(August 6th, 2021) The 2021 Surge Chicago and Oakland cohorts have officially graduated from the prestigious Surge Fellowship program and transitioned into Surge’s National Alumni Network!
On July 10th, 2021, we honored our 2021 Oakland Fellows, better known as the C.R.E.A.T.O.R.S. The joyous celebration was guided by the theme “The Power of Authentic Leadership,” which was exemplified through the afternoon’s powerful keynote speakers Tyfahra Singleton, a 2020 Surge Oakland Alum and member of The Takeover, who offered words regarding the ongoing work as Surge Alumni, as well as Christopher Williams, who was selected by his cohort to offer some reflections to the space on behalf of the 2021 fellows. We were later joined by Founder & President Carmita Semaan, and our time together concluded with the warm pillars of our graduation space – the Ceremony of Transition and Circle of Love.
The following week on July 17th, we highlighted the completion of the Chicago Surge Fellowship for our 2021 Fellows, also known as the Distruptors. Friends, family and peers of the Distruptors tuned into the virtual gathering and celebrated the conclusion of the 10 month fellowship journey. During the celebration, we were joined by a panel of Surge Alumni including Janine Franklin ‘18, Brian Harris ‘20, Steven Rosado ‘19, and Maraliz Salgado ‘18, who all shared vulnerable and honest thoughts around continuing to do the critical work in education and tapping into Surge’s Alumni network to catalyze transformative change in the systems that are not serving nor seeing Black and Brown Chicago communities. Afterwards, the cohort shared intimate connections through the Circle of Affirmation ceremony, and Dalonte Burns also provided the charge to his fellow Disruptors as the cohort’s keynote speaker. It was truly magical!
“Even though Surge was virtual this year, it was amazing how I and the other fellows were still able to build a community, ” said Cindy Agustín Peña. “Despite being on Zoom every month (for our fellowship sessions), we still found moments where we could connect, and I was able to find that sense of community and knowing that someone is there to support you and has your back.”
See the full list of 2021 Surge Fellowship Graduates below:
Oakland:
- Elaina Amos; Assistant Principal, Oakland Unified School District
- Xavier Buster; Director, Alumni Engagement, Teach for America
- Dana Cilono; Director, CARES for Learning
- Denmark Diaz; Men’s Health & Sexual Violence Prevention Educator, San Francisco State University – Health Promotion and Wellness
- Erin Hartfield; Academic Interventionist, Gateway Public Schools
- Lauren Horton; Dean of Culture, Lighthouse Community Public Schools
- Amaya Noguera; Lead of Afro-Latinx Programming, Latinx Racial Equity Project
- Adam Quintero; Assistant Principal, Achieve Academy: Education for Change Public Schools
- Leslye Salinas; Business Manager, Roses in Concrete Community School
- Kala Stepter; 8th Grade Math Teacher, East Bay Innovation Academy
- John Tamrat; College Financial Coach & Partnership Coordinator, Moneythink
- Mary Thomas; Program Manager, School Enrollment, SMART
- Alicia Torres; Education Director, Felton Institute
- Christopher Williams; Assistant Director of Admissions and Outreach Coordinator, Urban School
- Brianna Winn; Director of Alder Bay Teacher Residency at Alder Graduate School of Education, Envision Education
Chicago:
- Cindy Agustín Peña; Director of Community and College Engagement, Chicago Scholars
- Quiaria Asiedu; Director of Matriculation and Onboarding, Teach For America
- Dalonte Burns; Principal, Noble Schools – UIC College Prep
- Jessica Cañas; Assistant Director of Education, Enlace Chicago
- Liz Gutierrez; Program Director, The Posse Foundation
- Shelby Hildreth; Director of Program Design, AUSL
- DeMarco Hughes; Director of Culture and Climate, Chicago Tech Academy
- Danielle McConnell; Director of Program, One Million Degrees
- Rigo Padilla Pérez; College and Career Coach, Chicago Public Schools – Solorio Academy High School
- Jessica Ramos; Director of Community Engagement, Advance Illinois
- Marshana Pace; Portfolio Growth Manager, A Better Chicago
- Miguel Rodriguez; Assistant Principal, KIPP Chicago – Bloom College Prep
- Jessica Sullivan-Wilson; Outreach Director & Policy/Partnerships Lead, Educators for Excellence (E4E) – Chicago
- Ángel L. Vélez; Research Associate, Office of Community College Research and Leadership – University of Illinois
- Naomi Wilfred; Teacher, Chicago Public Schools – National Teachers Academy