Man Up Teacher Fellowship
Memphis, TN
Man Up is changing who stands at the front of America’s classrooms — removing the debt, cost and professional barriers that keep talented men of color from becoming the teachers, mentors and leaders students need.
About
Based in Memphis, Man Up Teacher Fellowship is building an educator pipeline that recruits, prepares and retains high-quality African American male teachers through debt-free, earn-while-you-learn pathways. Fellows receive paid certification support, coaching and mentorship, and can pursue undergraduate degree opportunities through Reach University while working in schools. Man Up is also reaching further upstream through a CTE pathway that introduces high school students to careers in education through paid internships. Together, those pieces create a pathway from student, to aspiring educator, to classroom teacher — redefining how teachers enter the profession and how they are supported once they get there.
Their Story
For Patrick Washington, teaching is family history. His great-great-grandfather Richard Adkins was born in 1860 and, after learning to read, spent his evenings teaching formerly enslaved men and women. His mother taught for 32 years. Generations later, while Patrick was recruiting teachers as a school leader in Memphis, he confronted a painful reality: the men his students needed most were dramatically underrepresented in classrooms. So in 2018 he built a pathway to bring them in — and keep them there.
Patrick Washington
Founder & CEO
“We partnered with schools, charter schools, public schools, private schools, and districts to recruit fellows, remove the financial barriers, place them in schools, help them be great teachers, and help them make a difference in their community.”
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Why they stand out
Man Up stands out because it removes the barriers that keep talented men of color from entering and staying in the profession. Cost, certification, degree completion, placement and early-career support are addressed as parts of one continuum rather than separate problems. The result is a model designed not just to get more men into classrooms, but to keep them there and help them grow into long-term educators and leaders.
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How they STOP for education
Man Up is unmistakably Transformational because it redesigns the educator pipeline itself.
It is building Sustainability through district and school partnerships that pay for recruitment, preparation and support rather than relying entirely on philanthropy.
Its five-year commitment, coaching and retention make the work Outstanding, while its ability to operate across public, charter and private schools makes it inherently Permissionless.
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Winning their award
The $500,000 award will help Man Up expand coaching and partnerships as it grows from 287 active fellows in six states toward 337 in 2027, 437 in 2028 and a presence in at least 10 states — multiplying the impact of every new teacher through the students they will reach.
