Dana Cilono

Dana Cilono is the Director of CARES for Learning  “With the majority of children of color across the country lacking the privileges and power that education should provide, leveling the playing field by increasing access and achievement is not enough. Eradicating inequities is essential for all to benefit from education. Joining the Surge network would…

Xavier Buster

Xavier Buster is the Director, Alumni Engagement at Teach for America. “Surge by definition is a rush of power that shifts from one side to another, and that power shift is what I find most exciting about this fellowship. I appreciate the intentional investment in disrupting the status quo by building the individual skill and…

Elaina Amos

Elaina Amos is an Assistant Principal at Oakland Unified School District. “I want to be in a community with other people of color to talk about the blatant racism written into most educational policies in America. I desire a group of POC who know how hard this work can be, and who will call me…

Welcome the 2021 Surge Oakland Cohort!

“Every human is an artist. The dream of your life is to make beautiful art.” ― Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements It is incredible to think that over two years ago, the Surge Institute became a national movement with the expansion of the Surge Fellowship to Oakland, California. Over the course, we’ve had the…

August 2020 Aija Simmons

August 2020 Now, more than ever, students and teachers must draw on their social and emotional capacities in order to be resilient and to learn through this pandemic. Both adults and students need vibrant communities of distance learning that foster autonomy, belonging, and competence. Aija Simmons, 2020 Surge Alum and Program Manager of Oakland Unified’s…