Man Up Team

Dr. Patrick Washington

Founder & CEO

Dr. Washington is a fifth-generation educator whose family legacy in education began with his great-great-grandfather, Richard Adkins, who was born into slavery in 1860, became literate, and taught others to read. Inspired by this legacy, Dr. Washington has dedicated his career to teaching and school leadership. In 2008, he became the first Black superintendent of Benton County, Mississippi schools. In 2018, he founded Man Up Teacher Fellowship to address the need for more highly effective men of color in classrooms across the nation. Today, Dr. Washington leads Man Up’s continued growth and national expansion, building pathways that recruit, prepare, place, and retain talented men of color in education.

Ms. Carmenseda Fondren

Finance Manager

cfondren@manupteach.org

Carmen has worked in the charter schools arena for over 3 years. In addition to working as the Chief Finance Officer for Man Up Teacher Fellowship, Carmen works as the Accounting Assistant for a Memphis-based charter school/network. Carmen also worked in Finance in the medical/business sector prior to joining the charter schools. Carmen has a Sanford-Brown College graduate and is also pursuing another degree in Accounting. Carmen enjoys spending time with her 3 daughters, Brittany, Terri, Victoria, family and her pitbull Grady.