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 analysis reviews of existing school board policy, the Illinois School Code, city and state policies/practices, and district and school-based practices, to assess their impacts on…

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 complete college and become the next generation of leaders who will transform their neighborhoods and our city. In this new role, Tamara will oversee engagement and…

Surge Alumni Make Negocios Now 2018 40 Under 40 List

Two alumni of the Surge Fellowship were recently awarded as recipients for the Negocios Now 2018 Latinos 40 Under 40 List. Paul Morgan (2018 Surge Alumnus) and LeShonne Segura (2015 Surge Alumna) were selected after an over four-month nominations period and record participation with more than 120 nominations. The list features 40 young Latinx leaders…

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 life: crime, education, health, poverty, and energy & environment. They partner with civic and community leaders to identify, test, and help scale the programs and…

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 under-resourced communities to complete college and become the next generation of leaders who will transform their neighborhoods and city. In her new role, Khadeejah supports,…

Fellow and Alumni Achievements

December 2021 Will Collins (CHI’17) was named as part of Crain’s 2021 Chicago Notable Black Leaders and Executives. This cohort of 71 Notable Black Leaders worked for decades to reach prominent places in law, banking, media, and nonprofits and lift their communities. Following the murder of George Floyd and reckoning over systemic racism, they found themselves…

2019 Surge Fellow Awarded Field Leader Award

As the 2019 Surge Fellowship program began, The Field Foundation announced 2019 Surge Fellow, Steven Rosado, as the recipient of their Field Leader Award. The Field Leader Award is a highly-selective honor given to an individual leader working at a Field Foundation grantee organization. It is designed to promote visionaries across Chicago by building social…