HWS News
29 August 2025 • Alums • Service Service and Education are in his DNA
For a career devoted to narrowing the achievement gap, Brendan Csaposs ’09 is one of 11 nationally to win the 2025 Service Year Alum Award.
As a child, Brendan Csaposs ’09 was immersed in the causes his parents believed in. From town hall meetings about an endangered species of butterfly to ringing the Salvation Army bell during the holidays, Csaposs tagged along. Experiencing their impassioned sense of purpose, Csaposs says, laid the groundwork for his commitment to education and leveling the playing field for students in Africa and the U.S.
Now with more than 15 years in the field, Csaposs has been named a 2025 Service Year Alum by the Service Year Alliance, recognizing his career that has positively impacted communities. One of only 11 individuals to win the national honor, Csaposs is a three-time AmeriCorps alumnus, who spent his service years with Jumpstart, Teach for America and City Year.
Over his career, Csaposs has sought to reduce the achievement gap just like his parents did for the causes they cared about. After working as a teacher in Louisiana, Csaposs became a school administrator by the age of 24. He went on to found and lead several public charter schools in California, Texas and Louisiana before moving to East Africa, where he helped introduce a student-centric teaching approach to schools.
Csaposs holds a master’s degree in educational leadership from the George Washington University and a doctorate in adult education and lifelong learning from the University of Arkansas. Today, he is a global education consultant in Nairobi, Kenya, where he moved in 2020 to become Dean Development Lead for Nova Pioneer Education Group, a network of six campuses in Kenya and 10 in South Africa.
His roles in education extend from special education teacher to principal, from graduate school professor to community organizer and span the U.S. from Baton Rouge, La. to San Jose, Calif. and McAllen, Texas. But it was at HWS, in Geneva, N.Y., during his time with Jumpstart that fueled a lifelong drive to empower students.
Through Jumpstart Csaposs was paired with a student at Head Start in Geneva: A student who would change Csaposs’ life trajectory. “I'm not going to lie to you to tell you that I was like some stellar corps member that knew all the ins and outs of reading because I sure-the-heck did not, but I knew enough to say: ‘All right, we're trying this thing. It's not working. Let's try something else,’ he shares. “I think that was the first time I kind of was able to really feel that sense of pride and appreciation for the fact that, ‘We started 11 months ago, and now you're reading, you’re writing!’ That’s when I got bit by the bug.”
At the time, Csaposs was planning to go to law school with dreams of becoming a U.S. senator. “I started questioning whether that was the path I really wanted,” he recalls. He decided to take a gap year and joined Teach for America Corps instead.
“Brendan’s journey is a powerful testament to the enduring impact of service,” says Katie Flowers, executive director of the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning and the Centennial Center. “From his time serving as an AmeriCorps member with Jumpstart Geneva to his global leadership today, he has consistently embodied what it means to live a life of consequence.”
Csaposs insists what he does isn’t that special: it’s just what he watched his parents do growing up. (They visited him in Nairobi this month.)
“My parents showed me from an early age that you can get in where you fit in: making a difference doesn’t have to look one way,” Csaposs says.
