of Talent at KIPP New Orleans Schools for eight years. She was responsible for leading KIPP’s recruitment efforts and working on their broader talent strategy. During that time, she oversaw a 140% increase in hiring for the network while helping to start their teacher evaluation program and launch a teacher residency. Prior to her role at KIPP, Libby spent four years working on recruitment, staffing, and new teacher training. Libby was originally a high-school special education teacher in St. Louis, Missouri. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Virginia. 
Link to Profile 


Ron Rapatalo | Associate Partner, Business Development and Client Relationships, Stronger Consulting 

Ron has been a leader in social impact hiring for 20 years, starting in search operations, then leading recruitment and admissions work before designing hiring processes for social impact clients,  Before Stronger Consulting, Ron’s last role, he was focused on organizational-wide leadership and business development, playing a major part in scaling the company’s search practice and bringing millions of dollars of client revenue.  He also had his own search practice and worked at organizations including New Leaders and Teach For America.  He also coaches leaders of color on their careers and leadership practices. Ron has been an active member of the NYU alumni community for over 20 years, currently serving as an Officer Emeritus of the NYU Alumni Association. He is also an active member of the Education Leaders of Color, a board member of Brooklyn Laboratory Charter School and Kindle Public Education Charter School, and a 2009 Coro Leadership New York alumnus. He is also a book publisher, a public speaker, a best-selling author, and a podcaster. In his spare time, he enjoys powerlifting, karaoke, rooting for his beloved NYC sports teams, volunteering as an NYU Alumni Association board member, and spending time with his wife Shanita (D.C. Region ‘03) and two daughters, Sofia and Ava. 
Link to Profile


Soraya Verjee | Chief Talent and Advancement Officer, Collegiate Academies 

Soraya Verjee (Greater New Orleans ‘09) serves as the Chief Talent and Advancement Officer for Collegiate Academies. Soraya’s work as a human and team performance leader starts with building culture through hiring. Over the past 14 years leading Talent at Collegiate Academies, she has supported the growth of the talent function as an aligned program, with a talent philosophy and associated programming rooted in Collegiate’s vision. This includes leadership development programming, compensation, recognition, acquisition, performance management, people operations, and ultimately, student outcomes. Soraya began her work at Collegiate Academies as a 9th Grade Algebra I teacher and Volleyball coach. Soraya graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with an undergraduate degree in Bioengineering. She has been named amongst the top 25 Women Chief Talent Officers in the nation for 2024 and 2025 by Women We Admire. 
Link to Profile 


Niloy Gangopadhyay | Vice President, 35th Anniversary Summit, Teach For America 

Niloy has spent over two decades combating the inequities in public education as a systems, school, and nonprofit leader. His initial entry into urban education was as a 2002 Teach For America (TFA) corps member in San Jose, California where he taught 4th grade. He is back home with TFA in his role as the Vice President, 35th Anniversary Summit. Previously he served as the Executive Director of Special Populations at Texas Education Agency, where he led the state’s programming for highly mobile & at-risk, English learners, and gifted & talented students along with students’ mental health and emotional well-being initiatives. Before that, he was the co-founder and executive director of Success Preparatory Academy, a K-8th grade charter school in the Tremé/Bienville Corridor of New Orleans for ten years. He has held leadership roles with charter management organizations: Envision Education, Lighthouse Academies, and Uncommon Schools in his career. He received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. 
Link to Profile

About the Career Acceleration Virtual Event Series:

Hosted by the Teach For America Career Center and select partners and contributors, the Career Acceleration Virtual Events Series is offered to our entire network to engage in career accelerating topics to help inspire and support mindsets, knowledge and skills that advance one’s own career. The event series occurs every fall. We are always looking for a range of diverse speakers and topics to engage our alumni and corps member network. If you are interested in becoming a Career Acceleration virtual speaker or presenter, click reach out to us at teachforamerica.org/contact-us