Tosha Downey is Director of Advocacy for the Memphis Education Fund (MEF), a partner organization in the city’s effort to transform chronically underperforming schools. Prior to joining MEF, Tosha served as Director of Government Affairs at the Noble Network of Charter Schools in Chicago, IL. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Tosha completed her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education at Clark Atlanta University. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the University of Michigan and a Juris Doctorate from the University of North Carolina School of Law.
Tosha has spent more than 20 years leading and supporting non-profit teams in charter school management, college access, student recruitment, community engagement, and talent acquisition. Prior to joining Noble, she worked for the Academy for Urban School Leadership, Comer Science & Education Foundation, and the Ryan Family Foundation. She is a graduate of Leadership Memphis, the New Memphis Institute’s Leadership Development Intensive, and Leadership Tennessee.
She sits on the Board of City Year Memphis and Planned Parenthood of Memphis and North Mississippi, and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. She is the only child of Geraldine Downey and the late William Downey, who have long been pillars of the Soulsville community in South Memphis.
