Monique Moore, Senior Managing Director at Teach For America, is one of 11 emerging leaders of color representing the inaugural Surge Oakland Fellowship.
To me, Surge means a shift in power—specifically the idea that women and men of color have the capacity to not only lead in this movement but shape this movement. Surge stands for an explicit investment in me and my development that will enable me to have the long-term impact I want.
OAKLAND, Calif. (PRWEB) February 12, 2018
The Surge Institute officially begins serving Bay Area communities with the debut of its inaugural Oakland Surge Fellowship cohort, accepting a diverse collective of 11 equity-minded emerging African American, Latinx and Asian/Pacific Islander education leaders.
Surge selected this cohort from an impressive pool of applicants and are ultimately bringing together fellows from across the Bay Area education landscape, including the Oakland and San Francisco school districts as well as several other educational institutions, government, and non-profit youth-serving organizations.
Over the course of the Fellowship, Surge Fellows receive extensive executive skill training, leadership development and exposure to respected leaders and policymakers in education. The cohort will also develop their own leadership and advocacy skills. As a culminating final step of the program, Fellows will complete individual capstone projects to advance the work of a new or existing Oakland education initiative.
Below is the full list of 2018 Oakland Surge Fellows:
Charles Cole, III, Founder, Energy Convertors
Osayuware (Tina) Enagbare, Assistant VP, Talent, Peer Health Exchange
Nicole Magtoto, Education Policy Analyst, San Francisco Unified School District
Sonya Mehta, Program Specialist, Early Care and Education Program - Alameda County Government
Monique Moore, Senior Managing Director, Teach For America
Marielle Narcisa, Corporate and Civic Engagement Manager, Education Outside
Harold Pearson, Executive Director, SPAAT
Sara Rizik-Baer, Deputy Director, Tandem, Partners in Early Learning
Randal Seriguchi Jr., Esq. Executive Director, Urban Ed Academy
Joanna Vazquez Zelaya, Program Manager of Measure N, Oakland Unified School District
Bernadette Pilar Zermeño, TK Teacher, ASCEND
The Surge Fellowship began in Chicago in 2015, with the goal of expanding diversity in the education leadership pipeline. Since its launch, Surge has graduated 47 Chicago Fellows, many of whom have since risen to even greater leadership roles in schools, government agencies and youth-serving organizations. The Chicago Fellowship currently empowers its largest and most diverse cohort of 24 fellows.
Jawann Pollard, a 2017 Surge Fellowship Alumni and Program Manager for College Access for LINK Unlimited Scholars, affirms the fellowship played a positive role in both his professional and personal life. “This amazing experience has pushed me to focus inward and evaluate why I am drawn to the work that I do with and for young people,” Pollard said. “It has also helped me in acknowledging and valuing the special set of skills I bring to the table to execute this work. All of this and more that I have received from the Surge family has really helped me clarify my purpose and vision for my life. I move forward more confident in both myself and the meaningful impact I want to have in the community.”
