Sanford Johnson (’09) serves as the Executive Director of Teach Plus Arkansas-Mississippi, where he leads “Team ArkMiss.” Johnson, who has directed the Mississippi Policy Fellowship since 2020, launched Teach Plus Arkansas in 2021 before the two state programs were combined under his leadership this year. Today he drives the region’s work across three core focus areas: reducing chronic absenteeism, increasing the utilization of student success plans, and building integrated data systems to measure college and career readiness.Â
In Johnson’s Teach Plus roles, teacher leaders have directly influenced major policy decisions, including structural changes to Mississippi’s school funding formula, teacher compensation, and educator licensure. Across the river, members of the 2021 Arkansas Advisory Board advocated for policies for the state’s teacher workforce. Â
Prior to Teach Plus, Johnson spent 10 years as the co-founder and Deputy Director of Mississippi First and taught middle and high school social studies in the Mississippi and Arkansas Delta. Active in civic leadership, he serves on the boards of Teen Health Mississippi and the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi, and is a former chair of the Clarksdale Municipal Elections Commission. A member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., Johnson earned a Master of Public Service from the Clinton School of Public Service in 2009 and holds a BA from Auburn University. He lives in Clarksdale with his wife, Amanda, and their daughters, Lorelei and Ava.