Takeru Nagayoshi is the 2020 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year. He teaches Advanced Placement English at New Bedford High School, an urban low-income public school in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Nagayoshi has also piloted the research-based AP Capstone pro-gram, fewer than 10 of which existed in his state. With over 92 percent of his students passing their AP exams, he helped his district lead the state in the number of AP Certificates awarded. As a son of Japanese immigrants and as a gay person of color, Nagayoshi leverages his identities to fight for educational equity. Outside the classroom, he has written op-eds on education issues, coaches developing teachers in high-needs districts, and lends his voice to multiple panels, committees, and an educator diversity task force. He has also participated in several fellowships, including those offered by Teach Plus, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. This year, he helped launch an educator leadership program, Southern New England Alumni Leadership Initiative (SNEALI), which develops local capacity for teachers in the Southern New England area. Nagayoshi has received recognitions such as the Sue Lehmann Excellence in Teacher Leadership Award (2019), the Boston University Young Alumni Award (2019), and the Sontag Prize in Urban Education (2018).Nagayoshi lived in Japan for five years and currently lives in Providence, RI. He graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with an honors bachelor of arts in international relations and a master of education in curriculum and teaching from Boston University.