Renee O’Connor

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Renee's family moved to Miami when she was six to take advantage of all that America had to offer. She grew up in Miami Gardens and was a first generation college student who graduated from Florida State University with a degree in International Affairs and a minor in Black Studies. For most of her years as an adult, she worked in Corporate America in the hospitality industry. In 2006, she left Corporate America to start her own business and ran a dance company for five years. In the fall of 2010, she heard a speech that President Obama was giving in which he talked about the state of public education in America. Her interest peaked and she began doing research, only to find out that the statistics, particularly those of black and brown kids in public school was dismal. Soon after, she applied and was accepted to the Teach For America program and was placed at Miami Norland Senior High in the fall of 2011. After four years of teaching reading and English, she was finally blessed with the opportunity to teach her true passion, African American History.