Bartlett, Tennessee
With over a decade of experience, Sundiata Salaam is a people-centered educator who is dedicated to nurturing lifelong leaders who seek to transform the classroom and the world. After receiving his BA in English at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2005, Salaam completed an MA in Pan-African Studies from Syracuse University. While at Syracuse University, Salaam shared his Pan-Africanist studies when exploring the life of Malcolm X with a group of high school boys. This experience led him to teach 8th grade English Language Arts in Prince George’s County, Maryland in 2007.
Salaam’s interest in building supportive and holistic learning communities led him to Memphis, Tennessee, serving as Freedom Prep’s founding Dean of Students in 2009. With an understanding that the curriculum is the entire environment of learning — from the teacher’s attitudes to the school’s values to the socio-emotional supports — Salaam was a dean focused on high expectations for the entire school community. In 2014, Salaam was selected as the Chief Schools Officer where he scaled up best practices across the Freedom Prep network. After two years, Salaam became the Chief People Officer. As the CPO, Salaam directs leadership development, talent recruitment, and retention for five network schools.
