#WeAreChicago
Meet the people building a better Chicago
Our community is made up of unique individuals with one shared mission: to fight poverty by investing in our city's Black and Latinx youth.
Featured
A better Chicago is where we uplift one another through hard times. A city where no one feels hopeless or less than compared to their fellow Chicagoans. I am working to build a better Chicago by using my story to motivate and inspire others. I know firsthand that adversity can bring out the champion in us. We all will face challenges, but we build more empathy for others and become better individuals in the process. To build a better Chicago, we must seek compassion and understanding for all people.
Devine Drakes
Nikhil Angelo
Nikhil Angelo
As a former public school teacher and community organizer, I feel I can bear witness to the wealth of possibilities in our neighborhoods and our schools. I think a lot of times when people talk about Chicago neighborhoods, they talk about them from a place of deficits instead of assets. I've seen what it looks like to have parents involved in low-performing schools and see low-income kids achieving their potential. My background helps me to be part of breaking down the stereotypes and misconceptions about black and brown kids and build bridges between philanthropists and organizations like A Better Chicago.
Brent Rasmussen
Brent Rasmussen
To build a better Chicago, we must continue to have truthful conversations about the issues we face as a city and the great need to address them. Over 600,000 residents live in poverty, and we are well equipped as a community to use our impact to make a difference. A better Chicago is full of opportunities for our families from low-income backgrounds to achieve a better future. By paying it forward, I am working to build a better Chicago.
Colin Baker
Colin Baker
Colin Baker is A Better Chicago's portfolio associate. Colin has worked in support of our grantees for over four years with the belief that it's our responsibility to work in order to right the wrongs of hundreds of years of systemic racism manifested in divestment, disenfranchisement, and exclusion by charting a future that offers more educational, economic and social opportunity for Chicago's Black and Latinx youth. For Colin, A better Chicago is a city where every young person has opportunities accessible to them to achieve their aspirations regardless of their neighborhood, school, racial, ethnic identity, or socio-economic background. He amplifies his impact by supporting Chicago's strongest and most promising organizations that are creating more and better economic, educational, and social opportunities for youth who have historically been underserved, undervalued, and often forgotten.
Domonique Battle
Domonique Battle
Domonique Battle is A Better Chicago's portfolio director. She is a proud Chicagoan, a product of Chicago Public Schools, a passionate nonprofit leader, and a dedicated mother. Her track record and community involvement with organizations such as City Year Chicago and the Museum of Science and Industry is a clear indicator of how much she truly loves our great city. She amplifies her impact by working with and learning from our fantastic grantee leaders. "The time for bold action is now, and the need to create a city where all youth thrive is great. A better Chicago is one where every child has a multitude of options for quality food, education, jobs available to them, and within reach. Children shouldn't have to travel to better school districts for classes. Black and Latinx youth deserve the opportunity to transition into the workforce and earn family-sustaining wages while growing within the field of their choice. I am working to build a better Chicago by using my skills, passion, and relationships to help A Better Chicago address the needs of Black and Latinx youth from low-income backgrounds alongside the nonprofits doing the work every day."
Sarah Berghorst
Sarah Berghorst
I believe we’ll be a better Chicago when we close the degree divide for CPS students. In Chicago today, 69% of CPS high school freshmen aspire to earn a four-year college degree but projections show that only 19% will achieve that dream. Our young people deserve better. Living in a better Chicago means that every single student who sets a postsecondary goal, regardless of income or neighborhood, will have an equitable opportunity to achieve their personal aspirations.
Zulmarie Bosques
Zulmarie Bosques
I work in education, specifically college success, by making an impact with high school juniors and seniors through mentorship relationships. Supporting our high school students of all backgrounds and our public schools is what I am doing to create a better Chicago.
Blair Bryant
Blair Bryant
The young people from under-resourced communities deserve opportunities to succeed despite their economic status. A better Chicago is one where there is equal access to resources no matter who you or your upbringing. I'm working to build a better Chicago by sharing the incredible stories of impact, leadership, and community that connect those able to amplify their impact to reach organizations making a difference in how poverty affects the lives of Black and Latinx youth.
Blenda Chiu
Blenda Chiu
A better Chicago is a city where all youth have access to the opportunities, resources, and knowledge to pursue a postsecondary degree and begin their future careers as successful leaders and change makers in our communities and beyond.
Melissa Flores
Melissa Flores
Melissa Flores is the senior director of strategy and operations of the Erie Neighborhood House and a member of A Better Chicago’s impact council. She takes pride in her Latinx identity and strives to be a role model and support system for the Black and Latinx community in Chicago. Melissa believes a better Chicago is not only possible, but it is our collective responsibility to make it happen! As a powerful voice in our city, she encourages our youth never to shrink themselves but instead show up each and every day as authentic and genuine as they can no matter the settings. Melissa is a public servant working to build a better Chicago by driving equity forward. When she thinks about our city and the people who make up our beautiful, diverse neighborhoods, she feels indebted to give back and will spend the rest of her life paying it back and paying it forward.
Aarti Dhupelia
Aarti Dhupelia
A Better Chicago is a city where every young person is given the opportunity to realize their potential and write their own success story. That means every young person not only having access to high-quality education but also being provided the resources that undergird academic, career, and life success: safe communities, access to healthcare, access to housing and food, and role models who inspire them to reach higher.
Chris Haid
Chris Haid
A better Chicago to me is one where the leaders of organizations like KIPP are representative of the students and communities we serve. We'll know we've been successful when the person who has my job looks like one of our students.
