Keynote speaker 2022: Eduardo Chavez
Eduardo Chavez
As the grandson of both the legendary civil rights activist César Chávez and the Cuban revolutionary Max Lesnik, Eduardo Chavez is the scion of two revolutionary families. Eduardo's political and activist background influenced his feature documentary, "Hailing Cesar," released April 2018.
Since its debut, Eduardo has screened Hailing Cesar and spoken at 50+ universities in 3 different countries. In addition to being a director, speaker & activist, Eduardo is the co-founder of Latindia Studios and a member of the Speakers’ Board for the Chavez Institute for Law and Social Justice.
As the grandson of both the legendary civil rights activist César Chávez and the Cuban revolutionary Max Lesnik, Eduardo Chavez is the scion of two revolutionary families. Eduardo's political and activist background influenced his feature documentary, "Hailing Cesar," released April 2018.
Since its debut, Eduardo has screened Hailing Cesar and spoken at 50+ universities in 3 different countries. In addition to being a director, speaker & activist, Eduardo is the co-founder of Latindia Studios and a member of the Speakers’ Board for the Chavez Institute for Law and Social Justice.
Special Guest
Michael Reyes
As a poet, artist and organizer, Reyes performs internationally and facilitates educational performances and workshops by merging creative expression and critical thought. His mission is to provide a participatory educational environment through poetry and hip-hop to address issues of social justice and cultural identity.
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Distinguished Guest: Superintendent of Kalamazoo Public Schools
Dr. Rita Raichoudhuri
Dr. Rita Raichoudhuri began her tenure as superintendent of Kalamazoo Public Schools on June 1, 2020.
A native of California, Raichoudhuri has almost two decades of experience in education. She worked for Chicago Public Schools prior to joining Kalamazoo Public Schools. She was the executive director of Early College and Career Education for CPS from 2017 to May 2020, and during that time she implemented processes and systems of support to provide students with rigorous, relevant, college-level, hands-on, and career-focused courses and facilitated the design and implementation of high-quality STEM learning environments.
In that position, she also established several secondary-to-employment pipeline programs that helped students gain college credit, professional credentials, and the soft skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century labor market. She helped establish Jumpstart to Jobs in 2018, which helped students earn early college and career credentials; FastTrack in 2019, a collaboration with the City Colleges of Chicago to provide students with post-high school internships and career pathway learning; and the school district’s first apprenticeship program as well as several progressive pathways in three in-demand labor market areas, including Teach Chicago, which helps students interested in pursuing careers in education.
From 2013 to 2017 she was the principal of Wells Community Academy High School, where her accomplishments included increasing attendance, high school graduation rates, and the freshman on-track rate — as well as decreasing the school’s drop-out rate. She served as resident principal at the school from 2012 to 2013 as part of the Chicago Leadership Collaborative.
Raichoudhuri’s other positions within Chicago Public Schools, included director of the Office of Professional Learning, from 2011 to 2012, where she focused on development and implementation of high quality professional development in relation to key district initiatives such as Common Core, Full School Day and REACH (Recognizing Educators Advancing Chicago Students); and senior manager of the Office of Performance, from 2010 to 2011, when she developed and implemented systems for principals and other administrators to effectively lead their instructional leadership teams and teacher teams in meeting school-wide goals.
Prior to moving to Chicago, Raichoudhuri was a teacher and special projects leader with the Mount Diablo Unified School District in Concord, California.
Raichoudhuri earned her doctorate in urban education leadership from the University of Illinois, Chicago. She also holds a master’s degree in education from Chapman University, Orange, California; and a bachelor's degree in environmental sciences from the University of California, Davis. She has had fellowships at the Erickson Institute in Chicago; Northwestern University; and the University of California, Berkeley.
A native of California, Raichoudhuri has almost two decades of experience in education. She worked for Chicago Public Schools prior to joining Kalamazoo Public Schools. She was the executive director of Early College and Career Education for CPS from 2017 to May 2020, and during that time she implemented processes and systems of support to provide students with rigorous, relevant, college-level, hands-on, and career-focused courses and facilitated the design and implementation of high-quality STEM learning environments.
In that position, she also established several secondary-to-employment pipeline programs that helped students gain college credit, professional credentials, and the soft skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century labor market. She helped establish Jumpstart to Jobs in 2018, which helped students earn early college and career credentials; FastTrack in 2019, a collaboration with the City Colleges of Chicago to provide students with post-high school internships and career pathway learning; and the school district’s first apprenticeship program as well as several progressive pathways in three in-demand labor market areas, including Teach Chicago, which helps students interested in pursuing careers in education.
From 2013 to 2017 she was the principal of Wells Community Academy High School, where her accomplishments included increasing attendance, high school graduation rates, and the freshman on-track rate — as well as decreasing the school’s drop-out rate. She served as resident principal at the school from 2012 to 2013 as part of the Chicago Leadership Collaborative.
Raichoudhuri’s other positions within Chicago Public Schools, included director of the Office of Professional Learning, from 2011 to 2012, where she focused on development and implementation of high quality professional development in relation to key district initiatives such as Common Core, Full School Day and REACH (Recognizing Educators Advancing Chicago Students); and senior manager of the Office of Performance, from 2010 to 2011, when she developed and implemented systems for principals and other administrators to effectively lead their instructional leadership teams and teacher teams in meeting school-wide goals.
Prior to moving to Chicago, Raichoudhuri was a teacher and special projects leader with the Mount Diablo Unified School District in Concord, California.
Raichoudhuri earned her doctorate in urban education leadership from the University of Illinois, Chicago. She also holds a master’s degree in education from Chapman University, Orange, California; and a bachelor's degree in environmental sciences from the University of California, Davis. She has had fellowships at the Erickson Institute in Chicago; Northwestern University; and the University of California, Berkeley.