#LeadTheSurge 2026 – The Surge Starts Here

We’ve been building, pushing, and leading—and we’re just getting started. As Surge Fellowship Chicago steps into the next year of impact, this movement matters more than ever.

Join us at #LeadTheSurge 2026, a celebration supporting Surge Fellowship Chicago. This evening honors the education leaders who are disrupting systems, elevating communities, and shifting the future of education, as we invest in the next generation ready to rise.

Come through. Meet the leaders doing the work. Feel the power of Surge Fellowship Chicago in real time. And help us ensure that every qualified leader who says yes to Surge has the support they need to transform education in this city.

Get Your Ticket

Surge [surj] n.

a sudden powerful forward or upward movement.

The Surge Institute is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a mission to educate and develop leaders of color who create transformative change for young people, their families, and our broader communities.

We support people who profoundly and directly affect positive change in the world. We elevate leaders of color in educational spaces. Their ideas and gifts, coupled with access, resources, and encouragement, transform the people around them. Students, families, and whole communities realize their potential. There’s no limit to the possibilities.

Engage with this movement and become an agent of change.

ELEVATING LEADERS

Surge was built by and for communities of color and designed to empower, educate and elevate our leaders in the education systems serving our communities. Our goal is to serve 5,000 leaders by 2030.

OUR STORY

BUILDING COMMUNITY

This work does not happen in silos. The Surge program suite has created a sprawling network of change-makers collectively building a brighter future for our youth.

OUR FELLOWS

ELEVATING VOICES

We are a megaphone for our people. Continued impact and heightened influence are the hallmarks of a true movement toward systemic change.