Staying Lit for Chicago Youth – Village Talks Ep. 40 with Dr. Carol Collum
https://youtu.be/iIIDFkqajd0 Dr. Carol Collum Is Building the Village Chicago’s Young People Deserve When you ask Dr. Carol Collum what she does, she doesn’t start with titles. She starts with responsibility. As founder and executive director of True Believers Community Connections and its youth initiative Stay Lit, Dr. Collum has planted herself on the corner of […]
Village Talks Ep. 30 — Julianne Lang on “Rural Roots. Real Leadership.”
https://youtu.be/WOnjEklJoRY 🌱 Rural Roots. Real Leadership. What Julianne Lang is Building—and Why It Matters Big things are happening in places most people overlook. Not in major cities.Not in headline districts. But in a rural community in South Carolina—where leadership isn’t just taught… it’s lived. On this episode of #VillageTalks, I had the opportunity to sit […]
Village Talks Ep. 29 — Jose Santiago on “Building Systems Where Students Feel Seen”
https://youtu.be/8eu9Weqq_0U #VillageTalks: Jose Santiago — Building Systems Where Students Feel Seen Some leaders do more than manage systems. They transform them. That is exactly what stood out in this powerful #VillageTalks conversation with Jose Santiago. Jose currently serves as an assistant principal in Chicago, leads work around culture, belonging, attendance, discipline, and student services, and […]
Village Talks Ep. 23 — Michael Freeman with Elevate Your GAME on “Building What Lasts”
https://youtu.be/AQ7nUQxXz90 Michael Freeman — Building What Lasts in the Village There’s something powerful about conversations that don’t feel like interviews… they feel like truth being uncovered in real time. That’s what happened in this #VillageTalks session with Michael Freeman. From the start, Michael didn’t just talk about programs or initiatives. He talked about people. About […]
Village Talks Ep. 2: Building Bridges Between Nonprofit & For-Profit with Vince Edwards
https://youtu.be/1LhixbvlFp4 “It takes a village to raise a child.” That African proverb shaped this week’s conversation on Village Talks, where we explored what it means to mobilize the power of community—not just in words, but through strategic partnerships and innovative ideas. I sat down with Vincent Edwards, a seasoned entrepreneur, consultant, and founder of the Empire Builders Foundation, to […]
AI, Equity, and the Urgency to Personalize K–12 Learning
Hi, I’m Damien Howard—educator, community builder, and founder of SELvie.I’ve spent the last two decades working alongside students and mentors, especially in under-resourced schools. And let me tell you plainly: our current system is not built to personalize learning at scale. The ProblemStudents are falling through the cracks.✅ 40% of Black students in Illinois are chronically […]
Introducing SELvie
https://sel-plus.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/072ff37-a8c-20c-5a7c-6ab5c160d620_IMG_0438.mov Introducing SELvie: Intelligent Mentoring for Real Change “I don’t care what you do for a living—if you do it well, I’m sure there was someone cheering you on or showing the way. A mentor.” – Denzel Washington Across the country, schools and communities are in crisis. Students are falling behind academically, emotionally, and socially. […]
How you can be the answer to equitable education opportunities
By Damien Howard Education is foundational to success. This is why education is one of the pillars of Together Chicago along with a partnership with Administer Justice to establish neighborhood gospel justice centers. Damien shares why equitable education opportunity is so critical. Hello Neighbor! That is how I usually greet my friends serving alongside me on the South and […]