Anthony Shaw

Driven by his passion for educational equity as a first-generation college graduate, Anthony began his career in social justice as a Teach for America elementary school teacher in Paterson, New Jersey.  In that role, Anthony was focused on both providing his students with a high-quality education as well as helping them develop positive images of themselves. Realizing he wanted to have a larger impact on students and communities of color beyond his sole classroom, Anthony entered the School Leadership Program at the Harvard Graduate University School of Education (HGSE) to effect change at a larger scale. During his time at HGSE, Anthony studied education leadership, school design theory, and organizational development, where he deepened his understanding of school systems and leadership.  After graduating from HGSE in 2005, Anthony joined the Boy’s Club of New York (BCNY) and led their efforts to pursue an all-boys charter school for young men in Harlem. Anthony also served as the point on BCNY’s community engagement and outreach efforts and parent advocacy initiatives in East Harlem while at the Boy’s Club of New York.  

Anthony joined City Year New York in 2007 as their Managing Director of Program and Service and was charged with overseeing both the growth of school partnerships and the impact of their AmeriCorps Members who served in New York City’s most under-resourced public schools as tutors. As the school partnerships and AmeriCorps Program lead, Anthony managed an aggressive growth strategy that resulted in both the school partners and the CYNY corps member cohort size doubling from 12 schools to over 20 schools and 126 AmeriCorps members to 260 AmeriCorps members.  Anthony was later promoted to the role of National Director of District and School Partnerships, then Regional Impact Director at City Year’s national office in Boston.  As a member of the national leadership team, Anthony was responsible for establishing and maintaining all of City Year’s school district partnerships, representing approximately one-third of City Year’s national annual revenue.  After departing City Year for Teach for America, Anthony would continue to lead school district engagement for Teach for America’s New York Region office. 

In 2015 Anthony worked with Senator Jeff Klein and the Independent Democratic Conference as a Leaders for Educational Equity Public Policy Fellow.  Anthony’s focus during the legislative session was college affordability for New Yorkers, which historically and unfortunately continues to disproportionately impact communities of color. While in Albany, Anthony drafted numerous memos and bills, and engaged countless members and staff of the New York State Senate and Assembly in discussions about college affordability as a pivotal policy issue facing New Yorkers.  Although the bill Anthony proposed was not accepted during the legislative session, many of its recommendations were later adopted into former Governor Cuomo’s free tuition Excelsior Scholarship Program. Most recently, Anthony served as the Deputy Director with the Connecticut Opportunity Project of Dalio Philanthropies, where he developed their Pathways to Work initiative that is focused on ensuring justice-involved individuals in Connecticut between the ages of 14 and 26 have the resources and supports they need to reconnect with prosocial activities and ultimately gain meaningful employment that pays liveable wages to ensure financial stability to reduce their likelihood of recidivism ultimately altering the trajectory of their lives and their families for the better.  

Inspired by his work focusing on justice-involved youth and young adults, Anthony is eager to gain a deeper understanding of public policy in order to affect large-scale change for communities of color beyond as a National Urban Fellow. t