Andrea is a former school principal of a high-performing elementary school in the city of Chicago. Andrea worked to create a strong instructional environment that supported the growth of a Golden Apple Award winner. Andrea worked to create a strong instructional environment that supported the growth of a Golden Apple Award winner. Her career began in Atlanta, GA, as a Teach for America corps member. Her content knowledge, instructional aptitude, leadership dexterity, and commitment to excellence for all scholars, regardless of perceived deficits, quickly led her to aspirations beyond the classroom. Andrea values learning and professional growth, and sought our personal learning opportunities to continue to grow via fellowships with the Surge Institute, Cambiar, and Accelerate Institute. Her leadership mantra is, “If you base your decisions on what’s best for kids, you will never have to question your decision.”

Susan Garcia Jones (she/they) is the Academy Program Director at Surge Institute. Her passion for education equity developed when she was an undergrad at Dartmouth College. The experience of going from a majority Latinx community to an Ivy League in New Hampshire made them realize the deep structural inequities in their own education. This experience led her to education and justice work. Susan has spent 10 years working in various educational settings from supporting after-school programs at the Boys & Girls Club in her hometown of Oxnard to most recently leading Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives at KIPP Northern California. Along with a passion for K-12 education, they are a lifelong learner, recently earning their MA from the Graduate Theological Union. Their research focuses on how Black sci-fi literature offers radical lessons for dreaming justice movement work.
A proud Afro-Latina from California, Janeen is also an avid reader, loves tv, and finds that laughter and community make the world go round. She resides on the South Side of Chicago with her children (Xiomara, Stokely) and husband (Akili). Janeen received a B.A. in African American Studies and Sociology from UCLA and holds a Masters Degree in Public Policy and a Masters Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Michigan. Janeen firmly believes that for youth and adults alike, “education is releasing what is already within” and actively leads with the love for the “babies” in all she does.

With a 20+ year career in education, Janeen Lee (she/her) has developed expertise in culturally sustaining curriculum design and instruction, designing and leading large-scale professional development, and managing high-impact teams. Prior to Surge, Janeen was the K-12 Social Science Manager for Chicago Public Schools and led the team that provided culturally relevant instructional coaching, professional learning and curriculum design support to all Social Science teachers across the nation’s third-largest district. Janeen’s experience extends to the out-of-school time space. While working at the Digital Youth Network, she designed and facilitated a virtual exchange program for students in Chicago and Morocco. Janeen views her 10 years as a high school history teacher as her most important work to date.

A proud Afro-Latina from California, Janeen is also an avid reader, loves tv, and finds that laughter and community make the world go round. She resides on the South Side of Chicago with her children (Xiomara, Stokely) and husband (Akili). Janeen received a B.A. in African American Studies and Sociology from UCLA and holds a Masters Degree in Public Policy and a Masters Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Michigan. Janeen firmly believes that for youth and adults alike, “education is releasing what is already within” and actively leads with the love for the “babies” in all she does.