COURTNEY WINKFIELD

Courtney Winkfield is the Managing Director, School Networks, for NYC Kids RISE, a Save for College Program that provides families, schools, and communities with a way to work together to save for their children’s futures.  Ms. Winkfield is a former Senior Strategy & Policy Advisor for the NYC Department of Education’s Office of Equity & Access. Prior to that, she served as a founding teacher, Assistant Principal and Principal of the Academy for Young Writers, an unscreened, public 6-12 secondary school in East New York, Brooklyn. Under Courtney’s leadership as Principal, Young Writers took significant steps towards expanding opportunities for young people, including increasing the number of AP courses offered, creating multiple STEM pathways for students of all abilities, developing a nationally recognized 6-12 Gender-Sexuality Alliance to empower and give voice to LGBTQ+ students, and establishing a student-led Restorative Justice program.  Courtney believes in the power of personal relationships in academic achievement and that students achieve at far higher rates when they feel connected to a community.

Courtney grew up across the United States and spent her high school and college years in the Pacific Northwest, earning a Bachelors in English from Lewis & Clark College. A passion for urban education drew Courtney to join the NYC Teaching Fellows in 2004 where she earned her master’s in English education from Lehman College CUNY.