Sanford Johnson (he/him/his) is the Executive Director of Teach Plus Mississippi. Since 2020, he has led the work of the Mississippi Policy Fellowship, through which teacher leaders have advanced policies around increasing teacher pay, strengthening the state’s teacher pipeline, and increasing access to mental health resources. He also manages the Delta Change Agent Network, a project that prepares teachers to address school-level problems of practice in partnership with their principals and colleagues.
Prior to joining Teach Plus, Sanford was a middle and high school Social Studies teacher in the Mississippi and Arkansas Delta. More recently, he spent 10 years as the Deputy Director of Mississippi First (MSF), an education policy research and advocacy organization. He currently serves on the boards of Teen Health Mississippi and the Mississippi Alliance of Nonprofits and Philanthropy. He also chairs the Clarksdale Municipal Elections Commission.
Sanford holds a B.A. from Auburn University and a M.P.S from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. He lives in Clarksdale with his wife, Amanda, and their two daughters, Lorelei and Ava.
