Makayla joined the Education First team in 2022 as a Talent Coordinator on the People & Equity Team. She balances the talent acquisition process and candidate experience to help promote equitable hiring across the firm. As a low-income, first-generation student from Indianapolis, Indiana, Makayla knew the importance of education at a young age and quickly realized that many students weren’t provided fair opportunities due to biased socioeconomic and racial factors. This has ultimately fueled her desire to join Education First to help find the best talent so that the work to bridge equity gaps across education districts, states and nonprofits remains impactful.
Prior to joining Ed First, Makayla worked at Crimson Education, a global education consulting company based in New Zealand. As a Global People and Performance Advisor, she partnered with stakeholders across departments to support their recruitment efforts. During her time at Crimson, she realized that a disproportionate amount of services were not helping students of color from marginalized communities. Because of this, she helped found the Crimson Access Opportunity (CAO), a scholarship that aims to provide high school consulting services to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Holding a Masters Degree in Human Resource Management, she believes in diversity across all roles within an organization, but especially at higher levels of management. Outside of work, you can find her traveling, looking for the newest craft beer, and spending time with a host of family and friends.
