Meet the Team

John

Edwards

Interim Chief Operating Officer

Dr. John Edwards is an executive leader, organizational strategist, and builder who has spent his career helping organizations turn bold visions into sustainable impact. He currently serves as Interim Chief Operating Officer at Black Men Teach, where he helps lead the strategy, people, operations, and organizational infrastructure that power the organization’s mission.

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John has advised, strengthened, and helped lead organizations across the country through periods of growth, transformation, and change. His career spans executive leadership, organizational strategy, talent, operations, education, and public policy, including service as a Chief People & Strategy Officer, senior leadership roles within the KIPP network, and as a Lead Policy Specialist with the Texas Education Agency.

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He holds a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership and is known for stepping into complexity and creating clarity—aligning people around a vision, building high-performing teams, strengthening organizational systems, and moving big ideas from conversation to execution.

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At the center of John’s leadership is a simple belief: build people, strengthen systems, and leave organizations better than you found them.

6 QUESTIONS

WITH

John

1 How would you describe what you do?

I turn strategy into execution. As Interim COO, I lead the people, operations, talent, and organizational systems that allow BMT to deliver on its mission at the highest level. My work is about creating clarity, strengthening accountability, removing barriers, and ensuring our people have what they need to win. I spend a lot of time asking one question: What does this organization need to become today to be ready for where we’re going tomorrow? Then I help build it.

2 What about the mission inspired you to join BMT?

For me, representation is not a buzzword—it changes what young people believe is possible. There is something powerful about a Black boy walking into a classroom and seeing a Black man leading it. But what drew me to BMT is that we go beyond talking about representation. We are doing the hard work of building the pipeline, removing barriers, developing talent, and creating the conditions for Black men to enter the profession, thrive, lead, and stay. That’s systems change, and that’s work worth doing.

3 If you could describe in one word why you work at BMT, what would it be?

Legacy

4 What is a piece of advice you would give to Black Men who are considering becoming teachers?

Walk into that classroom knowing you belong there. Your presence is powerful, but your impact can be transformational. You have an opportunity to teach content, absolutely—but you also have the opportunity to disrupt assumptions, expand possibility, and show a generation of young people something they may have never seen before. Don’t underestimate what happens when a student sees himself reflected in excellence.

5 What is the name of the teacher or teachers who had the most impact on you? Why?

I’m a builder, strategist, and problem-solver. I’ve had the privilege of helping organizations across the country navigate growth, transformation, talent challenges, organizational change, and some incredibly complex moments. I love the work that happens when the answer isn’t obvious—the messy middle between a bold vision and actually making it happen. My superpower is taking complexity and creating clarity: getting the right people around the table, asking the questions others may not ask, building the systems that don’t yet exist, and moving organizations from talking about what they want to become to actually becoming it.

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At the end of the day, titles don’t move me nearly as much as impact does. I want my leadership to create something that lasts—and I want people to be able to point to something that became possible because I helped build it.

6 What else do you want the community to know about who you are, your passion for the work, and the skills you bring to the work?

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1

How would you describe what you do?

1

2

What about the mission inspired you to join BMT?

2 Legacy

3

If you could describe in one word why you work at BMT, what would it be?

3

4

What is a piece of advice you would give to Black Men who are considering becoming teachers?

4

Mrs. Harris and Mr. Jones. Mrs. Harris challenged me—she saw more in me than I sometimes saw in myself and refused to let me settle for anything less. Mr. Jones modeled what it looked like to lead, to show up with purpose, and to use education to make something possible for someone else.

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Because of them, I eventually stepped into the classroom myself. They helped me understand that great teachers don’t just teach lessons—they shape lives, expand what’s possible, and leave something behind in every student they touch. Years later, I still carry pieces of both of them in how I lead, how I challenge others, and how I show up for people. That’s the kind of impact that outlives the classroom.