Month: February 2016

Lewis-Sebring Director of the Consortium on Chicago School Research

Elaine Allensworth conducts studies on what matters for student success and school improvement. Her research on early indicators of high school graduation, particularly the study What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating, has been used to create student tracking systems used in Chicago and districts across the country.  In addition to studying educational attainment, she conducts research in the areas of school leadership and school organization.  She is one of the authors of the book, Organizing Schools for Improvement: Lessons from Chicago, which provides a detailed analysis of school practices and community conditions which promote school improvement. Dr. Allensworth frequently works with policymakers and practitioners to bridge research and practice, serving on panels, policy commissions, working groups, and review panels at the local, state, and national level.

Director, Education Initiatives & Strategy, Global Corporate Citizenship, The Boeing Company

Deepa Gupta is responsible for developing Boeing’s strategies to support early learning, primary and secondary education, and ensure alignment with post-secondary workforce initiatives across the company. Throughout her career, she has worked on a range of issues including U.S. public health, global health and economic development, the arts, and nonprofit capacity development.  Prior to Boeing, she was a senior program officer for the MacArthur Foundation and a consultant with McKinsey.  In 2012, President Obama appointed her to the National Council on the Arts. Deepa has an MBA from Northwestern University, an MPA from Harvard University, and an AB from the University of Chicago.

Executive Director of Illinois Humanities

Angel Ysaguirre has been the Executive Director of Illinois Humanities since 2014. From 1999 to 2005, he was also the Director of Programs, creating programs and series that include The Odyssey Project, Einstein’s Revolutions, and Brown v Board 50 Years Later: Conversations on Race, Integration, and the Law. He was Deputy Commissioner at the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events from 2012 to 2014, where he managed the City’s public art program, creative industries offices, and arts programming. From 2005 to 2012, he was Director of Global Community Investing at The Boeing Company, overseeing the company’s grantmaking program in 60 offices throughout the globe. He began his career in Chicago as a program officer at the McCormick Tribune Foundation.

Managing Director + Head of Development of A Better Chicago

Prior to joining A Better Chicago in 2012, Julie Hoffmann served as the Director of Development and Communications for The Cara Program. Earlier in her career, Julie was as a consultant for Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance in Washington, DC and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Peru.

Julie has been a long-time volunteer with Horizons for Youth and serves on the organization’s program committee. Julie is also a fellow in the Allstate Foundation’s Greater Good Nonprofit Leaders Class of 2015.

Julie earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology and Spanish from Vanderbilt University and an M.B.A. in international management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

A Better Chicago provides funding and management support to a portfolio of high-performing nonprofits that are dramatically improving educational outcomes for low-income students.