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 in love and centered on people, they want to support individuals, teams and organizations on their antiracist journey. Learn more at: www.unlearningspace.org
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 Chicago region. In her new role, she will join the senior leadership team, co-lead the education project portfolio, and co-lead the Recruiting team.
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 Advocacy. “I am thrilled to have hit the ground running and for the opportunity to continue to work towards my passion of making meaningful impacts…
December 2019 Candace-Moore
December 2019 At the PILI Annual Awards Luncheon, Shareholder and Secretary of the Public Interest Law Initiative (PILI) Board of Directors, Daniel Lange, presented the Distinguished Intern Alumni Award to 2015 Surge Chicago Alum and former PILI intern, Candace Moore.
December 2020 Ma’at Lands
“Tech is something that is still moving forward. While the world has to stop and the world has slow down we know, and we see that the tech world and tech industry is still moving forward.” — Ma’at Lands Rooted School (Ma’at Lands, Founding School Leader and 2021 Surge Academy Fellow), Eleven Fifty Academy and…
December 2020 Candace Moore
2015 Surge Chicago Alum, Candace Moore’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice for the city of Chicago has announced a citywide Together We Heal initiative, which invites Chicagoans between now and the end of January to organize around racial healing — acknowledging and discussing past wrongs, addressing consequences of individual and systemic racism, working together…
December 2020 Chicago Public Schools
Surge Chicago Alumni have been elected as representatives for Local School Council(s) within Chicago Public Schools. See below for full results. Nicole W. Beechum (CHI16) elected as a Parent Representative at Ray Elementary School Erica Bauer (CHI18) elected as Community Representative at Walter Payton College Prep Ulric Shannon (CHI20) elected as Community Representative at Lovett…
October 2020 DuJuan Smith
DuJuan Smith, 2015 Surge Chicago Alum, has successfully defended his dissertation, Black While Leading: Unmasking the Lived Experiences of Senior-Level Black Men Administrators at Historically White Institutions and earned his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Higher Education/Higher Education Administration.
May 2020 Adanta Ahanonu
April 2020 2019 Surge Oakland Alum, Adanta Ahanonu, has accepted a new position as Senior Director of Program for California at COOP Careers. The organization’s mission is to build a diverse movement of upwardly mobile college grads overcoming underemployment through digital skills and peer connections.