Bryan Billy, a Teach for America alum who formerly served as a corps member in Birmingham’s Green Acres Middle School, has been named executive director of TFA Alabama.

The national TFA program partners with urban and rural communities across the country to recruit college graduates that teach for a minimum of two years in one of their “high-need schools”, according to their website.

In a Q&A this week Billy told the Lede he plans to use a decade’s worth of knowledge from working within the program and his experience with his own children’s education to ensure future generations of Alabama students are able to access the “future they deserve.”

This interview was edited and condensed for length and clarity.

So how does the TFA program impact our students?