Teach First, Va. Center for Inclusive Communities CEOs receive Distinguished Service and 10th-Year awards

June 18, 2013

Brett H. Wigdortz, founder and CEO of Teach First, has received the 2013 Alumni of the University of Richmond Award for Distinguished Service, and Jonathan Zur, president and CEO of the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities (VCIC), received the Tenth-Year Reunion Recognition Award from the Jepson School of Leadership Studies. Both awards were presented during Reunion Weekend May 31 – June 2.

Wigdortz, a 1995 Richmond graduate who lives in London, England, has led Teach First since its launch in 2002. The educational charity trains and supports people with leadership potential to become teachers in partner schools in low-income communities across the U.K. The Times of London ranks Teach First fourth on its list of the Top 100 employers of U.K. university graduates.

Wigdortz also is co-founder, advisor and board member of Teach For All, an international network of organizations promoting educational opportunity in their respective countries. Wigdortz was the 2007 UK Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year and won the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education’s 2010 European Leadership Award. Earlier this year, Wigdortz won the UK Institute of Directors London and the South East Director of the Year award and was awarded an OBE in Her Majesty the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List.

Zur, a 2003 graduate, is responsible for VCIC’s administration, fund development and programming statewide. VCIC fights prejudice in all forms in schools, businesses and communities. During Zur’s tenure, the number of programs conducted by VCIC increased more than 370 percent.

Zur serves on the board of the National Federation for Just Communities and is a member of Sen. Mark Warner’s statewide interfaith advisory group and the university’s Bonner Center for Civic Engagement Advisory Council.

VCIC was recently commended by the Virginia General Assembly, named a “Top-Rated Nonprofit” by GreatNonprofits.org, honored by the Interfaith Council of Greater Richmond, received the Vivian C. Mason Award from the Urban League of Hampton Roads and named a Richmond History Maker.

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