Curtis Whatley

Curtis Whatley is the Director of Policy & Authorizer Relations. He joined KIPP SoCal in 2018 and leads the team responsible for supporting our schools through oversight, charter renewal, and other compliance requirements. He also steers KIPP SoCal’s policy evaluation work, helping guide our advocacy efforts and compliance with new education laws.

Curtis has dedicated his career to advancing educational equity. His first jobs in public education were during college, working as an AmeriCorps VISTA summer associate at Carver Middle School in South Los Angeles, and as an after-school tutor at Mar Vista Family Center. After graduation, he joined Teach For America, where he taught U.S. History and Economics at a public high school in the Bronx. He then went on to work as Policy & Research Manager at 50CAN, a national education advocacy organization.

Curtis graduated summa cum laude from UCLA with a B.A. in Political Science and holds a J.D. from UC Berkeley School of Law.