About

Rise to the Occasion

Our Purpose

Man Up Teacher Fellowship exists to recruit, prepare, place, and retain a talented pipeline of men of color who can succeed in any school setting and work relentlessly for the success of all students. Man Up is a five-year fellowship that removes financial and professional barriers to entering and remaining in education. Fellows receive tuition and certification support, Praxis preparation, coaching, mentorship, professional development, and assistance securing a school placement. Depending on their pathway, fellows may earnteacher licensure or a master’s degree at no cost. After at least three years of successful classroom teaching,eligible fellows may pursue certification and development in Educational Leadership.

From Man Up to the National Teachers League

Building on the success of Man Up Teacher Fellowship, the National Teachers League broadens the organization’s workforce-development model. Man Up continues to focus specifically on recruiting, preparing,placing, and retaining male teachers of color. NTL creates pathways for people of all backgrounds who want to serve children and communities through teaching, school leadership, counseling, social work, nursing, therapy, cybersecurity, and other high-need careers. The programs are separate but connected: Man Up is the proven fellowship from which NTL was born, and both share a commitment to removing financial barriers,
providing coaching and career support, and building sustainable talent pipelines.

The Need

Man Up Teacher Fellowship fills in a distinct void in the teacher development and recruitment pipeline:

Did you know:

Black men make up less than 2% percent of the nation’s teachers.
Low-income black students who have at least one black teacher in elementary school are significantly more likely to graduate from high school and consider attending college.
From 2002 to 2012, the number of black teachers in nine major cities across the U.S. declined – in some cases at startling rates – ranging from a 15% decrease in New York to a 62% decrease in New Orleans.
According to Hickling (2017), there are three primary reasons men don’t teach: (1) low status, (2) low pay, and (3) fear of false accusations

A Message from the Founder

Education has always been personal to me. My great-great-grandfather, Richard Adkins, was born in Hudsonville, Mississippi, in 1860. After becoming literate, he spent his evenings teaching formerly enslaved men and women to read. His commitment to education continued through generations of my family, including my mother, Zalie Washington, who served as a teacher for 32 years.

My own experience as a teacher and school leader showed me how urgently students need highly effective educators who believe in their potential. In 2018, I founded Man Up Teacher Fellowship to recruit, prepare, place, and retain men of color in classrooms. Since then, nearly 300 fellows have been placed, and Man Up has built a five-year pathway that supports participants from certification through successful teaching and into school leadership.

That work also gave birth to the National Teachers League, which expands our workforce-development model to people of all backgrounds and to other professions that serve children and communities. Man Up remains focused on its original mission while NTL carries the model into new pathways and places. Our
vision remains clear: Transforming the World through the Classroom.

Signature Dr. Patrick Washington | Founder and CEO