Hello everyone! My name is Erykah Nava (she/they), and I am excited to be the new Communications Strategy Organizer. I am a parent to one CPS student. I was born and raised in Chicago, but I was away for a couple years to finish college. I recently moved back and now live in Belmont Cragin with my daughter and partner. I am grateful to be back in my city, and I look forward to building a liberated future with Black and brown parents and youth.

I have mainly been involved in abolitionist and mutual aid organizing with Dissenters, Students Organized for Labor Rights, and NUCommunityNotCops. I believe education justice is part of a greater movement to build life-giving institutions rather than recreate cycles of violence in our communities. By centering parents and youth most impacted, we will create a future where public education is funded, well-resourced, and centered on the holistic existence of the people.

Kendra is a mother of four CPS graduates and three current students. She is a CPS K-12 alum and graduate of Lindblom HS. As Raise Your Hand’s parent organizer, Kendra brings four years of Local School Council experience and over a decade of parent-mentor leadership.

Kendra is excited to support the community as a certified LSC trainer. She believes fully trained LSCs are the change agents our children and schools deserve.

Raised in the Englewood/Auburn Gresham area, Kendra takes great pride in serving her community. She is currently the community liaison for MASK (Mothers Against Senseless Killings). Her passion is to ensure that all children get the quality public education they deserve!

Nice to meet your acquaintance. I am Marian. Born and raised in the BEST hood-Englewood- I am a CPS alumni graduating from Simeon Career Academy. Currently, my one and only child is a CPS student.

I am excited to join RYH as the Development Associate to ensure that we have the resources to work towards the change that we want to see. The victory of war is impossible if we are unable to finance it. It costs money to fight! Freedom is not free, but it is freeing.

As RYH continues to grow, I am honored to contribute in dismantling racist and oppressive systems so that every child- regardless of socioeconomic status- has access to a high quality, free, public education.

My name is Maddy Wheelock (she/her), and I am so excited to introduce myself as the new Educational Resource Equity Coalition Coordinator at Raise Your Hand! My journey began in Michigan, where I was raised by an incredible public school educator and advocate. From there, I ventured into the nonprofit sector, engaging in initiatives ranging from facilitating art classes at juvenile detention centers in Lansing to housing homeless veteran families in San Diego. Five years ago I followed my mother’s footsteps and transitioned into public education. Along this path, I earned a Master’s in Education from Harvard and taught as a public school English teacher in both the Boston area and in Chicago Public Schools.

I am committed to equitable and justice-centered public education, especially as it relates to elevating queer voices and in ending the school-to-prison pipeline. I am enthusiastic about bringing my diverse experiences to the RYH and Peer Illinois teams as we advocate for well-funded Illinois public schools. I believe in a future where every child has access to the quality education they deserve, and I am eager to collaborate with you all to transform this vision into reality!