May 2019 Marilyn Rhames

Teachers Who Pray, an organization founded by 2016 Surge Alumna, Marilyn Rhames, recently had its 6th Annual Conference in Chicago, IL. In addition, Marilyn also released her new book, The…

Read more

May 2019 Candace Moore

May 2019 2015 Surge Alumna, Candace Moore, has been named the city of Chicago’s first Chief Equity Officer. In her new role, she will be responsible for shaping a new…

Read more

April 2019 Melissa Connelly

2015 Surge Alumna Melissa Connelly has accepted the role as the new CEO for OneGoal. Melissa joined OneGoal five years ago and previously served as the Chief Program Officer. OneGoal…

Read more

March 2019 Cheryl Flores

2019 Surge Fellow Cheryl Flores has accepted the role of Director of Academic and Social Emotional Supports at the Golden Apple Foundation. In this role, Cheryl will support student’s successful college completion,…

Read more

March 2019 Ariel Johnson

2016 Surge Alumna Ariel Johnson has accepted the role of Director of Government Affairs The Illinois Network of Charter Schools/INCS Action. In this role, Ariel holds a number of responsibilities which…

Read more

March 2019 Onel Abreu

2019 Surge Fellow Onel Abreu was accepted into the Urban Leaders Fellowship program, for the summer of 2019. The Urban Leaders Fellowship is a summer fellowship for early- to mid-career professionals…

Read more

March 2019 Michael Johns

2016 Surge Alumnus Michael Johns has accepted the role of Director of Student Activities at Kennedy-King College. In this role, Michael is responsible for the strategic planning and development of co-curricular…

Read more

March 2019 Ty-Licia Hooker

March 2019 2019 Surge Fellow Ty-Licia Hooker will be honored with Saint Vincent’s Day School 30th Annual Children’s Choice Award, on March 29, 2019. Ty-Licia’s efforts as Executive Director and Co-Founder of…

Read more

February 2019 Liam Bird

February 2019 2018 Surge Alumnus Liam Bird has accepted the role of Equity Policy Strategist (EPS) at Chicago Public Schools. In his new role, Liam will be responsible for conducting policy…

Read more

February 2019 Tamara Hoff Pope

2018 Surge Alumna Tamara Hoff Pope accepted the role of Managing Director of College Success at Chicago Scholars. Chicago Scholars uniquely selects, trains, and mentors academically ambitious students from under-resourced communities to…

Read more

February 2019 Janine Franklin

2018 Surge Alumna Janine Franklin has accepted the role of Project Director at the The University of Chicago Urban Labs. Urban Labs works to address challenges across five key dimensions of urban…

Read more

February 2019 Andres Avila

2017 Surge Alumnus Andres Avila has accepted the role of School Counselor, Junior Lead at Back of the Yards College Prep. In this role, Andres works to ensure that all…

Read more

December 2018 Khadeejah Lasuc-Lewis

2016 Surge Alumna Khadeejah Lasuc-Lewis has accepted the role of Vice President of Talent and Training at Chicago Scholars, an organization that uniquely selects, trains, and mentors academically ambitious students from…

Read more

November 2018 Aimee Rodriguez

2019 Surge Fellow Aimee Rodriguez has accepted the role of Title IX Compliance & Training at Chicago Public Schools. In this role Aimee leads a team to develop, implement, monitor,…

Read more