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…
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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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…