Who Are We?
Staff
Hilda Franco, Youth Organizer
Hilda was born and raised in South Side of Chicago and graduated from Benito Juarez High School. As a Posse Scholar, Hilda received a full tuition scholarship to Carleton College, where she received a B.A. in History. Along with other fellow Posse scholars at Carleton, she took initiative in creating dialogues on campus surrounding critical global issues that affect local communities. An advocate of accessibility to quality education, Hilda also carries a strong passion for the arts. At the age of 18, Hilda became a teaching artist for the Goodman Theatre youth summer program. After teaching with the Goodman for five years, she developed a critical pedagogy that uses theatre to empower youth. Since then, Hilda has worked as a program coordinator for Options For Youth and taught an interdisciplinary Theatre, Literature, and Arts program at Little Village Lawndale School for Social Justice.
Genesis Gomez, Special Projects Intern
Genesis was born in Mexico, but was raised in both the North and South side of Chicago. She is a 2007 Freedom Fellowship alumnus who returned to CFS in 2010 for another fellowship year. Genesis graduated from Our Lady of Tepeyac High School in 2009 among the Top 10 in her class. After 9 months in North Carolina she has returned to Chicago and is glad to be part of the CFS family once more. Genesis is also currently working on her double major in Political Science and Foreign Languages.
Mia Henry, Director
Mia Henry is the founding Director of the Chicago Freedom School, a nonprofit organization dedicated to cultivating youth-led social change. For the past 15 years, Mia has held leadership roles as an educator and activist in several capacities, including serving as the Associate Director of the Mikva Challenge, a Program Associate for Facing History and Ourselves, a program coordinator for the City University of New York and a high school teacher and International Baccalaureate (IB) program coordinator for Chicago Public Schools. Throughout her career, Mia has conducted many workshops and trainings for teachers and youth that connect history to social change. An avid traveler, she has been fortunate to have had several opportunities to merge her passions by leading educational trips for youth domestically and abroad. Recently, Mia launched a socially-responsible business that offers Civil Rights Movement tours in Alabama and Mississippi. Mia is also a Visiting Lecturer in the master’s degree program in Youth Development in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Mia earned her B.S. in Sociology and Administration of Justice from Rutgers University and her M.S.Ed. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Hannah Jacoby, Outreach and Development Coordinator
Hannah was born and raised in Bozeman, Montana, but moved to Chicago four years ago to attend the University of Chicago. While in college, she organized with the Southside Solidarity Network, a group that fights against gentrification and displacement. She also worked as the Social Justice Coordinator at the University Community Service Center where she provided training to other student activists. Throughout college she coordinated youth debate leagues for the University of Chicago’s Civic Knowledge Project and the Chicago Urban Debate League. Hannah graduated in 2009 with a B.A. in Political Science. She is a member of Public Allies Chicago, an AmeriCorps program that identifies diverse young adults and prepares them for leadership through paid full-time nonprofit apprenticeships and rigorous leadership training.
Alex Poeter, Director of Organizing
Alex Poeter was the founder and Executive Director of the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council (BPNC), a multi-issue grassroots organization serving Chicago’s Southwest side. Prior to the founding of BPNC, Alex founded Blocks Together, a multi-issue grassroots organization located on Chicago’s Westside, where he served as Executive Director. Both organizations have won the award for best organization in Chicago, sponsored by five of Chicago’s main foundations. In 2000, Alex was one of the national Do Something Brick Award winners.
Shonettia Monique, Wellness Coordinator
Shonettia is an activist, massage therapist, counselor, dancer, and writer. She has an extensive history of working with and for oppressed people in Chicago, especially people of color. From being a crisis counselor at Cook County Hospital, to organizing speak outs for survivors of violence, to developing health curricula, she brings a wealth of knowledge to her role. Shonettia was involved in the planning of the Chicago Freedom School and is both excited and humbled to be working with the CFS Freedom Fellows.
Vanessa Robledo, MSW Intern
As a life long resident of Little Village, Vanessa Robledo graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a B.A. in Sociology and a minor in Latin American and Latino Studies. Along the way she has worked as a community organizer for the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (L.V.E.J.O) and as a Graduate Research Assistant at the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy at UIC. Currently, she has begun her final year of the graduate program at the University of Illinois at Chicago-Jane Addams College of Social Work and is thrilled to be part of the growth of the Chicago Freedom School.