April 2021 Melissa Flores
Melissa Flores has accepted her new role as COO at the Latino Policy Forum, an organization whose mission is to build the power, influence, and leadership of the Latino community…
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April 2021 Leslye Salinas
A leader who is deeply passionate about supporting community responsive services and access at school sites, Leslye Salinas (OAK’21) will complete her Doctorate in Education from the USC program in Organizational Change and Leadership in…
April 2021 Diego Báez
On Wednesday, April 14th, Truman College (in partnership with Poetry Foundation & Poetry Magazine) will host a virtual poetry reading with Benjamín Naka-Hasebe Kingsley! This gathering is the final culmination…
April 2021 India Johnson and Keeanna Warren
March 2021 For #WomensHistoryMonth, Citizen Education asked readers on social media to nominate the women who are changing education for the better. Congratulations to all those a part of the…
April 2021 Adanta Ahanonu
Adanta Ahanonu (OAK’19) has been promoted as COOP’s first Chief Program Officer. Adanta joined the California team exactly one year ago — re-energizing the regional team out west and revolutionizing…
April 2021 JuDonne Hemingway
JuDonne Hemingway (CHI’19) has accepted the role to serve as the next Principal of Gary Comer Middle School with the Noble Network of Charter Schools.
April 2021 Natalie Neris
Natalie Neris (CHI’17) was a part of a recent panel titled, Equity in Education for All: Closing the Gap. This virtual conversation was moderated by Kate Grossman, a Senior Education Editor…
April 2021 Cheryl Flores
Cheryl Flores (CHI’19) was elected as a new board member for Telpochcalli Community Education Project (Tcep), a grassroots organization in the Little Village community. She is part of the Donor…
April 2021 Charles Cole, III
April 2021 Charles Cole, III, Ed.D., MPA (OAK’18) has officially released the audiobook for his dissertation titled, “Beyond Grit & Resilience.” Give it a listen today on Audible or Apple…
April 2021 AJ DeLeón
April 2021 AJ DeLeón (CHI’15) was featured on an episode of LatinxAmerica’s Podcast. Click here to give it a listen and learn about AJ’s journey within education, tech and entrepreneurship…
March 2021 Melissa Connelly
March 2021 As part of their #WomensHistoryMonth celebration, CBS Chicago highlighted Melissa Connelly (CHI’15) for her ongoing work as CEO of OneGoal.
March 2021 Ana Agarrat
Ana Agarrat (CHI’19) is joining fellow alum, ángela mungía (CHI’18), at AMPT: Advancing Nonprofits. She will serve as Associate Director, a role focused on developing and building out the programming…
February 2021 Jahna Riley
Jahna Riley (KC’20) was recently interviewed for Startland News regarding her Freedom Dreams Project, Aya Coffee + Books, and its immediate impact thus far. Started as an online bookstore, Aya…
February 2021 Ángel L. Vélez
Ángel L. Vélez (CHI’21), doctoral candidate in EPOL and OCCRL research associate, was recently featured in an NBC News story on Racism Within Racial Diversity. Vélez explains the danger of…
February 2021 Nina Sanchez
Nina Sanchez (CHI’17) was selected as part of Chicago magazine’s 30 “New Power 30,” highlighting her transformational, equity-centered work as Director of Enrich Chicago.
February 2021 Will Collins
Will Collins, VP of Development & External Affairs and 2017 Surge Chicago Alum, was recently announced as an inaugural member of the 2021 Black Bench Chicago Fellowship. The Black Bench…
January 2021 Jessica Cañas
Jessica Cañas (CHI’21) has been promoted to Assistant Director of Education at Enlace Chicago, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of Little Village Residents in Chicago.
January 2021 Lydia Mercer
2019 Surge Chicago Alum, Lydia Mercer, has launched The (Un)Learning Space. In this space, (Un)learning refers to the process of recognizing and addressing our implicit biases. Through a process rooted…
January 2021 Destiny Ortega
2020 Surge Chicago Alum, Destiny Ortega, has been promoted to Associate Principal at Civic Consulting Alliance, a non-profit consulting organization that works on high-impact projects with government agencies in the…
January 2021 Allissa Impink
UNCF (United Negro College Fund) Indiana announced an exciting staff addition late last year, bringing on local education leader Allissa Impink to serve as Manager of Community Engagement for K-12…