For the past 20+ years, Tony Ashton has worked in education in both rural and urban communities across the country. In 2015, Tony launched Teach For America’s (TFA) region in Idaho, where he currently serves as executive director and manages a team to support over 165 leaders working in communities throughout the state. As a native of Utah, he spent much time exploring Idaho and is passionate about addressing educational inequity in rural communities in the state. Prior to moving his family of four – which has since expanded to five – across the country to Idaho, Tony served as the managing director of District and School Partnerships for TFA’s Massachusetts region where he led the organization’s partnership and growth strategy. Before that, Tony oversaw accountability for charter schools as part of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Charter School Office. Tony spent the five previous years teaching fifth through eighth grade, beginning as a corps member with TFA in New Orleans, Louisiana, and later as the middle school team leader for KIPP Bridge College Prep in Oakland, California. Tony holds a master’s degree in education policy and management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, as well as an honors degree in public policy and management from the University of Southern California. He loves spending time with his wife Jaeger and their three children exploring the outdoors and their “Idahome.”