Alumni Spotlight: Sophia Kwong Meyers, Class of 2021

Sophia Kwong Meyers works for Uplift Education as a senior strategic advisor to the president, ensuring their central academic team is working in an integrated, coherent way to support Uplift’s 45 schools and 22,000 scholars.

Sophia started her career in international education and taught in Costa Rica and Argentina. These experiences shaped many of her current beliefs about the role of equity and inclusion in the US, particularly as it relates to the issues of race, immigrant education, and multilingualism.

As Sophia has grown in her leadership and responsibilities, she has continued to center her work on advancing equity, whether it is through the lens of assessment and grading, hiring and retention, performance management, or student and family engagement. “On a more personal level, I am the mommy to a biracial boy who will start public school next year,” she shared. “I am constantly thinking about what his classroom and school experience will be like.”

Sophia took part in LISD’s Civic Voices Fellowship during the pandemic and had this to say about her experience: “The educational challenges we were discussing were urgent and unprecedented. The fellowship provided tools and frameworks to help me feel more empowered, knowledgeable, and confident to advocate for the needs of our schools and communities. It also pushed me to think about my own spheres of influence and how to affect meaningful change within my personal networks.”

Sophia was a task force member for the K-12 AANHPI Curriculum Project and is a part of the executive leadership team for the Appian Way Alliance, the first alumni of color group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She serves on the community advisory boards for the Irving Public Library, KERA/KXT, and FearLess Dallas.

In her free time, Sophia enjoys yoga, travel, brunch, and binging mystery or heist series with huge ensemble casts.