Channa Mae Cook

Channa attended Stanford University for her undergraduate and graduate degrees earning a bachelors in English and African American Studies and a masters and teaching credential through the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP). She then taught high school English and was a literacy coach in Los Angeles Unified School District before going on to earn a master of science from Pepperdine University in Educational Leadership and Administration.

In 2007 after a service trip to help rebuild after Hurricane Katrina, Channa, along with her co-founder, applied for and was awarded a New Schools for New Orleans School Founder Fellowship. She immediately relocated to New Orleans and began work writing the charter for Sojourner Truth Academy (STA) in New Orleans. STA was founded to prepare for both college and community leadership as one of only two completely open-enrollment public charter high schools in the city. Channa served as principal and superintendent from the school's inception until July of 2011 when she moved back to California to work at SCOPE and STEP.