Chicago Alumni Ambassador Board

Committee(s) interested in leading

Alumni Information Community Service / Advance Alumni Alumni Engagement /
Relations Thinking Empowerment
Amanda Alpert Knight
Houston, ‘99 x
Brandon Bolhous
St. Louis, ‘07 x
Dan Kelley
ENC, ‘05 x x
Elizabeth Mulligan
Chicago, ‘05 x
Hilary Lewis
GNO, ‘01 x
Jeff Donoghue
Mississippi Delta, ‘02 x
Jennifer Nagourney
ENC, ‘02 x x x
Kimberlee Sia
Newark, ‘98 x x
Lora Knapp
Houston, ‘07 x x x
Stacey Mitchell
ENC, ‘03 x
Suma Tumuluri
New York, ‘05 x
Tyson Kane
Los Angeles, ‘06 x x

Teach For America Chicago – Alumni Affairs Team

300 W. Adams St. Suite 1000 Chicago, IL 60606
Amanda Alpert Knight
Houston,
Houston, ’99
I am actively involved in the education community in Chicago and connected to many older alumni. I feel that my
involvement could help bring in inactive alumni and alumni with families. I look forward to helping TFA move
forward and really target the older TFA alumni population.

Brandon
Brandon Bolhous
St. Louis, ‘07
Through my experiences as a Special Educator, in both the Public School System of St. Louis and a successful
start-up of a new charter school in West Chicago, I have seen the challenges of our education system and how
what it will take to begin overcoming these challenges. My passion and informed understanding of the needs
of our students will drive our mission and place Chicago and Teach for America at the forefront of student
success in education. I'm confident, as alumni we have the experience, drive, resources to have an immediate,
positive impact on our city's agenda. I thank every TFA Corps Member and supporter for your unwavering
commitment to our mission.

Dan Kelley
ENC, ‘05
I graduated from DePauw University in 2005, then taught 7th grade social studies in Henderson, NC as part of
the 2005 ENC Corps (we were the last ENC CMs to experience Moody Towers). After teaching, I attended law
school at the University of North Carolina, and now I am an associate in the litigation department at Jenner &
Block here in Chicago. I have had significant executive experience (including running publications in
undergraduate and law school), and I believe I can leverage that experience, as well as contacts in the legal
community, to make the Executive Committee an effective and potent weapon in the fight to close the
achievement gap.

Elizabeth Mulligan
Mulligan
Chicago, ‘05
Since transitioning out of the classroom in 2003, I have continued to engage in educational reform topics both
through friends/colleagues invested in courageously advocating for kids, as well as through my work at Mercy
Home For Boys & Girls, a therapeutic residential home for youth ages 11-21 in Chicago. In my current position
as VP of The Academy at Mercy Home, I oversee the educational and vocational programming for all youth in
our care. My experience at Mercy Home over the past 7 years has given me the opportunity become intimately
familiar with the educational challenges faced by kids & families that are in crisis, and am passionate about
doing everything that we can to catapult the quality of education in Chicago to the level that our kids deserve. I
also hosted one of the small group dinners last year and was extremely energized last year by the conversation
around the table. I would love to be a part of generating more excitement around these in the future and
getting other alums and colleagues engaged in discussion. All of that being said, I am very excited about the
opportunity to represent the Advancing Thinking on the Executive Committee - many thanks for your
consideration!

Hilary Lewis
GNO, ‘01
I would love to serve on the alumni board executive committee and think I will bring an interesting perspective
to the role. Having been a principal in the region, I've seen some of the challenges that alumni school leaders
face, and the huge opportunities for collaboration across the region as well. Now, being on staff, I feel like I can
bring the perspective of a staff member but balance it with that of someone who was not on staff for a while and
understands limits of staff members thinking at times. With the large number of alumni in our region, I'm
thrilled to see our region take a lead nationally around programming and set the pace for what a strong alumni
movement can look like.

Teach For America Chicago – Alumni Affairs Team

300 W. Adams St. Suite 1000 Chicago, IL 60606
Jeff Donoghue
Mississippi Delta, ‘02
I am a 2002 corps member and a senior manager in the CPS budget office, where I have been closely involved in
the development and analysis of a wide range of district policies and decisions for the last six years, often in the
face of difficult resource constraints and competing priorities. I believe the alumni board has an opportunity to
develop a community of well informed, thoughtful advocates for education policy. Too often, especially with
local issues, advocates come to the table with incomplete understanding of the issues, preconceived
assumptions about the right answers, and/or an easy willingness to paint opponents as self interested or
conspiratorial. Corps members and alums are not immune from this, and it should be our responsibility to
educate ourselves on policy options and all of their potential results and consequences. I would like to lend my
perspective and knowledge to help lead this effort and create an effective voice for change.

