Career Path Of A Director Of Stakeholder Engagement At Texas Education Agency
Initially planning on law school, a summer at a law firm led to a pivot into the business sector, but the Great Recession spurred a move to the social sector with Americorps, where King went "to over a thousand people's homes" understanding their needs and building partnerships with corporations to bring resources to under-resourced communities. This experience, along with social impact consulting, ultimately led to a role at the Texas Education Agency, driven by a goal of "creating impact at scale" and supporting marginalized students.
Nonprofit Experience, Social Impact, Partnerships, Public Service, Education
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
King Adjei-Frimpong
Director of Stakeholder Engagement
Texas Education Agency
UCLA, 2010
University of Virginia - Darden School of Business (MBA)
Political Science, American Studies
Education
Communication and Marketing
Disabled, Scholarship Recipient, Pell Grant Recipient, Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Greek Life Member, Transfer Student
Video Highlights
1. King's pivot from law to the social sector due to the Great Recession and subsequent experience in AmeriCorps, working directly with low-income families to understand their needs.
2. King's work at a social impact consulting firm, where they combined social sector experience with education, ultimately leading to their current role.
3. King's goal of creating large-scale impact and bringing equitable support to marginalized students in Texas through their role at the Texas Education Agency.
Transcript
Can you walk me through your career path? Start with your experiences in college, any internships, or jobs you had before your current role.
As an undergraduate, I initially thought I would go to law school. However, I worked at a law firm for a summer and recognized how busy and unhappy most of the lawyers were. So, I pivoted.
I thought about going into the business sector, but the economy was rough at the time, during the Great Recession. This led me to pivot again and decide to get into the social sector. I worked at a nonprofit organization in Northeastern Pennsylvania through an AmeriCorps program.
This was a pilot program, a partnership between the nonprofit, AmeriCorps, the Department of Energy, and local utilities like PPL. The program's purpose was to help low-income families save on their utility bills. It was an interesting and formative experience.
I traveled all over Pennsylvania and visited over a thousand homes to understand the needs of the residents. Later, at the Commission for Economic Opportunity, I worked in partnerships. I collaborated with companies like Target, Procter & Gamble, and Walmart to bring resources from the corporate sector to under-resourced communities in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Having visited over a thousand homes, I better understood their needs. This prepared me to ask for the right resources and connect with industry partners, other nonprofits, and local government. This interest in partnerships led me to apply to business school.
After business school, I worked at a social impact consulting firm called The Bridgespan Group. It was an incredible experience. I loved being at the forefront of the social sector, working with brilliant people and partnering with changemakers.
There, I considered how to combine my social sector and education experience with government. That's what brought me to the Texas Education Agency. The idea was to create impact at scale.
The Texas Education Agency supports districts that educate nearly five and a half million children across the state. My goal was to bring relative equity to support Black, Brown, and marginalized children across Texas.