Dr. Paul Riskus

Co-Founder

Paul worked as a high school chemistry and physics teacher, and was a science department chair at Urban Prep-Bronzeville High School. Following his teaching career, he became an instructional coach and assistant principal at Garcia High School. He is currently the Principal at Walt Disney Magnet School, after earning his EdD in Urban Educational Leadership at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Paul believes that empowering and supporting teacher leaders is the clearest path to student growth.

Dr. Michael Harries

Co-Founder

Michael worked as a freshmen physics teacher and freshmen team lead teacher at Urban Prep- West High school on Chicago’s near west side. He earned a Master’s Degree in Teaching at Dominican University and recently completed medical school at the University of Chicago. He is currently a resident physician at Comer Children’s Hospital. As a Pediatrician he plans to focus his career on the intersection of medical care and the K-12 school system. He also hopes to work towards increasing access to mental health resources for youth in areas of high need.

Morgan Russo

Morgan taught 4th-7th grade for five years in Chicago and served as an instructional coach and teacher leader. Morgan is working on her Masters in Child Development from the Erikson Institute and currently works in Children’s Digital Media.  She believes that teachers are our greatest resource and empowering them to lead in their schools will have the greatest impact on our students.

Michael Cheng

Michael previously worked as the science department head at Youth Connection Leadership Academy in Bronzeville, an alternative high school for our city’s most underserved youth. While teaching, he earned a Master’s Degree in Teaching at Dominican University. He is currently working as a Data and Analytics Consultant at Accenture. Michael believes in the intersection of education and technology to impact learning for both teachers and students.

Kelly McKimson-Rhodes

Kelly is an English teacher at H.L. Richards High School, a Title I school in the Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn. Kelly leads the English IV team and is a founding member of her school’s Equity and Opportunity Committee, specifically working to develop Richards’ Advanced Placement program. Kelly earned two master’s degrees in education, and she is a certified yoga instructor who enjoys sharing her practice and trauma-informed mindfulness training with students and educators. In her fifteen years in the classroom, and as the daughter of a veteran CPS teacher, Kelly knows teachers are social justice advocates and the driving force in schools; they deserve opportunity, support, and recognition.

Jingwei Maggie Li

Maggie is the Research Analyst at the Health Lab at the University of Chicago Urban Labs. Prior to this role, she worked on social impact research at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She is experienced in conducting quantitative and qualitative research, and her research has been covered in Bloomberg, Chicago Booth Review, Chief Investment Officers, and Quartz. Maggie holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Chicago and BA degrees in Business Economics and in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine.