Tinkhani Ushe White is an associate on the Networked Improvement Science team at the Carnegie Foundation, overseeing the Learning Leadership Network (LLN). She is also a member of the Summit Program team and works on several partner-facing projects. Before joining the Foundation, Tinkhani was a director of school improvement for Chesterfield County Public Schools, where she used her knowledge of improvement science and state accountability systems to support all schools in the district to achieve state accreditation. 

While in Chesterfield, Tinkhani was the district representative to the Carnegie Foundation’s Improvement Leadership Education and Development (iLEAD) network that evolved into the National Center on School-University Partnerships. While serving as part of iLEAD, she grew passionate about Improvement Science and its potential to empower communities to solve their problems.  She also served on the network’s steering committee.  Before that, Tinkhani worked at Highland Springs High School as an administrator and principal, leading the improvement of student academic outcomes over her 8-year tenure. Further, Tinkhani taught at Richmond City Public Schools in Virginia, Rochester City Public Schools, and Palmyra Macedon Central Schools in New York as a mathematics teacher and teacher leader. 

Tinkhani is passionate about empowering those closest to the work with skills to solve their problems, especially ones related to equitable outcomes and economic mobility. She holds a doctorate (Ed.D.) in educational leadership and policy from Virginia Tech, a master’s degree in educational leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the State University of New York at Geneseo. She is also passionate about the mentoring and coaching of the next generation of educational leaders.  She hones these skills by currently serving as an adjunct professor in the Department of Leadership, Foundations, and Policy at the University of Virginia and serving on several dissertation committees in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Department at Virginia Tech. 

In her free time, Tinkhani enjoys time with her family, volunteer work with her church and sorority, and crocheting.