Mikva Challenge
Elly Leman has a diverse work experience spanning various organizations and roles. Starting in 2008, they worked as a Teaching Assistant at Overbrook High School. In 2010, they interned at the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. They then became an Urban Prep Fellow at Urban Prep Academies, where they mentored and tutored students.
From 2012 to 2015, Elly worked at KIPP Chicago in roles such as KIPP Through College Program Coordinator and KIPP College Account Regional Coordinator. They then joined AUSL (Academy for Urban School Leadership) as Manager of Partnerships and Initiatives, and later as Senior Manager, Partnerships & Initiatives.
In 2017, Elly interned at SGA Youth & Family Services, where they updated program documents and conducted research. They also interned at the Metropolitan Planning Council in 2018 as a Graduate School Intern.
From 2018 to 2022, Elly worked at Success Bound, first as a Success Bound Coach, supporting schools in program implementation, and later as a Program Manager & Lead Coach. They partnered with CPS and managed coaches and projects to ensure successful implementation.
Currently, Elly is the Director of Institutional and Corporate Giving at Mikva Challenge. They manage relationships with funders, increase corporate giving opportunities, and lead prospecting efforts for unrestricted funding and expansion.
Throughout their career, Elly has demonstrated a commitment to education, program implementation, partnership management, and grant research.
Elly Leman obtained a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Growth and Structure of Cities from Bryn Mawr College, where they studied from 2007 to 2011. Elly later pursued further education at the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, earning a Master of Arts (MA) degree in Public Administration and Social Service Professions from 2017 to 2020.
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Mikva Challenge
Mikva Challenge develops youth to be informed, empowered, and active citizens and community leaders. We do this by engaging youth in action civics, an authentic and transformative learning process built on youth voice and youth expertise. Core Values: Our values challenge the status quo. Traditional schooling emphasizes adult lectures and students as passive learners. Mikva Challenges adheres to the following core values when implementing our mission: We believe that by providing high quality programming in under-resourced communities and schools, we can eliminate the civic achievement gap. We believe that if youth voice is included in decision-making that policy makers will make more informed decisions. We believe that the best way to learn democracy is to do democracy. We believe action civics is an essential tool to help young people develop the skills, knowledge, and attitudes to be informed, empowered, and active citizens. We believe youth are not apathetic, and that by inviting them into the political process they will become powerful and thoughtful citizens. We believe that Mikva Challenge always needs to be nonpartisan to allow young people to formulate their own opinions and choose the candidates and issues they want to support. Vision: Mikva Challenge envisions a world where: Citizens are informed, empowered, and active Youth voice is valued in decision making Civic leaders reflect the nation’s diversity Action civics is prioritized in education