Joseph Hemingway
Joseph Hemingway
Joseph Hemingway is a passionate changemaker. He has always had an eagerness to support the youth in his community. His commitment to paying it forward has led him to join A Better Chicago as a member of our impact council. As a dedicated supporter of equity and the bold action needed to build a better city where Black and Latinx youth thrive, Joseph is a young philanthropist helping to fight poverty.
Constance Jones
Constance Jones
A Better Chicago is equal opportunities for every single Chicagoan, starting from equal access to a high quality education for all families that will unlock unlimited options for all, particular those that look like me.
Kelly Jones
Kelly Jones
Black and Latinx youth from our most resilient communities deserve all the opportunity in the world, and right now, our systems and institutions are not delivering. A better Chicago is a city where all of our youth, and their communities, are thriving. I am working to build a better Chicago by investing in game-changing programs and ideas serving our city's young people.
Dominique Jordan Turner
Dominique Jordan Turner
What I see on the news and the narrative about our city is not my reality, and it’s not the reality of many of the students that we serve. They have all this talent and yet they’re invisible to leaders in this country. I’m trying to make them visible.
Timothy Knowles
Timothy Knowles
A better Chicago has hundreds of schools that fuel the talent and pertinacity each young person in Chicago carries with them. A better Chicago has extraordinary opportunities for every child to learn, play and engage - on weekends, after school and through the summer. And a better Chicago prepares our young people for real careers, enabling them to generate wealth and live just, purposeful, passionate lives.
Carey Kogol
Carey Kogol
A better Chicago is active collaboration between governments and nonprofits that infuse student voice to the solution.
Kristina Mamon
Kristina Mamon
To me, a better Chicago is where communities and neighborhoods are intentionally interconnected in a positive manner. There is a well-known divide in our city and many organizations have people working on the ground to close this gap. One of these organizations is iMentor where we influence this need through cultivating meaningful relationships that increase social capital. Chicago has potential and I believe the citizens who make up the communities are the very people who have what it takes for exponential growth and impact. It is essential that we stick together during these trying times and prove to the world we are resilient for the future and betterment of our admirable city.
Brooke McKean
Brooke McKean
In many ways, Chicago is an amazing city. Chicago is filled with high quality talent, delicious food, great festivals, and innovative industries. A better Chicago means everyone has access to what makes Chicago a great city. That access is achieved through high quality education and the best opportunities for all. A better Chicago means less inequality, less violence, and vibrant, economically stable, safe neighborhoods that celebrate our city’s diversity. A better Chicago is where someone from the North Shore and someone from Englewood have the same chances to succeed in this wonderful city and, unfortunately, that’s not the Chicago we have.
Danisha Moore
Danisha Moore
A better Chicago is a city where your race and economic status do not determine the potential people see in you. A better Chicago is a city where Black and Latinx people (of all ages) are given the same opportunities to thrive. I am working to build a better Chicago by sharing stories of resilience, change, and action to a community and a city well equipped to amplify their impact.
Marshana Roberts Pace
Marshana Roberts Pace
Marshana Pace is A Better Chicago's portfolio growth manager, and she understands that systemic inequity creates significant barriers for Black and Latinx youth and communities. As a member of the A Better Chicago team, she is fueled by the opportunity to engage with diverse and driven non-profit leaders who are fiercely dedicated to supporting Black and Latinx youth and young adults. Marshana encourages others to invest in bold ideas through A Better Chicago's model as we help create opportunities for youth of color and influence practices within systems and institutions. She believes A better Chicago is a place where children of color live the lives of their choosing instead of lives predetermined by their race, socio-economic status, or zip code.
Paige Ponder
Paige Ponder
A better Chicago is a city where everyone – from all races, neighborhoods, and countries of origin – has the opportunity to work hard and build the career and the life they want.
Christine Poorman
Christine Poorman
A better Chicago is a city that supports a young person’s ability to achieve their dreams based on their talent, motivation and effort, not their income or race.
Vaish Shastry
Vaish Shastry
A better Chicago is just on the horizon. It is a Chicago that is equal and just, joyful and innovative, striving and uplifting for all of its residents. I am working to build a better Chicago by supporting organizations in the most under-resourced neighborhoods. I serve as a partner to leaders doing grassroots work to help them accomplish their missions, which helps undo deep-seated injustices that Chicago must address to move forward
Sarey Snieg
Sarey Snieg
Sarey serves as the portfolio coordinator at A Better Chicago. As a beneficiary of two of our grantees, Noble, and Chicago Scholars, she believes that our mission is important because there is a lack of resources for our Black and Latinx communities. Sarey shares our commitment to investing in strong organizations as a step in the right direction to solve disparities and embrace the potential in these communities. She envisions a better Chicago as an equitable place for all students and people regardless of their age, race, sex, or zip code. She is amplifying her impact by giving back to the organizations that believed in her and helping students cross the finish line to success.
Kate Sullivan
Kate Sullivan
I am not a native Chicagoan, but I have come to be so proud of this city and the innovation, tenacity, and compassion that has brought some tremendous progress particularly in the education space.
Kwyn Townsend Riley
Kwyn Townsend Riley
A Better Chicago looks like more schools, less cops. More grocery stores less food deserts. More kids playing outside than locked behind bars. A Better Chicago looks safe, inclusive and fair.
Laura Walzer
Laura Walzer
The opportunity to succeed in life should not depend on socioeconomic factors, race, or zip code. A better Chicago is all young people having ample opportunities to learn, develop, and explore their individuality. Our Black and Latinx youth deserve an equal opportunity, and thus customized support, to achieve their maximum potential in school and beyond.
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