Manager of Educational Initiatives
Ebony DeBerry (she/her) is the Manager of Educational Initiatives, running the Women of Color Table and overseeing the Parent Mentor program at ONE Northside, an organization that builds collective power through bold and innovative community organizing. She was elected to the Chicago School Board in 2024. She also recruits for Grow Your Own Teachers, an organization that supports all individuals who have a desire to become teachers in their own communities. She has lived in Rogers Park her whole life, attending Chicago Public Schools as a student at Gale Elementary and Sullivan High School, and later deciding to teach in the district. She has experience managing youth programming at Howard Area Community Center, being a restorative healing conversations practitioner, and as a community organizer.
As an organizer, she has worked alongside the community on several successful campaigns, banning the box for felony convictions in the state of Illinois and keeping Gale Elementary open during a round of Chicago school closures as some of her proudest achievements. She is devoted to the development and leadership capacity of women of color in her community and has worked closely with them in order to endorse and elect younger and more diverse representatives. She graduated from Central State University with a degree in education, then received her master's of science in communication from Northwestern University. In her spare time, Ebony enjoys spending time with friends and family, thrifting, traveling, and reading.