Jennifer Nagourney
ENC, ‘02
I am interested in serving on the executive committee of the alumni ambassador board because I am so excited
about this venture and want to be as involved as I can! I believe that my experience founding and leading
nonprofit organizations would be a great asset to the development of this new organization. Following my TFA
corps member experience, I attained a law degree from Indiana University and attended Harvard University's
Graduate School of Education as a Zuckerman Fellow. As a law student, I founded and led an organization that
connected law student volunteers to high-need communities in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. I also served as
the president of the law school's largest student organization, which required the recruitment and mobilization
of more than 100 student and community volunteers for fundraising and service projects. I draw on these
experiences daily as Chief Operating Officer of EPIC Academy, a start-up charter high school in one of Chicago's
highest-need communities.

Kimberlee Sia
Newark, ‘98
I am now in my thirteenth year as an educator. During this time, I have had the opportunity to serve in a number
of roles in both public and charter schools - teacher, union president, founding principal of a charter school,
director of professional development, and regional vice president. Through all of these roles, I have had the
opportunity to develop the skills which will make me a great addition to the alumni ambassador board executive
committee. In addition to the leadership skill set necessary in many of my experiences, I have also had to work
with different groups of people to advocate for children, families, and education reform. Since returning to
Chicago in 2006, I have worked to be an active alumni member, attending events, serving as a mentor, and
working with new corps members through their placement in the schools where I work. I have the great
fortunate of working with TFA in both Northwest Indiana and Chicago. The variety of experiences I bring to the
table will serve me well as a member of the executive committee.

Lora Knapp
Houston, ‘07
After being in the classroom for three years, I decided to leave education and go in to business (what I always
thought I would do pre-TFA). Since day two of leaving education, I realized that my passion lies in working
towards every student receiving an equal and GREAT educational opportunity. I believe I would be a great
addition to the board because my experience in TFA showed me that student achievement, in even the lowest
income communities, IS possible. Through the alumni ambassador board, we can continue to impact the
movement in the city of Chicago, and I would like to be apart of that opportunity. Being Grade Level Chair at my
placement school taught me how to lead, inspire, and work closely with other adults, be inventive, and stay
organized. I believe that these skills will make me a great addition to the team. In addition, my job does afford
me to have a lot of additional time outside of work, and I would like to use that time to give back to Teach for
America, Chicago's education system, and the community at large.

Teach For America Chicago – Alumni Affairs Team

300 W. Adams St. Suite 1000 Chicago, IL 60606
Stacey Mitchell
ENC, ‘03
I served as a 6th grade Reading, Language Arts and Social Studies corps member in North Carolina. After that
time, I worked as an Associate Editor for Scott Foresman, where several of my short stories were published.
Subsequently, I joined the Chicago regional team running District Strategy, then Program from ECE through 12
grade, and now I work as the Managing Director of Staff Diversity and Inclusiveness. As a result of these
experiences, I believe I bring both an urban and rural perspective that is deeply rooted in classroom pedagogy
and practice. These experiences have also afforded me a regional and national perspective that I think uniquely
position me to be helpful in advancing our thinking. Finally, as a Chicago native and now mother, I am
personally motivated to push our efforts to their pinnacle. In sum, I believe could be a strong contributor to this
group.

Suma Tumuluri
New York, ‘05
During my TFA commitment, I taught 8th grade math at IS 162 in the South Bronx. Afterwards, I helped start the
KIPP high school in Newark, NJ. Through my time at these two schools, I came to realize how critical teacher
support systems are in order for students to have a positive experiences in their teachers' classrooms every
day. The optimism, organization, open-mindedness and overall energy are palpable and contagious in a strong
teacher's classroom. I'd like to see alumni help teachers retain some of these qualities through even the
darkest of days so that their students can learn and grow in the most effective environment possible. We can
create mentoring programs where we help our corps member 'buddies' stay positive about our mission, their
communities and their kids through coffee chats, sharing old teaching resources, gchat check-ins, helping with
lesson plan ideas and more. We can be a resource to corps members' students who need to meet young,
successful, happy professionals in a variety of fields. We can support events in the school communities by
attending fundraisers, talent shows, pep rallies and other such events. Alumni engagement is clearly a win-win:
corps members feel supported and reenergized to share their experience with people who have been there and
alumni have the opportunity to be directly involved with what is happening in classrooms today. I am excited to
see what lies ahead for this board!

Tyson Kane
Los Angeles, ‘06
As an executive committee member, the major contributions I'd bring to bear include my perspective, public
and private sector experience base, and a track record of results-oriented success. Currently, I'm the founding
Principal of Chicago Bulls College Prep, a campus of Noble Street Schools here in Chicago. As a school, over
50% of our staff are Teach for America alumni, and our growth results place us in the top 15 high schools in the
city. Prior to this, I was a Los Angeles regional winner and national finalist for the Sue Lehmann Excellence in
Teaching Award during my time as a corps member. Before coming to the corps, I spent 7 years in the private
sector. Most recently, I worked for the Carlyle Group, helping lead operational turnarounds of heavy
manufacturing companies in the automotive and aerospace industries. Prior to that, I was a management
consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, working across the energy, consumer, and non-profit sectors.
I began my career as an investment banking analyst with the Chase Manhattan Corporation.

Teach For America Chicago – Alumni Affairs Team

300 W. Adams St. Suite 1000 Chicago, IL 60606