Welcome the 2020 Surge Chicago Cohort!

We are proud to announce that 25 leaders who currently serve within the Chicago education landscape have been selected for the 2020 Surge Chicago Fellowship! The Surge Institute first began serving Chicago communities in 2015, and the total number of our Surge Chicago Alumni reached nearly 100 education leaders of color this past August. Each…

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September 2019 Andrea Black

2017 Surge Alumna, Andrea Black was recently featured in an article for Teach for America. The article titled, “How One Principal Is Building Student and Teacher Confidence,” highlights Andrea’s 6+ years as Principal for Schmid Elementary in Chicago, IL and how she is working with and supporting the school community and its student leaders. Click…

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September 2019 Michelle Kemp

2018 Surge Alumna, Michelle Kemp founded MK Consulting Group, a new consulting firm that focuses on diversity recruitment, human capital management, and project management.

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September 2019 Charles Cole

August 2019 2018 Surge Oakland Alumnus, Charles Cole, III, Ed.D., recently released his book, Beyond Grit and Resilience: How Black Men Impacted by the Crack Epidemic Succeeded Against the Odds and Obtained Doctoral Degrees. This comparative case study utilized oral histories to illuminate the life stories of three Black men who navigated their way through…

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September 2019 Kyra Marcano

2018 Surge Alumna, Kyra Marcano founded Brilliant Light, LLC, which provides strategic consultative support to clients ranging from identifying individual impact to larger scale strategic planning, staff development, and training.

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Welcome the 2020 Surge Oakland Cohort!

We are proud to announce that 16 leaders from across the Oakland & Bay Area education landscape have been selected for the 2020 Surge Oakland Fellowship program! This year-long cohort-based program focuses on uniting, accelerating, and empowering leaders of color in education and youth-serving organizations. The Surge Institute officially began serving Oakland & Bay Area…

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September 2019 Natalia Torres

2018 Surge Alumna, Natalia Torres will be pursuing her Masters in Education – School Leadership with a principal licensure at the Harvard Graduate School of Education this fall.

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The Surge Institute Welcomes 3 New Staff Members to the National Leadership Team!

The Surge Institute would like to extend a warm welcome to three new staff members who will be joining the Surge’s national leadership team! The Development and Program departments are key to building Surge’s national education movement, and the organization is proud to bring onboard three additional brilliant minds to aid in the organization’s education efforts. George…

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July 2019 Everett Daily

July 2019 2019 Surge Fellow, Everett Daily recently received an award for Outstanding Educator/Administrator from the Office of Congressman Danny Davis. The award highlights Everett’s work and dedication to connecting with and mentoring young people in the field of education and beyond.

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July 2019 Janene Ingram

July 2019 2019 Surge Fellow, Janene Ingram has accepted the role of Managing Director, Strategy & Chief of Staff, Collective Leadership & Engagement at Teach for America. This role is the backbone of the 30+ person team responsible for leading and supporting the 60,000 alumni of Teach for America as well as spearheading towards system…

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July 2019 Dulce Torres-Petty

2019 Surge Oakland Fellow Dulce Torres-Petty has been promoted to Senior Program Manager for the Brilliant Baby program, the early childhood program of Oakland Promise, helping low-income parents and guardians advance their baby’s academic and socio-emotional development during the first critical years of life (ages 0-5).

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June 2019 Christopher Goins

June 2019 2016 Surge Alumnus, Christopher Goins accepted the position of Chief Equity Officer for Thrive Chicago, in partnership with the Obama Foundation, to lead My Brother’s Keeper Alliance for the city of Chicago.

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July 2019 Melissa Flores

2019 Surge Chicago Fellow, Melissa Flores, along with 24 other Chicago Non Profit leaders, were selected as part of the Negocios Now “Who’s Who in Hispanic Chicago.” Melissa was recognized specifically for the amazing work she has done while at Erie Neighborhood House.

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July 2019 Cesar Dominguez

2017 Surge Alumnus, Cesar Dominguez was accepted into the Broad Residency for The Broad Center. The Broad Residency in Urban Education provides the opportunity for outstanding management professionals to apply their skills and knowledge to meet the challenges faced by urban public school systems. Learn more at www.broadcenter.org/broad-residency

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July 2019 Bryan Jackson

2017 Surge Alumnus, Bryan Jackson participated on the panel, Creating Inclusive Environments for Every Player, at the US Soccer Foundation’s National Conference in Washington D.C. Approximately 150 national Soccer for Success Trainers who support and train the coach-mentors that work with youth in underserved communities across the country were in attendance. The coaches were passionate…

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July 2019 Jonathan Chaparro

2017 Surge Alumnus, Jonathan Chaparro has been selected as part of the Class of 2020 for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ Emerging Leaders Program. Every year the Chicago Council on Global Affairs selects a class of approximately 20 participants with high potential from across Chicago’s business, cultural, civic, and academic sectors and provides a…

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July 2019 Steven Rosado

2019 Surge Fellow, Steven Rosado founded Rosado Consulting Collaborative, which provides clients with services in the following domains; community outreach and civic engagement; curriculum development and program design for youth-serving organizations; participatory action research; participatory grant-making; public policy and advocacy; racial equity; strategic planning; and workshop facilitation

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June 2019 Dawn Hick

2017 Surge Alumna, Dawn Hick founded DSH Coaching and Consulting, LLC where she provides coaching to mission driven leaders who are ready to discover their innate greatness and move in a direction that is more in alignment with their goals. Clients experience transformational change and are then able to show up and operate from their…

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June 2019 Michelle Bess

Degrees of Change, a national college success, and leadership development organization, announced that its board of directors has appointed 2016 Surge Alumna, Michelle Bess, as new chair of the board. Michelle currently serves as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director at Sprout Social, a Chicago-based software company. She has served on the Degrees of Change board…

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June 2019 Nick Freeman and LeShonne Segura

2019 Surge Fellow, Nick Freeman, and 2015 Surge Alumna, LeShonne Segura, were named Chicago Agents of Change by Education Pioneers at their Annual Luncheon. Agents of Change work on behalf of underserved students and demonstrate results toward achieving educational equity and opportunities in many ways, including innovation, entrepreneurship and community advocacy and empowerment.

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