About Catharine Bellinger and Alexis Morin
Catherine Bellinger and Alexis Morin founded SFER while they were undergraduates at Princeton in 2009. As students they founded Students for Education Reform to engage and organize college students around education reform. Bellinger reached out to the Princeton community and eventually found a fellow freshman, Morin, who shared her interests. They both specifically focused on supporting policies that they believe will help close the achievement gap. By their junior year, they turned SFER into a official non-profit organization and hoped to form 10 chapters across the country. Currently there are 100 chapters of SFER, with over 3000 participants.
Alexis says she shamelessly exploited the Princeton Teacher Prep listserv to send out an email trying to find other Princeton students who were excited about education reform. They had a fateful blind date at Starbucks and bonded over their shared knowledge of suspicious education policy. She remembers Catharine's parents wondering if she'd finally met someone who was equally crazy about this cause. It was amazing how quickly other Princeton students came out of the woodwork to create a new space on campus for students who believe in education reform.
Their biggest challenge was providing the meaningful support every one of their chapters needs. It takes alot for SFER leaders to share their education reform mindset with the members and their peers on campus. The hardwork required to build a movement can't be underestimated. You have to make sure hundreds of undergraduates are getting opportunities to hear from thoughtful leaders in the field, see high-performing high-poverty schools at work, understand and advocate for great policies, and pursue work in the field.
Catharine Bellinger
Catharine Bellinger is a 22 year old women who was born and raised in Washington, DC.Catharine went to Princeton. She decided to start the SFER which is a non-profit mobilizing the next generation of education reform leaders. Catharine believes that the american educational system is filled unequal access to great teacher. She believes that to make a great teacher you must set very specific goals for what students will actually be able to do, constantly checks for understanding, and adjusts instruction.
Alexis Morin
In her role as co-founder and co-executive director of Students for Education Reform, Alexis oversees the organization’s program, management, and operations. Previously, Alexis served as special assistant to Norman Atkins, President of Relay Graduate School of Education, and assisted Paul Bambrick, Managing Director of Uncommon Schools, with special projects. She has worked on the human capital team at DC Public Schools and served on the local school board in Northborough, MA. Alexis is currently taking a leave of absence from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University to work full-time on SFER.
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