Donnell Bailey serves as a Regional Development Director at Teach Plus, where he co-leads strategy development and fundraising across regions in the South, West, and Northeast to advance educational outcomes and policy change for students and families.
Before joining Teach Plus, Donnell began his career at home in New Orleans interning for U.S. Congressman Joseph Anh Cao and then on Capitol Hill as an education legislative aide intern for U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu. He later served in the Obama White House on the President’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative, focused on improving life outcomes for boys and young men of color from cradle to career.
Throughout his career, Donnell has worked at the intersection of education and systems change. In his return home to New Orleans, he served as Programs Manager for Democrats for Education Reform–Louisiana, where he led programming and strategic partnerships, expanding the organization’s intersectional advocacy portfolio. He later transitioned to higher education, supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at Tulane University, including launching and fundraising for efforts to make the institution more representative. Donnell then served as Chief of Staff at Brothers Empowered to Teach, advancing efforts to increase the number of Black male educators in classrooms and co-leading a fundraising strategy that led to a $2 million gift from MacKenzie Scott. Most recently, he co-founded and co-led the Squared Network, identifying its first partner school site and securing critical funding for programs supporting first-generation students on the path to and through college.
Bailey formerly served as Governance Chair and Secretary on the KIPP New Orleans Board of Directors and as a member of the Franklin & Marshall Alumni Association Board. He previously was a Fellow of the Aspen Institute, Loyola Institute of Politics, and the Urban League of Louisiana. He is a first-generation college graduate and holds a B.A. in Sociology from Franklin & Marshall College, and a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in nonprofit and philanthropic management from Tulane University. He is also the foreword author of States of Being: Leadership Coaching for Equitable Schools by Dr. Linda Belans, which conveys the urgent need for compassionate and bold leadership in schools.
