Shaka Mitchell is the Tennessee director for the American Federation for Children and was formerly Rocketship Education’s regional director for the state of Tennessee. Shaka began his career in education as the associate director of policy and planning at the D.C.-based Center for Education Reform. He then led outreach efforts at the Institute for Justice, a constitutional law firm based in Arlington, Virginia. He is an alumnus of Belmont University, where he teaches American government and constitutional law as an adjunct faculty member. He earned his juris doctor from the Wake Forest University School of Law, where he sits on the Board of Advisors for the Journal of Law and Policy. Shaka is vice-chair of the Tennessee State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.