Hard-working and light-hearted. Passionate about student success. Obsessed with quality and new opportunities to learn. These are just a few of the traits we encourage and cultivate at Education First. Our vibrant culture is built on our core ideals: original thinking, collaboration, entrepreneurialism, authenticity and fun.
Virtually amazing
Education First is a fantastic place to work. We strive to create a workplace that is positive, inclusive and equitable, and is worth going to every day. With team members in more than 20 states, we work from home and we collaborate constantly. Our vibrant culture is built on our genuine care for the students we serve, our clients and each other.
We encourage every team member to bring their most authentic self to our work. We welcome and challenge one another to bring our authentic selves to work each day because we believe it produces better results for our clients, for our team culture and for our individuals.
A day in the life of our firm
There is no typical day: Our team members have the freedom and the flexibility to determine the work schedule that will enable them to sustainably deliver high-quality work to their clients and collaborate with their colleagues. Some days that means working from a home office, while other days it means setting up in a coffee shop or preparing for a client meeting during a cross-country flight (when it’s safe to do so). In our virtual environment, Ed Firsters manage their own time based on project needs and in collaboration with project teams.
A sample week

Our day-to-day focus
- How can we help our district/school leader clients build stronger systems to provide educators with more targeted and actionable feedback and support?
- What strategic investments can we recommend to our funder clients that empower state and local leaders to identify and implement high-quality curriculum and assessments?
- How can we help our nonprofit clients build a strategic plan that addresses immediate needs and ensures long-term growth and sustainability?
Dynamic work environment
- Every day has a lot of variety, brings new and different challenges and there’s no shortage of work to be done.
- We don’t have static teams. We work with a variety of Ed First colleagues on multiple types of projects and our role isn’t always the same on all of those projects.
- We’re constantly connected to others even though we are in our home offices.
Our Teams
Our firm is organized by specialized focus areas that we call Home Teams: Engaged Students, Effective Organizations and Investments, Outstanding Educators and the Internal Team.
Our consulting team is organized by focus area, though home teams often collaborate to best meet the needs of our clients:
- The Engaged Students Team leads Coherent Instructional, Assessment and Accountability Systems; Innovative Systems and Schools; and Social, Emotional and Academic Development.
- The Effective Organizations and Investments Team leads Talent Strategy and Culture and Postsecondary Success.
- The Outstanding Educators Team leads Educator Diversity, Preparation and Development.
Our organization’s internal strategy and operations are driven by the Internal Team, who focuses on system-wide supports, analytics, reporting and daily business functions.
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